Tangail jail prisoners get phone facility

A new service has been introduced in Tangail District Jail facilitating prisoners to talk to their relatives over phone, reports UNB.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan formally inaugurated the programme as a pilot project on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the service would soon be introduced to other prisons across the country.

The "Prison Link-smart Communication System for Inmates and Relatives" project, known as "SWAJON" in short, is being implemented under the Access to Information (A2I) programme run by the Prime Minister's Office.

Under the project, prisoners will be allowed to talk to their families over phone twice a month. They can talk for maximum 10 minutes at a time and will be allowed to talk to two close relatives only.

On the opening day, four prisoners talked to their relatives. Four booths have been set up in Tangail District Jail. At present, there are 1285 prisoners, including 27 women, in the prison.