ATTOCK, Nov 18: There are 50 undertrial juvenile prisoners, including a girl, in the district jail Attock and most of them have exceeded the maximum detention period applicable before conviction, a non-governmental organisation said.

Society for the Protection of Rights of the Child (Sparc) executive director Qindeel Shujaat and coordinator Asiya Arif, who visited the prison, told this reporter that the overstay of these undertrials was a limpid violation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000, as the cases against them must be decided within a period of four months.

The Sparc representatives said the children were languishing in the prison mostly due to unavailability of legal aid, adding that they were also not getting the facilities covered under the JJSO 2000.

They said the prison lacked proper educational facilities, and the juvenile detainees also did not have warm clothes and blankets.

The officials said they discussed these issues with the jail authorities in detail, and it was decided that blankets/clothes would be provided to the undertrials by the prison with the cooperation of philanthropists and utilisation of other resources.

Sparc will consider providing a legal adviser and a teacher to ensure early disposal of their cases or bails, and to fulfil their education needs during their detention at the jail.

According to the NGO, there are 2,100 juvenile prisoners in various jails of the country.

The breakdown shows that the number of such prisoners in Punjab is 1,300, Sindh 400, NWFP 250 and Balochistan 150.

Out of the total 2,100, only 300 are convicts while the remaining 1,800 are undertrials. Around 1,000 (55 per cent) of the juvenile undertrials have spent more than four months in the jails.

Meanwhile, the Sparc representatives appreciated the Attock jail superintendent, Syed Babar Ali, for extending cooperation and help in resolving the problems of juvenile prisoners.