A representative team from the Prison Management Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs has been inspecting prisons in the Terai districts since November 20 to assess the damage caused to prisons across the country after the Gen-G movement, the situation of escaped prisoners, and strategies for apprehending escaped prisoners.

This morning, Kantipur's Parbat Portal had a brief conversation with the director of the department, Chomendra Neupane, who arrived at Morang Prison: What is the reason for the sudden prison inspection? It is not a sudden inspection, it is a regular inspection. We have been in Daudaha since November 7. The purpose of this inspection is a little different. We currently have 75 prisons across the country. How many prisoners are there in each of them, what is the capacity, do some prisons have more prisoners than their capacity? It was necessary to understand all these things. Also, many prisons were physically damaged during the Gen-G movement. How are those structures being reconstructed? What improvements are still needed? In addition, the condition of health and daily service facilities, the effectiveness of security, and overall management are also the main topics of our study. What do you say about the situation of escaped prisoners? About 14,000 prisoners had escaped across the country. More than 10,000 of them were arrested, some returned to prison on their own. About 4,000 prisoners are still outside. They are in the society. It has also been said that this has increased crime. To search for them, we have formed a task force under the coordination of the Assistant Chief District Officer across the country. The committee, which also includes the heads of security, is working rapidly. We have listed the possible addresses of the escaped prisoners and provided them to all districts. We are confident that all the escapees will be arrested soon. We are also understanding what work the committee is doing during the inspection.

Where have you inspected? What was the condition of those prisons like?

Our inspection is focused on the districts of the Tarai, especially, starting from the valley. Accordingly, we have reached Morang via Banke, Tulsipur, Ghorahi, Parsa, Rautahat, Jaleshwor, Siraha, Saptari, Jhumka. After inspecting Jhapa, we will return to Kathmandu.

During the inspection, it was found that most of the prisons, especially in Madhesh Province, are old and in a deplorable condition. Jhumka and Morang prisons were comparatively better. In some places, it was found that there was a need for transfer because there were more prisoners than capacity, while in others, it was seen that there was a situation where there were fewer prisoners and more could be added.

What is mainly needed for prison reform?

There is a great need for improvement in both structure and technology. There is a need to strengthen the system to prevent the entry of wrong objects so that there is no weakness in security. It was also seen in many places that the treatment of prisoners inside the prison needs to be improved. We are moving towards strengthening the security system in coordination with the district-level security mechanism.