PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was informed on Tuesday that the majority of prisons in the province were overcrowded.

Details of the prison situation across the province shared with the provincial assembly during question hour showed that the province’s at least eight 14 prisons had more inmates than the authorised capacity.

They include the central jails of Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Mardan and the district jails of Kohat, Timergara, Lakki Marwat and Swat.

The Peshawar prison, the largest in the province, has 3,139 inmates against the capacity of 2,820, Dera Ismail Khan’s 446 against the capacity of 350, Bannu’s 999 against 690, Mardan 2,101 against 1,998, Kohat’s 665 against 170, Timergara’s 429 against 300, Lakki Marwat’s 283 against 96, and Swat’s 562 against 273.

Speaker asks CM’s aide to visit prisons to ensure facilities for inmates

The official reply says that merged tribal districts have 15 sub jails and the government would construct district jails in these districts after acquisition of land. The reply did not carry details about women prisoners in tribal districts.

MPA of the opposition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Humaira Khatoon, who moved question, and other lawmakers expressed concern about poor prison conditions in the province.

Special assistant to the chief minister on prisons Shafiullah informed the house that new prisons were being built to reduce burden on the existing ones.

He acknowledged that some prisons in the province were overcrowded.

Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, who chaired the sitting, directed him to visit prisons and ensure the provision of basic facilities to the inmates.

He said the prison department should take measures to fulfil the needs of the incarcerated people.

A question regarding non-utilisation of funds in Orakzai tribal district under the culture, archaeology and museums was referred to the relevant standing committee of the house.

The department confirmed that the allocated funds couldn’t be utilised due to coronavirus pandemic and non-existence of the steering committee.

According to the official reply, the directorate of youth affairs had allocated Rs3 billion for the Youth Development Package and Establishment of Youth Facilities for Merged Districts under the Accelerated Implementation Programme and released Rs250 million of it during the current financial year.

A total of Rs240 million was allocated for the tourism department’s certain activities in Orakzai district but the amount wasn’t spent.

The chair reprimanded officials of the health department for ‘not showing interest’ in the assembly’s business and asked the health secretary to ensure his presence in the house on Friday.

He said the administrative secretaries didn’t guide the relevant ministers about the agenda and thus, affecting the assembly’s business.

Mr Ghani directed the assembly’s secretary to write a ‘note of displeasure’ to the chief secretary on his behalf about the nonchalant attitude of the administrative secretaries and subordinate staff.

He said the secretariat sent the agenda of the assembly to the administrative secretaries on a daily basis to prepare the ministers concerned about the bills, calling attention notices, and questions.

Health minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra endorsed the speaker’s concerns and said the absence of the administrative secretaries from the house affected the quality of the house’s business.

He said the presence of the relevant secretaries and senior officers during the assembly’s proceedings was imperative to assist the treasury side.

The assembly passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

It also adopted a resolution asking the federal government to help the Pakistani workers, stranded in the country due to the pandemic-induced restrictions, return to Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2021