Inside Punjab Prisons

The report, ‘Inside Punjab Prisons’, is a detailed study on the condition of prisons in Punjab commissioned by the Punjab State Legal Services Authority (PULSA) to CHRI in 2018. The study was done in compliance with an order of the Supreme Court of India wherein all State Legal Service Authorities in the country were directed to undertake a study on prison conditions in their respective states. CHRI conducted extensive fieldwork in all 24 prisons of Punjab in 2018-2019 and interacted with 660 prisoners including convicted and under-trial male and female prisoners, transgender prisoners, alleged juveniles and foreign national prisoners. Not just prisoners but numerous prison staff across cadres including Superintendents, Deputy Superintendents, Welfare Officers, Warders, Head Warders and Medical officers were also interviewed. The report is divided in two part: Part A having 11 thematic chapters on topics, including but not limited to, prison population, infrastructure, administration, basic facilities, labour and wages, special categories of inmates, access to legal aid, NDPS cases, corruption and custodial violence; and Part B containing detailed report on each of 24 jails.