CM visits Kot Lakhpat jail to inspect arrangements

LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi made an unannounced visit to Central Jail Kot Lakhpat on Friday to inspect facilities and listen to grievances of inmates.

During his two-hour long visit, he looked into several issues, such as three female prisoners sharing one cot and prisoners still being held despite completion of their sentences or having their appeals delayed for up to 10 years.

The CM inspected the barracks, kitchen, hospital, technical training centre, and daycare center for women prisoners.

He instructed the jail administration to provide each prisoner a separate cot, and release those female prisoner on parole whose fathers had passed away. Additionally, he ordered that patients suffering from kidney and liver diseases be treated at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute and the jail administration should appoint a focal person to coordinate for their treatment, he added.

He also directed the jail administration to provide care for the children of women prisoners. He expressed his belief that prisoners should receive necessary facilities as human beings. He promised that the government would take steps to release prisoners who had completed their sentences, and the judiciary would be approached to expedite the release of prisoners who had completed their sentences, he added.

The CM also called upon the deputy commissioner to regularly visit the jail and solve prisoners' problems.