The wall of the Borstal Jail, which was completed after 12 years at a cost of Rs60 million had collapsed during a windstorm.
The Central Jail, according to the jail manual and other laws of the Jail Department, is meant only for the “convicted” prisoners. But, 2,425 inmates are confined in it against a capacity of 1,010, which has caused innumerable problems for them. After the shifting of 275 juvenile offenders to the Central Jail, the barracks are presenting the look of a pigeon hole.
According to psychologists, the very object of keeping the juveniles in an independent jail is to provide them facilities for the improvement of their minds and to make them useful human beings, which is being ignored by the jail administration. Negligence of the authorities can be judged from the fact that despite the passage of two months, they have failed to reconstruct the 100-feet boundary wall of the Borstal Jail.
The Borstal Jail project was termed “Shifting of the Bahawalpur Borstal Jail to Faisalabad” when the building of the Borstal Jail in Bahawalpur had completed its technical life and was considered fit to be demolished.
The jail administration constructed a Borstal Jail according to laid down standard on the Faisalabad-Jaranwala Road after 12 years over an area of 68 acres, with a covered area of 23 acres, with a capacity for 300 juvenile offenders. But the goal could not be achieved as the entire building developed cracks.
Negligence of the jail high-ups can be judged from the fact that despite clear provisions of the law, no practical steps are being taken for the welfare of juvenile prisoners. According to Rule 295 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, “all juveniles shall receive careful individual attention. The features of their treatment will be sustained work; physical, mental and moral training with a view to teach them self-discipline; and careful arrangement for their future after discharge. The aim of prison treatment shall be to give the young offenders whose minds and character are still pliable, such training as is likely to create in them a high standard of social behaviour”.
There are over 3,500 juvenile offenders languishing in various jails of the province. Despite the construction of the Borstal Jail in Faisalabad, all its 575 inmates are confined to barracks of the district and central jails and are not allowed to come out.
It was a rainy night when the wall of the Borstal Jail collapsed. But not a single juvenile offender tried to run away. The terror-ridden juveniles were shifted to other jails in the morning amid tight security.
The Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, had reportedly ordered an inquiry into the incident of wall collapse after the publication of the news. But all efforts proved futile.
The Punjab governor during a recent visit to Faisalabad also ordered an inquiry to fix responsibility for the use of substandard material in the construction. But, sources revealed, no action had been taken against the persons responsible.
The provincial government instead of taking action against the contractors and officials involved had reportedly started sheltering them. The jail has again become a ghost house due to official negligence.