Telangana Govt Resumes Prisoners Mulaqats With Kin, Check Date and Rules

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Monday has decided to resume the physical mulaqat system and allow prisoners to meet their family members in jails. The government has given the green signal to resume the meeting which was stalled due to the COVID pandemic.

As per sources said the family members can start visiting the inmates which commenced from Monday, September 13^th. However, it has laid down rules for the mulaquats and has stipulated that only those who had taken both doses of the COVID vaccine would be allowed to meet their family member who is in prison.

The meetings were suspended since March 23 last year due to COVID pandemic and the Telangana Prisons and Correctional Services had introduced virtual ‘mulaqats,’ enabling prisoners to meet their family members through virtual platforms.

The government, however, has made it clear that the COVID rules must be strictly adhered to and laid guidelines for meeting the convicted prisoners.

1. The Department of Prisons clarified that only one member of the family should be allowed to visit the prisoner.
2. Meeting with the remand accused is allowed only once a week.
3. Meeting with a convicted prisoner is allowed once in 15 days.
4. Only family members like parents, spouse, children, siblings are allowed to meet the prisoner.
5. Social distancing, wearing masks, sanitization is mandatory during the meetings.
6. Certification that both the doses of vaccine have been taken should be submitted.
7. Food and other eatables are not allowed inside.
8. Family members can take one pair of clothes for the accused.

The decision taken by the government at present will enable them to meet those in jails physically henceforth.

As per the latest health bulletin, Telangana reported 315 new COVID-19 cases, with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 75, followed by Karimnagar (29) and Khammam (23) districts.The number of recoveries marginally outnumbered fresh cases with 318 people recuperating from the infectious disease, it stated.