“The move would benefit about 13,000 prisoners who would be allowed to speak to their close relatives and advocates for a fee of Rs 30 a month in advance,” according to prison department officials here.
The move will take effect in about three months. The facility would be later extended to sub-jails.
Two numbers
Each prisoner would be given the facility to contact only two numbers — that of their advocate and their close relative.
The prison telephone exchange would not allow calls to any other number made without the knowledge of authorities and the conversations would be recorded by the officials.
According to the officials, the system was being introduced in the wake of prisoners using mobile phones illegally.
Cases of inmates using mobile phones and instructing their associates to carry out criminal activities like murder and extortion had earlier been reported in various prisons like Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Madurai.
