‘Half the inmates are drug addicts in Punjab’; HC says requires highest priority

The bench of acting chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rajesh Gaur also directed Haryana and Chandigarh to provide similar data about the jail inmates in their respective jurisdictions to check the prevalence in their territories

Taking serious note of the revelations that nearly half of prisoners in Punjab jails are drug addicts, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has said that the data reflects a serious challenge for the state, which must be accorded the highest priority.

2,951 are between 18-25 years, 5,656 between 26-35 years, 4,544 between 36-45 years, 1,977 between 46-55 years and 677 are above 55 years. (HT FILE)

The bench of acting chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rajesh Gaur also directed Haryana and Chandigarh to provide similar data about the jail inmates in their respective jurisdictions to check the prevalence in their territories. And further roped in as respondents —the ministry of health and family welfare, Government of India and Punjab; Chandigarh administration and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, in view of seriousness of the issue and the alarming state in Punjab.

“Perusal of the said status report (report by prisons department) indicates that almost 50% of the jail inmates lodged in different jails across the state are drug-dependent. Out of a total of 35,449 jail inmates lodged in different jails, 15,768 are dependent on drugs. The age-wise composition has also been furnished in paragraph 5 of the status report, which indicates that most of these drug-dependent inmates are in the prime of their youth. This clearly reflects a serious challenge for the state, which must be accorded the highest priority,” the bench observed while seeking response from these parties by September 8.

As highlighted by the Hindustan Times on September 2, a report from the Punjab government’s prisons department had revealed that an alarming 45% of inmates in the state’s jails are drug addicts. The report said that there are a total of 25 jail facilities — district jails and central jails — in the state. A total of 35,449 inmates are lodged in these prisons, of whom 15,678 are registered with Out-Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment Clinic (OOAT Clinic).

The report said Kapurthala has the highest number of OOAT clinic-registered prisoners with 2,635 out of 4,196, followed by Amritsar with 2,124 out of 4,918. Faridkot has 1,441 registered prisoners out of 2,840, while 1,071 out of 1,522 are registered in Gurdaspur and 1,064 out of 1,978 are registered in Bathinda Central Jail.

It further revealed that no one registered with an OOAT clinic is below the age of 18. However, 2,951 are between 18-25 years, 5,656 between 26-35 years, 4,544 between 36-45 years, 1,977 between 46-55 years and 677 are above 55 years.

The high court sought the data on drug- dependence from Punjab jails after an administrative judge in June reported that approximately 69% of the total inmate population in Mansa is undergoing treatment at the OOAT Clinic, indicating a significant prevalence of drug addiction among the inmates.