Rs7.4bn Islamabad jail near completion without women’s barracks, infant care or schooling

Rs7.4bn Islamabad jail near completion without women’s barracks, infant care or schooling

Islamabad: A major jail project costing nearly Rs7.4 billion is close to completion in Islamabad, but its original plan omitted separate barracks for women prisoners, infant care facilities or schooling for children living with their jailed mothers. This omission shocked members of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works during an inspection of the under construction Islamabad Model Jail in Sector H-16.

The committee was told that facilities for women and their children had been pushed to a future “Phase 2” because they were not included in the original design. Committee members rejected this explanation and demanded that the facilities be added without further delay.

They said women prisoners and children could not be treated as an afterthought in a project involving billions of rupees. Senator Naseema Ehsan strongly raised the issue, saying the jail must include proper women’s barracks, safe spaces for infants and educational facilities for children staying with their mothers.

The committee said these were basic humanitarian and human-rights requirements, not optional additions. The controversy became more serious because the project has already faced a delay of more than nine years.

Construction started on May 8, 2017, but the jail is now expected to be completed by July 31, 2026. The committee learned that the project cost had increased to Rs7,399.12 million.

Members questioned how such an expensive project could move toward completion without basic facilities for women inmates and their children. They also asked why construction suddenly stopped in 2018.

The committee directed the Capital Development Authority to submit a complete inquiry report explaining who ordered the stoppage, why work was halted and how the delay affected the project’s cost. The Senate panel also ordered the CDA to submit weekly progress reports so that the remaining work could be closely monitored.

Members warned that no further delay would be accepted. The committee conducted the official oversight visit under the chairmanship of Senator Nasir Mehmood. CDA Member Building Asmat Sharif briefed senators on the jail’s master plan, construction status and remaining work.

The project is being built on 90 acres of land in Sector H-16. According to the briefing, the jail is expected to serve as the federal capital’s major detention facility once completed. However, committee members said a modern jail cannot be considered complete if it fails to protect the dignity, safety and basic needs of female prisoners and their children.

They stressed that infants living with jailed mothers require proper healthcare, food, safe accommodation and childcare. Children of school going age must also be given access to education so that they are not punished for crimes they did not commit.

The committee directed the CDA to immediately examine how these facilities could be added to the current project instead of waiting for an uncertain second phase. Senators Husna Bano, Khalida Ateeb, Hidayatullah Khan, Muhammad Aslam Abro, Abdul Shakoor Khan, Jan Muhammad and Naseema Ehsan attended the visit along with senior CDA officials.

The committee said it would continue monitoring the project until the jail was completed and all major shortcomings were addressed.