In the light of increasing cases of COVID-19 spread in country’s overcrowded prisons, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday issued fresh guidelines for detained, convicted and undertrials.
According to reports, the government has ordered that all the meeting between the prisoners and their family members, be stopped till the pandemic is controlled and that video calls/phone calls be allowed.
The prisons have also been asked to stop all group activities of the inmates barring crucial ones with social distancing measures.
It also asked all the states’ chief secretaries and prison heads to earmark separate building as a holding area for those detainees who might have had a history of foreign travel or exposure to COVID-19 patients.
The jail staff members who are showing any COVID-19 symptoms must not be allowed entry the jail, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued along with the order stated.
The MHA decided to issue detailed guidelines for prisons after close to two dozen cases of infections were reported at Indore jail in Madhya Pradesh.
For the prisoners who are moving in and out daily, MHA has recommended that a daily diary be maintained.
