LAHORE: The caretaker provincial government has transferred the control of all the 43 hospitals and drug addicts rehabilitation centres in the Punjab jails to from prisons authorities to the health department to ensure provision of the prisoners’ fundamental rights as per international best practices and UN guidelines for their medical treatment.

       The decision came after the caretaker provincial cabinet granted approval to various interventions on the recommendations of the standing committee on legislative business and privatization, with certain amendments made to the Punjab prisons rules.

       Sharing the background of the development, an official told Dawn that the inmates languishing in the province’s prisons had been facing a crisis of healthcare facilities for decades. He said all the 43 jails were overcrowded where more than 50,000 prisoners have been kept against the sanctioned capacity of around 35,000 inmates. Provision of medical and surgical treatment to these inmates is a daunting task, he added.

       The official said the transfer of the jail hospitals to the health department could help improve the existing healthcare management system for the prisoners if appointments of qualified doctors and staff are made there and budgetary allocations are managed efficiently, as directed in the notification, besides other steps.

       Health councils at district level to monitor prisons

       “All the hospitals of the jails and the Drug Addicts Rehabilitation Centres have been transferred to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) Punjab”, reads the notification issued by the Punjab home department.

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       The governments has also introduced some vital changes in the system, including awarding marks to the post-graduate trainees for serving in jails under the Central Induction Policy.

       Similarly, the health department has sanctioned 66 new posts of medical superintendents (MSs), medical officers (MOs), consultant physicians, surgeons, women medical officers (WMOs), dental surgeons, pharmacist, psychologists, renal technologists etc for all the hospitals in Punjab’s jails.

       The posts have been sanctioned from BS-9 to BS-19, including 23 in category A, 20 in category B, 16 in C and seven in special category. The MOs will be appointed in jail hospitals for all three shifts – morning, evening and night.

       According to the notification, the caretaker government has also established District Prisons Health Councils (DPHC) on the pattern of the already working health councils for the district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals of Punjab.

       “The DPHCs shall be constituted in every district to administer the health-related affairs of the prisoners in jails”, reads the notification.

       Each council shall consist of the deputy commissioner concerned, who would act as chairman, while the chief executive officer (of the District Health Authority) would be its vice chairman.

       The other members of these councils would included medical superintendent concerned of the DHQ hospital, superintendent of jail concerned, medical officer, a psychiatrist and any co-opted member nominated by the chairman.

       The DPHC shall convene its meeting at least once a month on the jail premises, making it mandatory for all the members, including the chairman, to attend it.

       The council shall propose a policy for proper management of the healthcare services in jails to ensure adequate healthcare facilities by exploring all available resources for result –oriented healthcare management to the prisoners.

       “It [council] shall receive complaints related to the provision of the healthcare facilities to the prisoners and investigate into the matter to address the grievances”, reads the notification.

       The DPHC shall also submit an inquiry report, if any, with the recommendations to the inspector general of prisons, Punjab, additional chief secretary home or secretary of primary and secondary healthcare department, to initiate action.

       It shall make a contingency plan in case of any medical emergency in the prison and visit the jail once a month. The DPHC shall also record mortality rate in the jails and in case of increase in mortality rate it shall find out causes and give cogent solutions to address the issues.

       The notification further states that the authority of postings and transfers of all the medical/paramedical staff serving in jail hospitals shall rest with the P&SHD.

       Similarly, it says that the health department will be responsible for making procurement of medicines and medical/surgical equipment for all the transferred hospitals of the Punjab prisons department, besides carrying out construction, repair and maintenance of these hospitals.

       “The cadre of paramedics of the Punjab prisons has been declared as dying cadre”, it says, however, adding that the present incumbents will continue to perform their duties/assignments at the strength of the Punjab prisons department. The posts vacated by the incumbents will automatically stand abolished on their retirement, the notification adds.

       Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2024