HYDERABAD, March 14: Sindh Inspector-General of Prisons Brig M. A. H. Ayaz Mughni said on Tuesday that a proposal to increase allocation for food for prisoners is under active consideration of the Sindh government.

He said that daily budget for a prisoner would be raised to Rs25 from Rs12 to Rs13.

He was speaking to journalists after distributing certificates among prisoners who completed their 90-day education course under the adult literacy programme.

Jail superintendent Muzaffar Alam Siddiqui and DIG prisons Nawaz Hussain were present on the occasion.

The literacy programme was launched by the National Commission of Human Development to enable prisoners read newspapers and understanding of basic mathematics through phonetic technology.

Prisoners Wali Mohammad Chandio, Girdhari, Ghulam Rasool, Suleman, Aslam Arain, Saleem, Sikandar Chandio, Ms Reshma and Ghulam Mustafa secured positions and given certificates by the Sindh IG for prisons.

Mr Mughni said that over-crowding was directly linked with small number of trial courts and the matter was being reviewed by the chief justice of the Sindh High Court.

He said that soon Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur prisons would have separate police escorts for their exclusive job of production of prisoners in courts.

He said that overcrowding in jail was a problem but referred to small number of courts which were dealing with so many cases.

He said that the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, was seized of the matter and the issue was being reviewed.

He said that another reason for overcrowding was increase in commission of offences by people which led to their imprisonment.

“A lot of progress has been made regarding provision of separate police escort for production of prisoners in jail”, said the provincial prison chief while claiming that Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur would soon have separate police escorts.