The Sindh jail reforms bill on Saturday was sent to the Law Department following its approval from the provincial assembly.
The Sindh Assembly had passed the Sindh Prisons and Correctional Facilities Bill, 2019 on Friday to transform the prisons in Sindh into correctional facilities. The Law Ministry will now move forward the legislation to the governor to sign it into a law.
The new legislation proposes constitution of a policy board for introducing reforms in jails.
Under the legislation, any jail official involved in bribery and torturing inmates will be awarded two years’ imprisonment. A prisoner could also be allowed to cook his own food. Schools and colleges will be established in jails. An adult education centre will be set up in each barrack of a jail. The ‘B’-class prisoners will be provided television sets, computers, air coolers and video call facilities. The jail medical officer will be responsible for the health of the inmates. All married prisoners will be allowed to meet his/her spouse after every three months. A prisoner could be released on parole in case of death of a close relative. The Sindh government will be entitled to appoint the Prisons inspector general under the passed bill.
The legislation has been passed in order to provide opportunities to the jail inmates to participate in a reformation process to become responsible members of society once they are freed.
The Sindh Assembly passed the bill on the basis of a report of a select committee of the House, which had reviewed the draft bill to improve it. The select committee was headed by an MPA of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Ghulam Qadir Chandio, and comprised lawmakers of both the treasury and opposition benches. The passed legislation will replace the colonial era prison rules and become an act of law after being signed by the governor.