Jammu, Nov 26 - The Jammu and Kashmir government plans to set up more prisons over the next four years to decongest the existing ones.

The new jails would be built in all the new district headquarters. Since July 2006, eight new districts have come up in the state, taking their total number from 14 to 22.

"The prisons department plans to set up jails in each of the 22 districts," Director General (Prisons) Ashok Bhan told inmates of Kot Bhalwal, one of the biggest jails in the state, Wednesday evening.

"The primary objective is to decongest the existing prisons," he said.

Prisons in Jammu and Kashmir have been overcrowded because of the unending separatist campaign that began in 1989.

He said the capacity of the Hiranagar Jail in Kathua district has been increased three-folds -- from 25 to 75 people.

Similarly, a separate prison would be opened in Kupwara shortly and prisoners belonging to the area but lodged at Baramulla and Srinagar would be shifted.  (IANS)