According to a notification, a copy of which is available with Business Recorder, Superintendent Anjum Shah has assigned the cleanliness task of all 85 manholes to nine ASJs of Sargodha Jail. As per the direction, ASJ Babar Akram will be responsible for the cleaning of sewerage water and manholes within the premises of waiting area in new barrack while ASJ Muhammad Ashraf Naveed will also be responsible for the cleaning of manholes in drugs barrack and the barrack side of new jail.
Similarly, ASJ Matloob Hussain will be responsible for the of cleaning manholes of the barrack side of Condemned Prisoner Cell-10 and a nearby mosque while ASJs Javed Iqbal, Muhammad Irfan, Adnan Akram, Nasrullah Khan, Abdul Shakoor and Tasawar Iqbal have also been assigned similar duties.
Officials, reacting to Superintendent Anjum Shah's decision, expressed serious concerns over the development and remarked it as a highly regrettable and surprising move which has further demoralised the ASJs working in all prisons of Punjab.
"It is an unfortunate decision on the part of Anjum Shah," a senior officer said, adding that the ASJs are well-educated persons were recruited through competitive exams.
"According to Clause-2 of Rule 983 of the Punjab Prison Rules 1978, a Senior Medical Officer shall inspect the staff quarters and warders lines once a week besides drainage and conservancy arrangements," the officer further said, before asserting that it was not the job of ASJs to look after the cleanliness affairs of drainage system.
Earlier, he added, the ASJs of all prisons had written letters to Punjab Minister for Prisons Zawar Hussain Warraich and Punjab Inspector General for Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig, highlighting discriminatory attitude of the superintendents. In the letters, the ASJs had repeatedly demanded from the IG and DIGs Prisons to withdraw discretionary powers of superintendents of assigning duties to the ASJs.
"However, no one has so far resolved our issues even after the delay of 20 years," the official regretted. It may be noted that nearly 260 ASJs out of an approximate 3,000 jail officials have left their jobs in recent years due to non-conducive environment and lack of service structure.