In a noble initiative, Bangladesh has decided to allow prison inmates to use mobile phones to talk to their family members, according to a report published in bdnews24.com.
According to the report, inmates in jail can talk to their family members over mobile phone twice a month.
As a pilot project, the facility has been introduced initially at the Tangail District Jail.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan inaugurated the project on Wednesday.
Colonel Md Iqbal Hasan, additional inspector general of prisons was quoted by the report as saying that the service would be introduced gradually in all prisons throughout the country after studying the results of the pilot project.
“A prisoner will be allowed to speak to his family once every fortnight. Initially we will allow them 10 minutes to speak. However, the jail superintendent can increase or decrease the time,” Hasan was quoted in the report as saying.
Till date, family members were allowed to meet the convicted inmates twice a month and other prisoners once a month.
The additional inspector general of prisons further informed that there will be a nominal charge for using the mobile phone, which will be ‘deducted from the amount deposited by the inmates’.
He further said that all conversations over the mobile phone will be recorded, adding that every prisoner will have to provide two mobile phone numbers and they will be allowed to speak to only those two registered numbers.
Family members will be notified the time of call through a text message, the day before an inmate makes the call, he added.
However, the service will not be provided to those convicted on charges of terrorism.