Prisoners get chance to talk over phone

Staff Correspondent, Tangail: “Mobile phone facility” for prisoners has been introduced in a bid to facilitate them to talk to their relatives over phone.

With the introduction of this facility, prisoners can now talk to their family members over mobile phone.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal formally inaugurated “Swajon” project that will facilitate the prisoners to talk to their relatives at the Tangail District Jail premises on Wednesday noon.

After the inauguration, the home minister said Bangladesh Department of Prisons has moved a step ahead to turn the jails into reformatory centres instead of considering them as a place for executing only punishment.

These initiatives have been successful under the pilot project undertaken by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This facility will be introduced in all jails of the country by turns, he said.

During the inauguration of the facility, fours prisoners get opportunity to talk to their relatives.

For the first time in the country, prisoners get the chance to talk for a maximum of 10 minutes with their family members. They can avail of the facility twice a month.

As a pilot project undertaken by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the authorities selected the Tangail District Jail for providing the facility.

All phone conversations will be recorded. But prisoners involved in heinous crimes, such as militancy, abduction and snatching, are not eligible for the phone facility.

Under the A 2i project of the Prime Minister’s Office, four telephone booths have been set up inside the jail to facilitate the prisoners.

Among others, secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Farid Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Inspector General of Prison (Brigadier General) Syed Iftekhar Uddin and Tangail District Jail Superintendent Mohammad Manjur Hossain spoke on the occasion.


risingbd/Tangail/March 28, 2018/Shahriar Sifat/AI