The prisons department on Friday has finally rolled out a long pending plan of installing telephones in the under-trial Arthur Road jail for the inmates to call their families twice a month.
Five payphones have been installed within the jail on Friday and the inmates will now be able to use the service from Saturday onwards.
However, alleged gangsters, terrorists, and those arrested in serious crimes will not be allowed to use the facility, officials said.
While the inmates were already entitled to call their family once a week, this facility (phones) was not available to them.
There are 3000 inmates lodged in Arthur Road jail.
The payphones will be installed in different locations within the jail to avoid rush and the callers will be monitored by the jail guards, officials said.
According to prison officials, in order to ensure that the inmate do not misuse the facility, the numbers of their relatives will be taken for verification and a proper record will be maintained. Only after verifying the number, the inmate will be allowed to call the person.
The prison officials will also maintain a log book wherein date, time, name of the caller, and number on which the call was placed will be logged.
"Inmates can use the money sent by their relatives through money order to make phone calls. Each inmate will be allowed to make maximum five calls of 60 seconds each. One rupee coins to make calls will be provided to the inmates by the jail staff," said Harshad Ahirrao, Superintendent of Arthur Road jail.
Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay said, "While this facility is available in other prisons in the state, it was pending in Arthur Road jail since a long time."
