New Delhi, India, January 22, 2009 - Drug De-Addiction Centre (DAC) situated at Central Jail No. 3, Tihar Prison Complex has achieved ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Certification.

Tihar Prison complex is one of the largest prison complex in the world comprising of nine central jails. More than 10,000 inmates are lodged at central jails at Tihar. Every newly admitted prisoner in the prison is medically examined on the very first day of his admission to identify his medical status so that prisoners having various ailments are identified and treated from the very first day of their admission. The persons identified as drug addicts are segregated from others and shifted to DAC for treatment. Once the prisoner undergoes through detoxification process for about 15 days, he is shifted to the Rehabilitation Centre being run with the help of NGOs. The drug de-addiction programme doubles up as HIV detection cum treatment programme. The rehabilitation process includes counselling, meditation and therapeutic methods to wean him away from his addiction habits. The scope of the ISO 9001 QMS certification covers - "Provision of therapeutic treatment to drug addict prisoners".

The activity of standardising the system was started during Aug 2008 with the appointment of TQ Vision as the management consultants to facilitate the process of certification. A team consisting of the Jail Superintendent Mr. Rajeeva Shukla, Resident Medical Officer Dr. N. K. Giridhar, DAC Incharge Dr. Panda, Deputy Superintendent's Mr. Nirmal and Mr. Matta and Asst. Superintendent's Mr. Anjani Kumar, Mr. Mahendra Prasad and Mr. Samendra Choudhary worked on the standardisation process under the guidance of Mr. Rajeev Arora, Lead Consultant, TQ Vision. Mr. Anjani Kumar was nominated as the Management Representative. All Doctors, Paramedical & Jail staff were instrumental in providing the inputs & suggestions for the improvements and whole heartily supported the implementation and the certification process for Drug De-Addiction Centre.

The system documentation was drafted by TQ Vision after studying the existing systems and the requirements defined in the Delhi Prison Act and Delhi Jail Manual. Systems were standardised and procedures documented for admission, removal & discharge of prisoners, investigation, treatment & monitoring, counselling & rehabilitation, bio-medical waste management, laboratory management, interview, communication, guarding, provision of food, clothing & bedding, sanitation, court production, handling of prisoners property, inmates grievances redressal, etc. The Quality Manual and the Quality System Procedures Manual was released after approval from Mr. Rajeeva Shukla. This was followed-up with the implementation, internal audits and management reviews.

The Auditing Team from STQC Certification Services (Department of Information Technology, Government of India) was very much satisfied with the medical investigation & treatment facilities & system and record keeping and identified them as the strong areas within the organization.

The certificate was formally issued on January 13, 2009. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajeeva Shukla congratulated all the Officers and Staff members especially the Doctors and the para-medical staff for their sincere efforts in formalising & standardising the system within the agreed time frame.

Mr. Shukla also appreciated the efforts of the consultant, Mr. Rajeev Arora, without whose guidance it would have not been possible to achieve the ISO 9001 certification in a short period.