DW BUREAU / Chandigarh As many as 5,813 prisoners out of the total 23,502 inmates have so far been vaccinated against coronavirus in 25 jails of Punjab, Jail Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said on Friday. The jail department has conducted 60,000 coronavirus tests and 3,294 inmates have reported positive till date, Randhawa said. Among the 5,813 prisoners who have been vaccinated, 5,353 are male and 460 female, the minister said in a statement after conducting a check on COVID safety protocols in Faridkot and Muktsar jails. Presently, 650 prisoners are COVID positive across 25 jails in the state, he said. Randhawa said department reserved the Ludhiana district jail, Moga jail and Bathinda special jail for male inmates reporting positive, while Malerkotla jail has been kept reserved for women inmates contracting COVID. He said one lakh masks had been distributed in the jails so far and the entire jails, especially the barracks, have been sanitised. The meeting of the inmates with their family members is arranged through e-prison or WhatsApp video call, he said. Taking stock of arrangements in Faridkot and Muktsar jails, the minister said he would take up with the higher authorities the issue of vaccination for 18-44 age group inmates and get it started soon. On the visit to Faridkot jail, the minister was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Vimal Kumar Setia, DIG Prisons Tejinder Singh Maur, among others. (editor@dailyworld.in)