No Covid case in J&K jails: Director General

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 30

Maintaining that all new inmates entering prisons in Jammu and Kashmir are being tested for the deadly Coronavirus, the Director General of Prisons, VK Singh, today said there was no Covid case among 3,628 inmates lodged in 14 jails across the Union Territory.

The DG said there were 150 new inmates in jails who had been undergoing mandatory 14-day quarantine within the jail premises.

“Fortunately, we have no case among the prisoners as well as the jail staff. We are hopeful there will be none in the future in view of the preventive measures taken by the department for the safety of inmates,” Singh told reporters at the District Jail, Amphalla, here.

The DG said they had prohibited visitors from meeting the jail inmates inside the prisons since the outbreak of the pandemic.

“We have introduced the prison inmate calling system for the inmates so that they can contact their relatives”, Singh said.

He also said there were a total of 3,628 inmates in 14 jails across Jammu and Kashmir as against a capacity of 3,232. “This amounts to an occupancy rate of 112 per cent, which is below the national average of 115 per cent,” he said, adding that 88 per cent of the jail inmates are undertrials, nearly seven per cent booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and five per cent are convicts.

While referring to the Supreme Court’s recent directive to decongest jails to ensure social distancing among prisoners, he said 437 undertrials were released on bail while 33 others were released on parole.

Meanwhile, the DG said they were planning to conduct cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) across all jails in the union territory to help prisoners overcome issues related to attitude and behaviour before their release. “Training of the trainers from among the staff is being planned at Jammu and Srinagar and is expected to be held next month,” he said.