The Superintendent of Mumbai Central Prison (Arthur Road Jail) and Thane Central Jails have written to the Municipal Commissioners of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), demanding the setting up of a vaccination centre inside jail premises. The prison officials said such a move would eliminate the need for high-security prisoners having to travel outside and will also curb the threat of infection within jails.
Also, the prison department has asked for speeding up the vaccination drive, as hardly 10 per cent vaccination has been carried out in jails in the more than two months.
Meanwhile, Taloja Central Jail, under the jurisdiction Panvel Municipal Corporation and Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, along with five others jails across Maharashtra, have already started vaccination drives inside the jail. These jails have a proper camp, where daily, doctors stop by with vaccines and inoculate prisoners, in keeping with protocol.
The letter of the superintendent of Arthur Road Jail points out to the state that those incarcerated here are bomb blast accused, terrorists, Naxalites, IS extremists, cybercriminals, economic offenders, those held under MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive activities (prevention) act), foreigners, members of political parties and members of various gangs. “Taking high security inmates out of jail is a high-security risk. If we were to bring them outside, high bandobast would be needed. With the second wave and lockdown imposed by the government, most police staff is busy in bandobast duty, leading to delays. The vaccination drive will take hours to complete. Also, prisoners could come in contact with police on bandobast and be infected and bring it inside the jail,” said jail sources.
Similarly, the Thane Central Jail authorities too have sought a vaccination camp, claiming that daily, only 20 inmates are being vaccinated, which is a threat. “We first have to arrange a bandobast, then take updates of the inmates when they return. Later, we have to test them for the virus. Many a time, we are kept waiting due to shortage of vaccines,” said an official.
The high-powered committee, in its minutes, has said prisoners, as well as the prison staff should be vaccinated at the earliest, by conducting vaccination drives as and when sufficient stocks are made available.
However, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani said, “There is no observation room or other facilities inside the jail. So, arranging vaccination camps inside Arthur Road Jail is not possible. We have asked them to send prisoners with high bandobast to Kasturba Hospital, which is hardly a few metres away. There is no issue related to the shortage of vaccines for staff. We will do our best to vaccinate the inmates, which is our priority.”
In March 2021, vaccination for inmates across Maharashtra jails began. Around 3,456 inmates have been vaccinated, including 2,502 under-trials and 954 convicts. The 47 jails across Maharashtra have a total population of 32,362 inmates, which means only 10 to 12 per cent have been vaccinated.
