A total of 1,659 inmates havebeen released from 31 jails across Assam as per the Supreme Court guidelines to decongest prisons in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said on Thursday.Assam Inspector General of Prisons Dasarath Das said the authorities are considering to release more prisoners in the coming days and evaluating proposals for sending to the Centre for consideration."As per the guidelines, we have released a total of 1,659 inmates so far from different jails across the state since the coronavirus crisis emerged. This includes 1,591 undertrials, who were released on bail and personal bonds," he told PTI.Das said that another 68, who are convicts, have been allowed to go home on annual leave from different jails.Eligible convicts get 30 days of annual leaves for emergency purposes as per the rule."We have received proposals of parole from 18 convicts and they are eligible for that. So, we will release them in a day or two," the IG said.He further informed that the jails had released a huge number of inmates under remission during the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi."We are looking at it again now. If we find such eligible prisoners, we will send the proposals to the Government of India for consideration," Das said.On March 23, the Supreme Court had directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to seven-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.A total of 8,810 inmates are currently lodged in 31 jails across Assam.The state has six central jails, 22 district jails, one open-air jail, one special jail and one sub-jail.
