The Central Jail, located in Sundhara, has set up a hall for video conferencing in its premises to record the statement of inmates, but the facility has not come into operation because court proceedings are taking up time.

According to the Chief of the Central Jail, Laxmi Prasad Sapkota, the video conference hall was constructed nearly a month ago but it has not been able to come in operation because Nepal’s laws do not have provisions for such facilities yet.

“If we can operate such a facility then this will eliminate the need for inmates to travel from the prison to the court,” added Sapkota. “In addition to saving costs, video conferencing will aid in making the prison system more efficient and safer.”

The video conference facility will be used only for court hearings, and inmates will not be allowed to video chat with family members using this, Sapkota further added.

The Department of Prison Management has plans to construct such facilities in all the prisons across the country within this fiscal year, said information officer Basudev Ghimire.

“We have coordinated with the high court for now and if it approves of the decision that the facility will be operated in all the courts and jails across the country,” shared Ghimire to the Post. “Two big screens will be set one in the court and another in the prison which will facilitate hearing of cases,” Ghimire further added.

The Department of Prison Management has installed a number of closed-circuit TVs in as many as 15 prisons in the country. According to the DoPM, they have installed CCTV cameras at the Central Jail, Dillibazar Prison, Nakhu Jail, Jhapa District Prison, Morang District Prison, Makwanpur District Prison, Chitwan District Prison, Kaski District Prison, Rupandehi District Prison, Nawalparasi District Prison, Kapilvastu District Prison and Banke District Prison.