LAHORE - The Punjab government is constructing two high-security prisons in District Sahiwal and District Mianwali for terrorists while family rooms (quarters) are being built in four jails where long term convicts spouses and children will be allowed to stay with them three days a month. The family rooms, a new concept in Pakistan, are being constructed in Central Jail Kot Lakhpat Lahore, Central Jail Faisalabad, Central Jail Rawalpindi and Multan which will be ready by the mid of next year. The construction work on two high security jails is in full momentum. Sahiwal Jail will be completed in 2010 and Mianwali Jail in 2011 with prisoners capacity of 1,000 each. The small quarters each comprising one room, a kitchen and a bathroom will offer to lodging to children below six or wife of a convict to spend three days with him in privacy, official sources told The Nation on Thursday. The sources disclosed that total of 14 jails including two high security jails were being constructed in various districts of Punjab including Bhakar, Layyah, Okara, Khanewal, Lodhran, Rajanpur, Hafizabad and Sahiwal to relax the load of prisoners on 32 over-crowed jails of Punjab. The sources confided to The Nation that new jails were planned owing to lack of space in the available jails for A and B category prisoners. Mostly political prisoners get A and B category facilities in jails. Awarding such categories to any prisoner is the discretion of the home department or the government, he added. The 32 jails of Punjab have capacity of just 21,527 prisoners but 56,000 inmates are being kept there like animals whereof they are becoming mentally sick besides serious aliments, mostly on account of inhuman living environment and poor sanitation behind the jail walls. The accused of heinous crimes like dacoits and murders are about 10,000 in number in all jails. Most of the jails have capacity of 1,000 to 15,000 prisoners. Kot Lakhpat Jail has space for 1,800 prisoners while 5,500 prisoners are packed there. Similarly in Camp Jail Lahore capacity is of just 1,200 inmates while 3,895 prisoners are housed there in most sticky barracks. In all jails there are 5,500 death convicts, while 11,000 convicts fall in various sentence categories starting from one month to 25 years including life imprisonment, the sources revealed. The Nation has leant that rest of the prisoners, who are about 39,500 in number, are under-trials prisoners (not yet convicted) and such inmates are real burden on the Punjab prisons department. The under-trial prisoners as per law do not have to do any work while long-term convicts have to prepare meal for them three times a day. Deputy Inspector Prisons Punjab Salik Jalal, while talking to The Nation, said the new jails were being constructed to ease over-loading and over-crowding of inmates, which have become insufficient for the increasing number of under-trial prisoners. The jails sources said, A and B category prisoners are served mutton and sweet dishes two days a week while ordinary prisoners get just a piece of beef or chicken two times in a week along with half cooked vegetables, pulses as per jail manual. The prisoners who are awarded rigorous punishment have to work on the carpet and handicraft industries besides cooking food for the under-trial prisoners who behave like guests in the jails. Jails officials stressed that legislation is needed on the under-trial prisoners cases whether or not there is any rationale to send under-trial accused to jails especially in petty matters before conviction. One man costs Rs 60 daily to the national exchequer in terms of food only. The long-term prisoners can not get better facilities or human treatment if accused of petty offences continue pouring in jails which are already filled more than capacity. Deputy Inspector Prisons Punjab Salik Jalal said overcrowding was mother of all problems in jails and hopefully conditions will improve with the construction of new jails. He said sub-jails should be made at Tehsil level so that space may be spared for long-term prisoners and convicts of heinous crimes. Prisoners are getting quality food including fresh chicken, beef, eggs and milk and there is no problem for them except overcrowding in the barracks, he said.