Crammed beyond capacity

“Overcrowded” will likely be an understatement for the Narayanganj District Jail, which is currently holding inmates six times its capacity.

As many as 1,800 -- 1,742 male and 58 female -- inmates are currently in the jail, which can accommodate 300 prisoners.

Although the authorities concerned assigned a private firm to construct two six-storey buildings to mitigate the crisis, they are yet to begin the work.

According to prison sources, the district jail, which has five two-storey buildings, a juvenile and 15 condemn cells, was established on 12 acres of land in 1998 with a capacity to hold 200 inmates. Recently, a tin-roof structure has been constructed to accommodate 100 inmates.

However when asked, Suvash Kumar Ghosh, superintendent of the district jail, said, “There’s no problem here although we’re accommodating more inmates than our capacity.”

He said the tender process for constructing two more buildings has been completed.

“Facilities for inmates would have  been enhanced had the buildings been constructed in time,” he said. “We are working to acquire an acre of land to expand the prison,” the superintendent said.

Apart from these, another two acres of land have been proposed for requisition, he said.

According to international law, there should be a staff member for every three inmates while the local law suggests one for eight inmates. Going by the international standard, the jail would need at least 600 staff members, but if the Narayanganj jail were to follow the local law thoroughly, it would need 225.

Currently, the jail has 133 staff members, including high-ups. Many of them alleged that they are also not getting adequate residential facilities.

Md Jashim Uddin, the deputy commissioner of Narayanganj, said the issues will be answered once the proposed requisition is completed.

“We’ll take measures to complete the construction work of the two proposed buildings,” he said without giving any timeframe.