NCRB report, 2018: Punjab earns too many dubious distinctions

The recently released National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 2018 has ranked Punjab first in various categories, ranging from suicides in prison (27), to the total number of suicides reported from the state (1,714 ), apart from maximum number convicts (3574) lodged in jails for committing offences under liquor and narcotics drugs related acts under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

Punjab:Punjab has recorded many firsts as per the recently released National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 2018.

The north Indian state has recorded the highest number of suicides in prison, with 27 suicides committed by prisoners in jails out of the total 129 such suicides across the country, as per the 2018 report.

Even in 2017, according to the report on Prison Statistics, Punjab, with 13 suicides in state prisons, had reported the highest number of such cases in the country. West Bengal (13) and Karnataka (10) followed it closely. A total of 109 suicides were reported from prisons across the country.

Apart from suicides committed in the state prisons, Punjab also registered a rise of 15.7 per cent in the total number of suicides reported from the state, from 1,481 in 2017 to 1,714 in 2018, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India, 2018.

Punjab also tops the list in terms of suicides committed due to illness with 722 such cases reported from the state in 2018.

The state has the maximum (3574) convicts lodged in its jails for committing offences under liquor and narcotics drugs related acts under Special and Local Laws (SLL) as on December 31, 2018.

This translates into 39.22 per cent of the total convicted inmates lodged under SLL crimes. Punjab is followed by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with 954 and 747 convicts, respectively, lodged in jails for committing offences related to liquor and narcotics drugs related acts under SLL crimes.

In terms of complaints filed by prisoners to State Human Rights Commission in 2018, Punjab has recorded the highest such cases with 177 complaints registered with Punjab Human rights Commission followed by Telangana with 103 cases.

The state is not lagging far behind when it comes to mass/family suicides, with Punjab figuring in the top four states with six such cases reported in 2018.