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.
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. 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.
