ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday issued a deadline to complete the first phase of the Islamabad Model Jail within the current year.
The minister visited the under-construction prison in H-16 along with Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry.
He inspected different sections of the jail and reviewed the progress on the construction. Work on the construction of the model jail, which had been pending for 14 years, has now been expedited.
So far, two barracks have been completed, while the checkposts and the central watchtower are nearing completion.
Says first phase of jail will accommodate 1,500 prisoners; process of appointing necessary staff should also be started immediately
Mr Naqvi issued a deadline to complete the first phase of the project within this year, stressing that all construction activities must be finished within the specified timeline through round-the-clock efforts.
He said the first phase of the jail will accommodate 1,500 prisoners. Additionally, he ordered the construction of two more barracks within 90 days. The minister emphasised the need to complete the 34-bed hospital and the main kitchen without delay.
He also instructed the DIG Islamabad police to submit a staff deployment plan for the jail. In May 2024, the chief commissioner of Islamabad, Mohammad Ali Randhawa, presided over a meeting regarding the construction of the model jail and directed all concerned departments to complete and make the facility operational within 100 days.
A delay in the construction of the jail will not be tolerated, he said at that time.
In the meeting, the commissioner was also briefed about the ongoing construction work and informed that 73 per cent of the administration block, 98 per cent of the wall and 42 per cent of the male barracks had been completed.
Later, in the same month, Mr Naqvi said the jail will be completed in six months, despite the chief commissioner’s deadline of 100 days.
Four days later, the interior minister inspected the under-construction jail and tasked the officials concerned with completing the first phase of the prison construction within six months.
He directed the commissioner and the IG Islamabad police to regularly review progress on construction activities.
The process of appointing necessary staff should also be started immediately, he ordered, adding that the provision of resources for the completion of the project will be ensured.
Work on the model jail project was started in 2016-17, but it is yet to be completed. As per the original PC-I, the project worth Rs3,920.523 million was supposed to be completed in 36 months, by July 2019.
Later, the PC-I was revised with the cost escalating to Rs18,279.498 million. According to the revised PC-I, the project was supposed to be completed in July 2024.
In the revised PC-I, the covered area was increased from 869,621 square feet to 914,329 square feet.
The PC-I was revised due to changes to the covered area, variations in scope as per actual site conditions, replacements of asphaltic roads, revision of the foundation design due to a shallow water table, service conditions, land premiums, the sewerage treatment plant, enhanced security level equipment and inflation.
The jail construction project was conceived in 2007, and a committee was formed by the Ministry of Interior comprising the ICT administration, CDA and the district judiciary for selecting an appropriate site. The site was finalised in February 2012.
After approval from its board, the CDA allotted a 90-acre plot in H-16/2 to the ICT administration in 2013 and the land was handed over to it in 2014.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2025
