Now after the strictness of the High Court, the jail administration itself is preparing to deploy doctors through the Home Department.
Dehradun. Health services for the prisoners in the jails of the state have not yet come back on track. There are neither regular doctors nor concrete arrangements for primary health services. Despite continuous demand, the health department has also not been able to deploy doctors in jails.
Now that the High Court has shown a strict stance, the jail administration itself is preparing for their deployment through the Home Department. For this, preparations are underway to deploy doctors in jails through walk-in interviews. Also, doctors will be asked about their salary and their deployment will be done on that basis. There are currently a total of 11 jails in the state. Of these, there are nine district jails and two sub-jails. At present more than 5300 prisoners are lodged in these jails. This number of prisoners is much more than the total capacity of the jails.
The capacity to hold prisoners in the jails of the state is only about 3700. Due to this, more than the prescribed number of prisoners are confined in the same barrack. Due to this, there is a possibility of spread of infectious diseases here.
Also, prisoners in jails also fall ill from time to time. Due to absence of doctors, they have to be taken to nearby government hospitals for treatment. The Central Government has implemented the National Prison Act some time ago. In this, it has been made mandatory to appoint male and female doctors and psychiatrists in every jail.
Despite this, this has not happened in the jails of the state. Recently, during the hearing held in the High Court regarding the facilities of jails, the government in its reply said that doctors are being deployed in jails on contract. In this series, doctors will be appointed through walk-in interviews.
