MINGORA, May 16: The inmates of the district jail, Swat, are living in a miserable condition as about 500 prisoners are crammed into the prison which can accommodate only 200 people.

The prisoners faced shortage of water, lack of sanitation facilities and insufficient food.

Their condition came to light during a visit of provincial minister for science and information technology Hussein Ahmad Kanju and MPA Mohammad Amin who visited the district jail on Thursday.

At present, there are 529 prisoners in the jail, out of whom 22 are women. Out of the total, 450 are under trial prisoners.

It was observed that bathrooms and toilets were very few in numbers, and the prisoners had to wait for long for their turn to use the facility.

Majority of the prisoners complained against the behaviour of the jail doctor, saying there were no medical facilities available to them. The jail doctor on the occasion said a budget of Rs60,000 was sanctioned annually and it was not possible to provide medical care to every prisoner in this amount.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the government was serious about bringing reforms in jails to minimize the problems. “Keeping more persons in a limited space is basically an unjust act, and the provincial government intends to solve the problem,” the minister said.

He announced a remission of two months in the sentence of some of the prisoners on the occasion of the Eid Miladun Nabi (Peace be upon him). He also promised that four electric water coolers would be provided to the jail.

MPA Mohammad Amin said that the government was trying to solve the problems of jails. He expressed the hope that the minister would try his best to bring the matters to the notice of the authorities.

Women leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami Ayesah and Badrun Nisa were also present on the occasion. They met women prisoners and inquired about problem being faced by them.

SEERAT CONFERENCE: A Seerat conference was arranged here on Thursday at the lawns of the municipal hall.