MULTAN, March 5: A new central jail will be set up on Matital Road with a cost of about Rs100 million.

This was stated by district Nazim Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his visit to the Mumtazabad central jail here on Monday.

He said prisoners of the central jail would be shifted to the new jail having a capacity of some 4,000 prisoners. The prisoners of the district jail would be shifted to the central jail.

Mr Qureshi said three jails were overcrowded as there were 3,779 prisoners in the central jail against a capacity of 1,500; 1,047 in the district jail against a capacity of 419, while 316 women and 72 children were locked in the women’s jail against a capacity of 166.

The Nazim said the government would be suggested to soften laws regarding release of prisoners on bail to address the problem of overcrowding in jails. It would also be suggested that the money generated through the sale of products manufactured within the central jail should be spent on uplift projects of the jail.