INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, December 15
The government has increased housing capacity of prisons to 15,466 from 11,300 under infrastructure development
programme.
According to a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, newly constructed infrastructure had provided space for 4,166 more
jailbirds over a period of one year
With the increase in holding capacity of prison houses, the government expects to tackle the rising number of prisoners and other inmates
serving immediate custodial sentence
The MoHA said construction of a prison building with the capacity of 300 jailbirds would be completed within current fiscal.
Despite
increase in housing capacity of prisons, 74 jails with a total capacity of just 15,466 persons have been crammed with at least 23,775
inmates, including 1,269 foreigners, as of mid-November.
&The government will soon start construction of a prison house with capacity for
Prison houses are also under construction in Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Palpa, Manang, Mugu, Dolpa, Surkhet and Jajarkot
We hope that the problem of overcrowded prisons will be solved within a few years,& the report read.
The process of relocating the Central
Jail to Nuwakot is also picking pace, of late
The government has already obtained 539 ropani land for the Central Jail
The prison facility, with capacity to house 7,000 prisoners, will have five blocks, including one for females
The MoHA said one of the blocks with capacity of 1,500 persons would be completed by mid-July next year.
&The government is doing groundwork
to implement the concept of open prison
Administrative and infrastructure work have been initiated for this purpose,& the report stated
An open prison is a penal establishment where prisoners, who have served at least half of their jail term and have demonstrated good
conduct, are trusted to do their time with minimal supervision
It aims to ease the pressure of jailbirds in crowded prisons and to turn prisons into correction centres.
According to the Department of
Prison Management, it has been working on a draft of guidelines on open prison, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs for
approval.
National and international rights bodies have long criticised the government poor handling of jailbirds
Increased crime rate has led to overcrowded prisons
The country has 74 prisons in 72 of 77 districts
According to the National Human Rights Commission, jailbirds have been deprived of basic amenities and rights, including sanitation, room
space, quality food and regular health check-up.
Many prisons lack space for jailbirds to sleep conveniently
Jailbirds have not been given access to sports, entertainment materials and books for their education.
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