Delhi’s Tihar Jail is on high alert as 52 inmates got infected with COVID-19 disease. The 35 inmates of the Jail have admitted in three different hospitals. The seven jail officers and the doctor of the jail also got infected with COVID-19 disease.
The officer of the prison stated that, “Three prisoners were critical and had to be admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital, 32 prisoners have been admitted as a precautionary measure at two different hospitals and 17 others are in self-isolation in the jail. Even the seven jail employees are isolating outside.”
The jail had only 19 COVID-19 positive prisoners till 6th April 2021 and no staff members were infected with the virus. There are more than 20,000 prisoners in the Tihar Jail. One should note that the sanctioned capacity is only 10,026 and last week 40 people got infected with COVID-19 as reported by a second officer of the Jail.
The second officer stated that, ‘We are finding ways to ensure social distancing, but it is challenging. We fear the infection will spread more quickly than last time.’
The regulators of the jail are facing difficult situation as it is hard to maintain social distancing and safety due limited space in the jail.
The Director General of the Jail, Sandeep Goel said, “Most of the prisoners were hospitalized as a precautionary measure, we are creating isolation ward within the prison to curb the virus. The bi-weekly visit by families from outside has been suspended and as precautionary measures the prisoners were virtually produced in court.”
The officers stated that in past week on Sunday over 200 inmates of the three jails in Delhi got inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine. There are 326 inmates in the jail who are above 60 and more than 300 inmates are in the range of 45-60.
The DG Sandeep Goel said that, “Around 160 inmates in Tihar Jail and around 40 in Rohini and Mandloi Jails have been vaccinates so far.”
The Ex-law officer of Tihar Jail Sunil Gupta and Advocate Ajay Verma past week stated that the management should not take any risk to keep the prisoners in the jail.
The officer also stated that it’s better to release some prisoners to save life. He said that they should discharge the prisoners who are well-mannered in nature, surrendered, cooperated with the staff members of the jail and tried to be honest.
Earlier the officer also advised that the jail can use government school buildings and campus to keep prisoners safe. Due to rapid increase in the COVID-19 cases it will be difficult for the administrators to maintain the safety protocols as there is not much space in jail and the disease is spreading very fast. Although the officers will make some hard decisions to curb the current situation of the Jail.
