RAWALPINDI: A recent survey today has revealed that the kitchen and cooking process at the Central Jail of Adiala, are a threat to the health of the prisoners. The prisoners are compelled to cook on the heaps of garbage due to negligence of the authorities concerned, while influential prisoners have set up their own kitchens in the barracks of the jail.

The utensils are washed and cleaned inside the toilets. This is a major issue as it spreads a bacterium that causes fatal diseases. Many prisoners are suffering from ailments, due to these unhygienic conditions. Communal meals are arranged for the prisoners with the help of funds, comprising of millions of rupees donated to the prison, but this food is only consumed by the convicts of lower class.

On the other hand influential captives ridicule the rules and regulations by having their own kitchens set up inside their cells, whereas the prisoners assigned with the duties of chef are forced to cook meals for them. Special stoves fuelled by coals are used to cook food for these influential prisoners.

The weak and helpless prisoners from lower class are appointed as the chefs, while the toilets are full of filth and no proper arrangements for their cleanliness. Journalists tried to speak to the administration of the prison, but the superintendent and deputy superintendent officers were off duty.

The duty officer Shafqat confidently rejected the dreadful conditions of the prison and stated that the captives are provided with quality food. He also said that the senior officers regularly visit the free kitchen, whereas the garbage and filth is swept from the toilets and premises on a daily basis.

Prisoners and their relatives have asked the highups of Jails particularly in Punjab, to pay surprised visits to the jails to see for themselves the conditions in which prisoners are being kept and fed. Another disclosure by the relatives is that the inmates who pay to the jail staff are provided with some facilities over and above the jail manual, while poor prisoners are forced to stay in the cells reserved for addicts and other criminals.