The number of prisoners in the country’s jails is around double their accommodation capacity, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has told Parliament.According to statistics updated to January 24, 2016, a total of 69,774 detainees were in the country’s jails, but the jails have accommodation capacity for 34,796 people, he said replying to a starred question from Awami League MP Shaimum Sarwar Kamal (Cox’s Bazar-3) on Tuesday.Noting that the number of prisoners is increasing gradually, Asaduzzman said the country’s jails should have accommodation capacity for 80,000 people.In reply to another starred question from Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury (Chittagong-12), the Home Minister said the government has a plan to the revise jail code and to repair the jails.He said the draft jail code was sent to the Law Ministry for vetting. An inter-ministerial meeting was held in this regard on July 7, 2015 in the Law Ministry.
Subsequently some information over the jail code was provided on December 20, 2015 as per demand of the Law Ministry, the minister said.
