Good news for the prison inmates of Haridwar and Dehradun. Among 13 districts of the State, only two have been chosen for a pilot project under which telephone booths would be installed in the district jails. The jail officials say that the same would follow in other districts if the scheme turns successful.
Notably, things are happening in the jails in tune with the directives of the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission. The facility is prevailing only in Tihar jail across the country right now.
They say that the inmates, though confined, should not be deprived of the opportunity to contact their near and dear ones over phone, adding that they are taking measures to ensure that the inmates do not misuse the calls in any way. Every prisoner being asked to submit two phone numbers to the superintendents, the verification process is underway, they said. They added that the police headquarters and the jail administration would maintain records of the calls being made. It is also learnt that the telephone booths being installed in the Roshanabad prison for the 1000 plus prisoners would have only outgoing facility and no incoming facility.
Speaking to The Pioneer, jail superintendent S K Sukhija said, “The prisoners languishing in the jails would feel a little better if they can talk to their near ones,” he said.
He further said that they are extra cautious to prevent the facility from being misused. “For instance, calls can be made only on the verified numbers. Besides, the number of calls to be made would remain fixed too,” he said, adding that just 30 percent of the prisoners have given the contact numbers till now.