Is Punjab incapable of solving overcrowding problem in jails?

Jails across province overcrowded by 57%, reveals report by Punjab IG prisons

ISLAMABAD: Even after a passage of seven years, the Punjab government has not been able to solve the overcrowding problem in its jails.

The Punjab jails are still overcrowded by 57 per cent despite a reduction of 82 per cent in the number of prisoners over the last seven years, says a report submitted by Inspector General of Prisons Punjab Mian Farooq Nazir in the Supreme Court in a suo motu case regarding the miserable condition of jails.

More than half of the total jails in Punjab are still overcrowded as cells built for 50 inmates are crammed with up to 90 of them, the report added.



The report claims that the total housing capacity of 40 prisons in Punjab is around 30,331 inmates against the existing 47,674.

To reduce the overcrowding in prisons, the report revealed that the government of Punjab is constructing new jails and expanding the existing ones, adding that during the financial years, 2014-16, nine new prisons with an accumulative capacity of 7,186 inmates had been constructed and made functional.

The report stated, “Overcrowding during the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 had been 139 per cent, 148 per cent, 132 per cent, 126 per cent, 129 per cent, 84 per cent, 65 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively. On account of the continuous efforts of the government, overcrowding has been brought down to 57 percent.”

The provincial government will construct three new prisons with a housing capacity of 2,768 inmates and a cost of Rs3,427.085 million, it added.

The report stated that 54 family rooms, with attached kitchens and washrooms, each in central jails in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad have been constructed, where convicts sentenced to long-term imprisonment (exceeding five years) will stay with their spouses and children for three days after every quarter.

“The standing operating procedures for family rooms are being finalised and will be operational shortly,” the report stated.

The report informed the Supreme Court that since 2011, some 23,556 prisoners appeared in different examinations concerning formal and informal education, wherein 8,324 passed those examinations, adding that on this account, 1,793 inmates were awarded remissions in their sentences.



Likewise since 2012, a total number of 1,788 destitute inmates, lacking financial resources to pay the outstanding fines, had been released from prisons on the payment of fine amounting to Rs53.27 million by the government.

Regarding female prisoners, the report says that 913 female prisoners of all categories are confined in women jail in Multan. Recreational facilities and education are provided to the children accompanying the female inmates who are under six years of age.

The children above six years of age are shifted to SOS village for further education. Moreover, at the central jail in Rawalpindi, education up to primary level is being provided to the children confined along with their mothers with the cooperation of non-governmental organisations like Women Aid Trust Islamabad and Khubaib Foundation Islamabad, it added.

Presently, 601 juvenile prisoners of all categories are confined in the jails of Punjab. Two special jails for keeping juvenile prisoners are functioning in Bahawalpur and Faisalabad, the report further stated.



Likewise, the report stated that presently 4,346 prisoners on death row are confined in Punjab jails on the orders of the high court, adding that they have been permitted to occupy the courtyard for strolling an hour each.

Regarding the prisoners with mental illness, the report says that currently, 57 certified prisoners with mental illness are confined inside the Punjab jails, adding that 27 of them are presently admitted in DHQ hospitals/Punjab Institute of Mental Health Lahore and others for psychiatric treatment.

The report says that the Punjab government, under the chief minister’s special initiative for prisons reforms, has constructed 4,508 toilets in different prisons in the province for inmates. Likewise, the government has provided uniform and bedding for all inmates, adding that since 2012, more than 116,230 blankets had been provided to them through indigenous production in prison industry as well as through assistance from philanthropists. Cots had been provided to all female and juvenile inmates in the prisons.

It is also submitted that in pursuance of the direction of the Supreme Court, the government has evolved a monitoring framework, wherein 10 different forums are monitoring the functioning of prisons.

The report concluded that even the judges of high court, district and sessions judges, officers of inspectorate of prisons, home department, health department and others regularly conduct inspection of Punjab prisons and submit their necessary report to the home department.