Jails are holding inmates more than double the capacity: Home Minister
Bangladesh is the first nation in South Asia to introduce e-passport, he tells Parliament
Jails across the country are currently holding prisoners more than double their capacity, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
While replying to a question raised by ruling party legislator Didarul Alam during the question-answer session in the National Parliament on Monday, the home minister said the prisons across the country have a total capacity to accommodate 40,944 inmates but the number of total prisoners is now 88,084.
He informed the House that the government has declared the newly-constructed five prisons as Jail-1 while the old prisons have been declared as Jail-2 to increase the capacity of the jails.
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Besides, the capacity is being raised by constructing new prisons and expanding the old ones.
In replying to another question raised by woman lawmaker from reserved seat Shamsun Nahar, Minister Kamal said Bangladesh is the first nation in the South Asian region and the 119th in the world to introduce e-passport.
The e-passports are being issued on priority basis from three passport offices in Dhaka, he said, adding the service will be launched in all offices across the country by the next 18 months.
All the machine readable passports will gradually be converted to e-passport by the next five years.
