Tihar fights Covid-19 with isolation and masks
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Every jail is making the masks and the hand sanitisers. We need it for our own use. The demand is high. The prisoners are aware of the importance of taking precautions and are working hard.
RAJ KUMAR, additional inspector general
nNEW DELHI: Authorities in Tihar Jail, one of the most populous prisons in the country, are following a stringent drill to stave off the spread of Sars-cov-2 infection among 17,000 inmates, including giving a three-day isolation to all new prisoners and ensuring that prisoners follow hand hygiene and wear masks.
Tihar Jail has 17,062 inmates, which is 7,062 more than its holding capacity. Being a crowded facility, the jail authorities are running awareness campaigns among the prisoners and to ensure that they do not come in contact with the outsiders, meeting with families (mulakat) has been suspended till March 31.
A prisoner is entitled to meet his/her family member twice a week. Jail officers said the order, issued on March 9, would be extended on Tuesday until further orders.
The jail, also known for its various workshops in which articles ranging from snacks to furniture are made, is also producing masks and hand sanitisers for the use in jail and also for jail officials, traffic police personnel and correctional facilities run by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Jail officials said inmates from all jails have been roped in to make hand sanitisers and masks to be supplied to the 16 jails spread across three campuses of Tihar prisons.
Additional inspector general, Raj Kumar, said, “Every jail is making the masks and the hand sanitisers. We need it for our own use. The demand is high. The prisoners are aware of the importance of taking precautions and are working hard to stitch the masks. The prison has a huge demand for masks, so we are working every day to get the masks ready. Apart from the JJB and the Delhi traffic police, we have also supplied the masks to the Delhi airport officials.”
Jail officers said since the visit by families has been suspended, inmates are being allowed to call their family members.
The jail authorities have also started a three-day isolation for every prisoner even though the number of new inmates has gone down drastically during the Covid-19 lockdown, a jail officer said. “The body temperature of each prisoner is checked before being lodged at three different wards during the three days in isolation. Our doctors look for the symptoms in the first three days of their stay here. They are sent to the wards and barracks with other prisoners only after it is confirmed that they are asymptomatic,” the additional inspector general said.
Another jail officer said that any prisoner who develops mild fever or cough is segregated from the others and kept in single cell. The single cells have an attached toilet and are currently being used as temporary quarantine facilities.
“Fortunately, there is not a single Covid-19 as of now. Let’s hope it remains this way. Inside the prison, where thousands of prisoners are lodged, it is difficult to maintain social distancing,” a second jail officer said.
On Saturday, over 400 prisoners were released from jail on extended parole and interim bail in a bid to ‘reduce overcrowding’.
Of the 419 prisoners released, 356 were released on a 45-day interim bail, while 63 others were released on eight-week emergency parole. The state government has amended prison rules to temporarily release the prisoners. Earlier inmates were entitled to only four-week parole.