ISLAMABAD, July 2: A senate committee has suggested building a separate jail for women after visiting the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where it found the female ward packed twice its capacity.

A press release issued by the Senate Committee on Women Development on Wednesday said its members found the ward had 172 inmates against its capacity of 80.

The Senate committee, headed by its Chairperson Senator Tahira Latif on Wednesday visited the jail to take stock of the plight of prisoners, especially female inmates and to suggest measures for improvement.

The Senate Body recommended construction of new jail for women on top priority basis to ease the overcrowding and congestion. For the proposed jail a 87 acres land has already been acquired.

It urged the Punjab government to release Rs40 million for this purpose.

Terming the present daily dietary charges of Rs20 per prisoner too meagre, the committee called for enhancing it to at least Rs100 as many female prisoners were carrying with them young children.

It further recommended that at least one full time medical specialist and one medical officer be provided for the women jail besides acquiring the services of a skin specialist to cope with growing number of patients of scabies and other diseases. It also urged the government to make necessary arrangements to repatriate all female prisoners to the jails of their respective provinces.

Responding to the complaints regarding manhandling/use of abusive language, thrashing, etc., by some prisoners, the Senate body urged the government to arrange special ‘0behavioural training courses’ for female jail wardens and superintendents in addition to acquiring the services of psychiatrist in order to bring about a permanent attitudinal change both in captors and the prisoners.

The Senate Committee also called upon the affluent sections of the society to pay prisoners fine so that those prisoners who had completed their full jail term could not be released.

Earlier, the Superintendent of Central Jail Rawalpindi briefed the Senate Committee on the overall jail conditions particularly on the plight of female prisoners.

He said that against authorised accommodation of 1994 prisoners, the present population of this jail is touching close to 5906. “This overcrowding is the root cause of the prevailing problems,” he added. He said that present amount of funds being provided to us are barely adequate to look after such a large number.

The issue of non-entitlement of remission announced by the government from time to time to the women prisoners accused of murder, also figured during the visit.

A number of such female prisoners urged the Committee to review this policy as according to them it is tantamount to discrimination.

The committee took exception to the present practice of taking both male and female prisoners to Courts in the same van and directed the jail authorities to immediately discontinue it and arrange separate transport for females. Some Members of the Committee suggested surprise visits to jail premises and barracks in future to know the actual conditions prevailing there instead of planned visits “which produce little or no results.”

Senators Rukhsana Zuberi, Razina Alam Khan, Fauzia Fakharuz Zaman, Dr Kausar Firdous, Sabina Rauf, Nawab Mohammad Ayaz Khan Jogezai and Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, and senior officials of the Ministry of Women Development were also present on the occasion.