The Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to take initiative to amend both the Jail Act and the Jail Rules to meet the growing demand of the people about 125 years after the enactment of the Prison Act of 1894 .The senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs including other agencies of the government, in the meantime, reviewed 80 articles out of 159 of the Prison Act, sources in the Ministry concerned said. The Ministry People will take initiatives also to change the Jail Codes after the enactment of the new Jail Act to this effect, Brigadier General Syed Iftikhar Uddin, Inspector General of Police (Prison) opined.
The review and counter review of the existing laws, which had been enacted in 1894, are being updated to cope with the present crisis, the ministry sources added that different agencies of the government are planning to complete the draft copy of the act within next six months.
After completing the draft copy of the act, it will be reviewed by the officials of the ministry concerned for vetting the same. After vetting in the ministry, the draft will be sent to the cabinet meeting for itsapproval and later on it will be tabled to the parliament for enacting it as Prison Act, the sources said.
After enactment the bill as the Prison Act, the Ministry people will work on the Jail Code on the basis of the amended Jail Act. The existing Jail Code was enacted in 1864, the sources said adding that the existing Jail Code will be radical amended on the basis of the Jail Act so that it can suit the popular demand of different organizations including political parties and the ministry concerned.
It is lamentable that after gaining independence from the British Raj and Pakistan that Bangladesh still persists in the territory of colonial standards. It seems no government till now has been able to update the rules and regulations for a liberated public, who were still colonized by British imperialism until this revision.
IGP (Prison) Brigadier General Syed Iftikharuddin also told The Asian Age that steps have been taken to modernize and renovate the jails in the country. 11 new jails are being constructed in the country, he said adding that at present 68 jails are in the country. Most of the jails need renovation, he added saying that the inmates of the jail once passed horrible lives due to lacking basic facilities there.
The inmates of the jails will be able to contact their near and dear ones through mobile phone services, as the jail authorities will introduce phone services for the inmates from March 28 this year.The President of the country Advocate Abdul Hamid will inaugurate the telephone service at Tangail jail on the last day of the police week March 28.
The Database system will be introduced for the first time this year to cover all the prisoners. At press 40 jails are being covered under the database. At present 77,124 prisoners are in the jails and among them about 37 per cent are drug addicts, sources in the jail said adding that some of the employees working in the jails are also addicted and traffick the drugs in the jails. These people were identified and the sources said adding that stern actions are being taken against them. A hospital with 300 beds is being constructed for the prisoners at Keraniganj Central Hospital, the sources said.
Around 600 militants are reportedly in the jail, the sources said adding that these people are very fanatical with their dogma. A project for de-radicalizing the militants was taken; the sources said adding that 20 officials in the police administration were trained under the support of the United States. The government also gave training to 20 other officials for de-radicalizing them.
-Tapan Khan, AA
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