Andhra Pradesh plans phone facility for prisoners in jails

Hyderabad, Aug 8: After the introduction of

facility at the Cherlapally Central Prison in Hyderabad evoked a good response among jail inmates, the

Department of

has decided to extend the service to other central jails in the state.

The move is aimed at bringing down the smuggling of cell phones into jails. It would enable prisoners to communicate with their family members in an official way, for which, they will have to pay Rs 200 per month.

"Following numerous requests by prisoners...we are exploring the possibility of starting the phone facility at Chanchalguda Central Prison here and also at Rajahmundry in East Godavari district," Director-General (Prisons and Correctional Services) TP Das said.

The facility also reduces the number of visits paid by the prisoners' relatives, who have to travel long distances to meet their dear ones lodged in jails, authorities said.

According to Das, frequent interaction with their family members will provide the prisoners the much-needed psychological relief and contribute to their mental stability.

"We are studying the cost factor, selection of service provider and installation of the software that will record the conversation of prisoners (for security reasons)," Das said, adding this facility was likely to get started in about three months at Chanchalguda and Rajahmundry jails.

The telephone facility, which was first introduced at Cherlapally Central Prison in March this year, has witnessed around 150 outgoing calls every day with almost all the prisoners, numbering around 2,000, registering their names to use the facility, another jail official said.

PTI