Mumbai: The first phase of the Telemedicine project of the Maharashtra Prisons Department, which aims to provide better medical facilities to prisoners in the State, was completed on Sunday, with all central and district prisons in Maharashtra being connected to nearby government hospitals via videoconferencing (VC) facility.

Prisons Department officials said the initiative was announced in 2015 to cut down on the need to take prisoners to hospitals for minor ailments, and thus eliminate the risk of them fleeing or being involved in other illegal activities while in hospital.

“We already had VC facilities in all prisons for inmates to depose in court remotely, and the facility was made available to government hospitals close to each prison,” said Additional Director General (Prisons) Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay.

The department introduced the Telemedicine system at the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune on a pilot basis in April, with doctors from the Sassoon Hospital at the other end. Prisons officials found that it eliminated the need for 90% of ailing prisoners to be taken to hospital for check-ups.

“We make a daily list of prisoners who need expert advice from doctors, and make sure the doctors at the hospital are available the next day for the VC session. The prison doctor is also present, and after inquiries about the symptoms, the doctors at the hospital issue instructions to the the prison doctor about the inmate’s treatment,” said Dr. Upadhyay.

Over the next few months, the department introduced the Telemedicine facility at 42 central and district prisons, and on Sunday, the last remaining prison in Yavatmal was connected to the Amravati Civil Hospital.

Mr. Upadhyay added that the next phase of the project would be to upgrade equipment like ECG machines in the prisons.

The project was undertaken in 2015 in collaboration with the State Health Department under the leadership of former Director General of Police Praveen Dixit, who was DG, Anti Corruption Bureau at the time. Mr. Dixit went on to become DGP, Maharashtra, before retiring last year.

“Now that the system has been made functional, I am sure efforts will be made to continue and improve it further. I would like to express special thanks to the director, Health Services, and the deans of medical colleges,” Mr. Dixit said.