LAHORE, Aug 11: The Punjab government has amended the prison rules to allow remission in sentence to non-Muslim prisoners learning their religious books successfully.

The prisoners desirous of benefiting from the amendment will be required to take examination of reading and understanding of the Geeta, the Bible, the Grunth or any other basic religious book.

District coordination officers have also been delegated powers to grant permission to the non-Muslim prisoners to attend the funeral of blood or other relatives.

The prisoner will not leave the place specified in the permission order while the police escort will be responsible for prisoner’s safety and security.

The duration of permission granted under this rule may not ordinarily exceed 12 hours. However, it will not include the time required for journey, to and from the prison.