SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has issued a brief statement about the state and status of Covid19 in jails across Jammu and Kashmir. It was issued after the visit of the outgoing DG Prisons, V K Singh, to the Central Jail Srinagar to resolve last-minute issues including a parole case.
“At present, 635 inmates are lodged in the Central Jail Srinagar which included 27 female inmates and there is no COVID positive case in the jail,” the statement issued by the DIPR-JK said.
“As on date, 4572 inmates are lodged in the 13 jails of J&K, of which, 23 inmates (21 from District Jail Kathua, 1 from Central Jail Jammu, Kot Bhalwal and 1 from District Jail Jammu) are COVID positive to whom necessary medical care is being provided.”
Presently, 219 inmates are under quarantine across prisons of J&K as new prisoners undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine for 14 days.
DG directed the staff for strict adherence to SOPs issued to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in jails.
In a separate and related development, another statement issued by the DIPR-JK said that to assess the facilities being provided to the inmates and take stock of steps taken to ensure their safety amid the COVID19 pandemic, District Magistrate Rajouri, Rajesh K Shavan visited the District Jail.
The District Magistrate was accompanied by the Additional District Magistrate Rajouri, Sher Singh; Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamim Un Nissa Bhatti; Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Anees Altaf Nabi and other officers of the Health Department.
The District Magistrate inspected each cell of the Jail and interacted with the inmates and detainees lodged in the jail. He inquired about their grievances and assured them of early intervention by the District Administration. Some of the detainees put forth certain issues about the development like the washroom complex, the indoor stadium to be made inside the Jail Complex.
The DM also interacted with the lady inmates and heard them about the hardships being faced by them due to delayed trials.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Chief Medical Officer on the instructions of the DM today got all of them tested against COVID19 and all were found negative. It was further informed that testing of 34 jail staff was also done on the directions of the District Magistrate.
The District Magistrate has ordered for organizing special vaccination camps for the inmates/detenues about 45 years from tomorrow. He advised all the inmates to take full precautions inside the jail to prevent any spread of the virus and ordered frequent medical checkups.
The Superintendent Jail Mohd Rafeeq gave a brief presentation about the working of the Jail and brought in the notice of the DM that after the completion of the Jail building in district Poonch, the inmates of the district Poonch shall be shifted so that the congestion is removed. He informed that there are 260 inmates and one detenue.
The Chief Medical Officer was directed to deploy the doctor teams for the regular medical checkup of the inmates.
