100 per cent inmates at Arthur Road jail have got first vaccine dose

According to data provided by prison officials, of the 2,982 inmates at the prison, 3,105 inmates – including those who have since been released – have been inoculated at least once.

The Arthur Road jail in the city also known as Mumbai Central Prison has given the first dose of vaccination to all its inmates. The prison has the highest rate of inoculation as compared to the other 59 prisons in the state, an official said.

According to data provided by prison officials, of the 2,982 inmates at the prison, 3,105 inmates – including those who have since been released – have been inoculated at least once. An official said that some of those inoculated have been released on bail, so the number of those vaccinated is higher than the number of current inmates.

Of the 2,982 inmates, 2,952 are undertrials and 30 are convicts, an official said.

Officials also said that before lodging inmates at the prison, they keep inmates at a temporary prison for two weeks to ensure they do not have any infection.

Last year, after the first Covid-19 wave, several inmates who did not have serious offences registered against them had been released on emergency parole.

A notification had been issued by the state home department to amend the Maharashtra Prisons (Furlough and Parole) Rules, 1959 to allow jail authorities to release certain categories of prisoners on emergency parole and decongest jails amid the pandemic.

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