Heralding a new era of efficient prison management and sustainable prison reforms in Sindh

2 November 2021, Hyderabad – The prison administration in Pakistan is overburdened due to manifold reasons, ranging from manual record management to the lack of trained prison staff. This puts additional load on the prison department towards managing the influx of inmates and providing adequate services to which prisoners are entitled, such as access to healthcare, rehabilitation opportunities, and containing the level of occupancy for disease and infection control.

Realizing these challenges faced by the prisons in Sindh, UNODC and the US Mission to Pakistan’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Section joined hands to work with the Government of Sindh towards automating prison records in the 22 prison locations across Sindh through implementing a state-of-the-art Prison Management Information System (PMIS). In addition, the INL also supported the construction of a Prisons Staff Training Academy in Hyderabad to provide a platform for continuous professional development.

The PMIS is an effective and efficient system to replace the redundant manual file system with a Central Data Centre to drive functionality across the entire chain of prisons in Sindh.

The formal control and implementation of the PMIS was handed over to the Sindh Prisons Department through a special ceremony organized by UNODC in collaboration with the US Mission to Pakistan’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Section in Hyderabad on November 02, 2021. The event was presided over by Syed Murad Ali Shah, the Chief Minister, Sindh and other distinguished guests from across the criminal justice institutions.

The ceremony was also attended by the Delegation from the US Mission to Pakistan’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Section led by the Consul General, INL Sindh who emphasized the need for enhanced capacity building of prison staff and efficient record management for which the automation through PMIS is a step forward in bringing the prison administration at par with the international standards of service delivery in Sindh. To this end, the PMIS and establishment of the Prisons Staff Training Academy are transformational interventions that provide a long-awaited opportunity to overhaul the administrative systems and leverage the capacity of prisons across the province of Sindh.

Mr. Jeremy Milsom, Representative, UNODC also underscored the significance of data management for enhancing performance and efficiency of prison administration. To this end, training of the prison staff provides relevance and sustainability to the project. The PMIS allows prison administration to customize workflows, have access to demographic and biometric profiles of prison inmates, crime history, and medical records. This will provide instant access to the relevant information, maximizing productivity and replacing paperwork with automated and accountable record management.

  

This Project is supported by the US Mission to Pakistan’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Section and implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office in Pakistan (UNODC COPAK).