Prisons DG says jailbirds safer than general public

Prisoners serving jail term appear to be safer than the general public when it comes to Covid19 infection, said the higher officials at the Telangana State Prisons department while talking about strict protocols being maintained for ‘new admissions’ and quarantine facilities inside jails as fresh cases during the second wave of Coronavirus is becoming increasingly fatal.

Speaking to this newspaper about the new system, Director General of TS Prisons Rajiv Trivedi said following the arrests by the police, a new batch of inmates are first screened at the gate and sent to hospital according to the readings and RT-PCR test.

“At the time of admission, their clothing is taken away for washing and the prisoner is provided with fresh clothes after he is made to take a bath. Our special task force monitors the medical health of all inmates. While the ones who are tested positive during the screening are sent to hospitals, the rest of them are shifted to a special barrack which we have set aside for their 14-day quarantine. Following their quarantine period, they are allowed inside the jail among the other inmates,” explained the Director General.

He also said that on an average, from a batch of 20 new inmates in quarantine, one or two start showing symptoms within a week and are shifted to a medical facility for further necessary treatment. “So far, the situation inside the jails is nothing alarming as every precaution is being taken. The inmates inside are isolated, locked up and are safer from the infection than the general public,” added the official.

The Chanchalguda Central Jail in Hyderabad alone houses over a thousand inmates, including high-security prisoners, with most of them being remanded inmates and under-trial ones.