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Emotional reunions marked Pongal day on the Vellore Central Prison; conferences had not been allowed throughout the COVID-19 lockdown
Emotion ran excessive on the Vellore Central Prison on Thursday, as prisoners met their members of the family and pals after a spot of over 10 months. With beaming smiles and tear-filled eyes, prisoners and their households stood at both facet of a grill partition. A complete of 60 individuals met the prisoners within the Vellore Central Prison and Special Prison for Women on the day of Pongal.
“Normally, interviews [meetings] are not permitted on government holidays, but this was an exception on Pongal day for the prisoners and their families to bring some smiles, satisfaction and special feelings during this difficult time of COVID-19,” mentioned Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services, Sunil Kumar Singh.
As on date, Vellore jail has a capability of two,130 and has an occupancy of 688 and the Special Prison for Women has a capability of 469 and has an occupancy of 129. “A total of 75 persons registered for interviews at Central Prison, Vellore, and 59 attended. One person attended the interview at the Special Prison for Women. We had stopped these interviews ever since the lockdown began,” he added.
The resolution was taken after finding out the practices at different prisons. “All COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were followed during the interviews. Interviews shall be permitted on advance booking only through the E-Prison Visitors Management System or by calling the landline numbers and such meetings will be permitted only once a month,” mentioned a jail official.
The official mentioned that the assembly timing has been decreased to fifteen minutes from half-hour. “During the lockdown, the prisoners spoke to their family members through video call. They were very happy,” Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh claimed.
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