The Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister (CM), former Justice, Abdul Qadir Halepota on Friday issued strict directives to improve the condition of 20 jails in the Sindh and ordered specially to provide medical facilities to 18,900 prisoners.
"The prisoners, too, are human being and it is our social responsibility to extend humanitarian treatment to them" he said. Halepota was addressing a high level meeting, which was attended by the Federal Human Rights Minister, Ansar Burney, Provincial Minister for Women Development, Nadira Panjwani, Chief Secretary, Fazlur Rehman, Additional Chief Secretary, Nazar Hussain Mahar, Secretaries, Home, Women Division, Works and Services and Finance, IG Prisons, Provincial Co-ordinator, Social Welfare.
The CM said that 20 Sindh jails have a capacity for 10,000 prisoners but at present there are 20,000 prisoners housed in these jails while condition of Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur jails is not satisfactory.
He referred to his directives issued earlier that those interned women and children, who do not have the capacity to pay fines, should be immediately released after payment of their fines by Sindh government.
Further, Halepota noted that medical facilities in Sindh jails are almost nil. There are only 28 doctors with a small paramedical team while medicines are also not available for the prisoners. He said the Sindh government would enhance funds for providing medical facilities to the jail inmates while number of doctors should also increased up to 50 assisted by 50 paramedics.
The CM sought co-operation from the NGOs regarding opening of schools in jails. Expressing concern, he said the authorities should work on emergency basis to protect prisoners from diseases like AIDS, Hepatitis-C and other fatal ailments.
The meeting was informed that Women Development Department would pay fines up to Rs 1, 00,000 for interned women and children besides providing legal aid to them.
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