Prison labour to be emplyed on government projects

Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has said that it is the government's objective to provide new employment opportunities for young prisoners and that the Ministry plans to employ prisoners to labour on government projects.

Speaking at an event to announce Home Ministry's 100-day road map for the new administration last night, Umar Naseer said: “We now plan to bring prisoners out to work, those who have good conduct and are fit to work. These will include major projects by the government. Prisoner will be used in a number of fields in the future.”

He said the prisoners will be paid for their labour and employed with their consent. However, a portion of their salaries will be owed to the government, he said, which will be used to fund different projects and programs for the prisons.

“The loss for not employing the prison population forces us to hire foreigners. To do the necessary work, we are forced to replace every single inmate with a foreign labourer,” Home Minister Umar Naseer said.

He also said that utilizing the prisoners will reduce the cost of running the prisons and provide an opportunity for the prisoners to earn money to look after their families.

There are currently 730 prisoners in state facilities. Home Minister said last night that the first team of prison labourers will begin work within the next two weeks and that 400 prisoners will be employed for government projects by the end of 2014.