Telangana's prisons to be digitalised, to introduce e-Mulaqat

Hyderabad: With the funds sanctioned by the Centre, the 38 central prisons and sub prisons in Telangana will be digitalised with e-Mulaqat through video calls instead of physical Mulakat The prisons will get separate X-ray baggage scanners, 105 walkie -talkies, 123 CCTVs and 20 body worn cameras.

To facilitate visitors, the prisons department has decided to opt for an e-Mulaqat facility instead of a physical Mulaqat with the prisoners to connect with their families.

The prison department has taken up measures for strengthening control rooms of central and district jails, Dr Soumya Mishra, state DG, prisons and corrections services, said during the annual press conference on Wednesday.

Smart kiosks were also introduced to access information and services related to court dates, parole information, canteen coupons and other facilities to the prisoners and visitors, Mishra said.

In 2024, prisons in state had an inflow of 41,148 criminal admissions booked in 31,428 various cases that were booked in 36 districts in Telangana in 2023/2024 and out of 41,148 admissions, 30,153 are Under Trial (UT) prisoners while 2,754 were involved in grave offences including murders, she said.

There is a significant rise in jail admissions in NDPS Act cases and the count of drug addicts went up this year compared to previous year due to the government's drive against drug abuse, she said.

Similarly, the state prisons department observed a significant reduction in the number of admissions in PD Act and extremists, she said.

Soumya further said that 750 inmates completed their graduation and 225 inmates from Cherlapally prison completed post graduation from Dr BR Ambedkar Open University and Indira Gandhi National Open University. 12,650 prisoners were educated in illiterate to literate programmes conducted by the prisons department, she said.

The prisoners and the prison department will soon participate in sports activities as per the instructions of the central government, and develop a jail museum to showcase the history and evolution.