Lucknow, May 25 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to extend by two months special parole granted to 2,234 convicts, a senior official said on Monday.

In a statement, dated May 24, issued here, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, "As many as 2,234 convicts lodged in various jails of the state were given a special parole of 8 weeks. Now the parole has been extended by additional eight weeks."

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Anand Kumar, the DG of the Department of Prisons Administration and Reform, said the convicts were given special parole following the outbreak of COVID-19.

In March this year, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to free 11,000 prisoners from 71 jails to decongest these premises over the fear of spread of COVID-19 there.

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The decision came after the Supreme Court had directed all states and union territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to 7-year jail to decongest prisons in the wake of the pandemic.

The top court had said overcrowding of prisons was a matter of serious concern, particularly in the context of coronavirus.

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