Set for more benefits

Ranchi, July 30: For the inmates of Birsa Munda Central Jail, there is reason to cheer. Facilities in the form of computer lessons and an HIV test centre will soon come their way.

Inmates and new entrants in the jail will henceforth be tested for HIV at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre, which will be inaugurated on August 3.

Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar, among the largest prisons in the country, is located 6km from Ranchi. There are 3,400-odd inmates at present in the jail that is spread over more than 40 acres.

The inspector-general of prisons, Sunil Kumar Burnwal, told The Telegraph that the main purpose of setting up the centre was to provide facilities for HIV tests for inmates on a regular basis.

“We have normally seen that there are many new prisoners put up in different cells. But they might be the carriers of the disease without being aware of it. So, we decided to set up the centre to keep a check on prisoners,” Burnwal said, adding that the project would be carried out in collaboration with Jharkhand State AIDS Control Society.

At the centre, there would be three male doctors and one female doctor.

Centre in-charge Renuka Tiwary of the AIDS Control Society said that they were going to spread awareness among the inmates by organising programmes with the help of lab technicians and counsellors.

Besides, the proposal to start a computer literacy programme in the jail was also on the anvil.

“Presently there is only one computer in the jail. But we will be providing 11 computers for male prisoners and one for female prisoners,” Burnwal said.

“The inmates will be taught the basics of computers at the initial stage and subsequently we would select one of the best computer resource persons among the inmates, who will be taking computer classes,” Burnwal said.

On the jail’s elaborate online system, he said: “We would maintain a comprehensive online database about the prisoners — their photographs and biometrics, physical locations, medical history, crimes committed by them and court verdicts. The visitors’ information and monitoring would also be done through the system.”

Besides, ISDN-based video conferencing facility has been set up between the Birsa Munda Central Jail and the civil court, Ranchi, for the hearing of cases without physically moving the prisoners. On an average, 50 cases are attended to daily, thanks to the facility.