Overcrowded Punjab prisons endanger inmates’ health.

In Punjab, where the rate of crime has escalated alarmingly, the number of convicts and under-trial prisoners in the province’s jails has touched an alrmingly high and dangerous level.

The prisons are now overcrowded by 81 percent, with inmates being stuffed into barracks like cattle.

According to the records obtained from the Punjab Home Department, there are currently 71,000 convicts and under-trial prisoners in 45 jails in the province.

Of these, 68,570 are men and 1,310 are women. Of these, 3,000 are on death row, including nine women, and 16,832 are serving life imprisonment or less, including 285 women. Among the convicts, 51,514 are under-trial, including 50,000 men and 1,000 women.

The total capacity of these 45 jails is 38,980, which means that the jails are overcrowded by 81 percent. The District Jail Bahawalnagar is the most overcrowded, with 817 convicts against a capacity of 176, which means it is overcrowded by 364 percent.

The District Jail Rahim Yar Khan has 972 convicts against a capacity of 250, which means it is overcrowded by 290 percent. . Central Jail Rawalpindi (Adiala Jail), where PTI founder and his wife are imprisoned, has a capacity of 2,174 but houses 8,000 inmates, 267 per cent over capacity.

Overcrowding has severe health impacts as prisoners are afflicted with coughs, allergies, rashes, intestinal problems, fevers, headaches, and hypertension. The Punjab Health Department reported that the high prison population has led to more health hazards, and temporary medical camps have been established in collaboration with local hospitals to provide medical facilities to the prisoners.

Professor Dr. Rizwan Aziz said that overcrowding results in low immunity among prisoners and results in a large number of illnesses. “Previous efforts to prevent germs have been inadequate, and proper nutrition is not provided in most cases,” said Dr. Aziz.

An NGO chairperson, Farah Hashmi, called for medical camps to be arranged by the government every six months in collaboration with the private sector to check the health of the inmates.

The Punjab Home Department is working to resolve the issue of a lack of doctors, but only 110 doctors are available for the 70,000 prisoners. Currently, 1,457 prisoners are suffering from serious diseases, including 272 with HIV/AIDS, 137 with Hepatitis B, 517 with Hepatitis C, 460 with diabetes, and 59 with mental illnesses.

Ex-prisoners have revealed that medical facilities in prison hospitals are restricted and can only be accessed through recommendations, while most prisoners recieve medicines in barracks.