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Reeling under the devastating impact of the second Covid wave, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided o set up temporary jails for housing arrested or surrendered persons in quarantine till they test negative for Covid. This is being done to ensure that there was no spread of Covid among convicts and undertrials lodged in jails.
Director General (DG), Prisons, Anand Kumar, said in Lucknow on Tuesday that all Jail Superintendents have been instructed to contact respective district administrations and start setting up temporary prisons.
“To ensure that there is no spread of the Corona infection from the arrested or surrendered to the other inmates already lodged in different jails of the state, we have sent out instructions to set up temporary jails with the help of local administration and quarantine the new inmates for a fortnight. After they test Covid negative, they will be shifted to regular jails,” said Kumar.
"Instructions have been also given to Jail Superintendents to resume manufacturing of masks, sanitiser and to conduct regular Yoga sessions for prisoners and staff to increase their immunity and protect them from Covid," he added.
At present, there are 48 temporary jails in Uttar Pradesh housing around 3,500 prisoners. The Prison department has also requested courts for hearing cases of inmates via video conferencing only.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi has also directed all district magistrates to write to District Judges, requesting them to allow hearing of undertrials via video conferencing.