NHRC takes suo motu cognizance of report that says 42% of prisoners are drug addicts

The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation of the inmates lodged in different jails in the State of Punjab including UT of Chandigarh.

New Delhi:The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday took a suo motu cognizance of a media report that official sources have quoted recent studies indicating that 42% of prisoners in Punjab jails are drug addicts. Reportedly, the revelation came during a meeting held by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission with prominent stakeholders and experts to deliberate on challenges within the prison systems of Punjab and Chandigarh.

This meeting was attended by the Special DGP, Prisons ADGP, Additional IG-cum-Superintendent of Jail of Chandigarh and 25 Superintendents of different jails of Punjab. The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation of the inmates lodged in different jails in the State of Punjab including UT of Chandigarh.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Prisons, Punjab as well as the Director General of Prisons, Chandigarh calling for a detailed report on the matter within four weeks. "The report should include action taken by the authorities to address the serious issue that came up during the meeting mentioned in the news report", the NHRC said in a statement.

"The Commission would also like to know what steps have been taken or proposed to be taken to save the prisoners of the Punjab and Chandigarh jails from the drug menace, in consonance with its advisory issued on June 19, 2023, regarding mitigating deliberate self-harm and suicide attempts by prisoners", it added.

Notably, Punjab has been seeing the menace of drugs coupled with cross-border narco-terrorism for decades and several reports claim that the drug abuse in the border state has been increasing and has been destroying the lives of not just addicts/abusers but their families as well.