HYDERABAD, Oct 5: The Inspector-General of Prisons, Sindh, Brig M. A. H. Ayaz Mughni, has said that in consultation with judiciary and police, efforts are being made to ensure regular production of prisoners in courts and added that soon 2,000 to 2,500 prisoners would be shifted to new prisons in Dadu and Shikarpur jails.

He was speaking to journalists at his Hyderabad camp office on Wednesday before inauguration of a free legal aid office set up at the women prison by Justice (rtd) Nasir Alam Zahid. DIG prisons Nawaz Hussain, AIG jails Dr Ashiq Memon, superintendent of central jail Muzaffar Alam Siddiqui and superintendent of Nara prison Nusrat Hussain were present on the occasion.

He said that prison reforms would continue in the wake of establishment of legal aid offices in jails and their scope would be widened to jails for adult prisoners.

Initially, he said, such offices were being set up for women and juvenile prisoners, adding that the government was cooperating with Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid in this regard. He said that there were foreign women in jails because they had no tickets to go to their home countries.

About poor women prisoners, he said it was for the courts to decide about them because jail authorities were doing what they could for them.

He disclosed that there were at least 22 prisoners who were awaiting release because they were not in a position to pay fine. He said that the government had provided Rs300,000 for tickets to foreign women in Karachi. The IG of prisons said that there were no prisoners’ wards in Karachi and Hyderabad civil hospitals.

He also said that overcrowding was a big problem for the jail management which showed that crime rate was increasing in the society.

He said that new jails in Dadu and Shikarpur had been constructed while jails were under construction in Badin, Naushero Froze and Ghotki.

He said that the burden of prisons would be lessened after completion of a big jail in Mirpurkhas for which funds had been allocated under the ADP for next year’s budget.

He claimed that efforts were under way to resolve non-production issue and said that around 80 per cent prisoners are produced in courts now. He said that the Sindh government had doubled the expenses for each prisoner and medical facilities were also being improved in jails.

Justice (rtd) Nasir Aslam Zahid told the IG of jails that he had prepared complete data of women prisoners in Sindh which would be available at the legal aid office of Hyderabad as well along with computer and photo stat machine.

Justice Zahid visited women prison and met with some foreign and local women prisoners.