Chandigarh, July 8
This tragedy was waiting to strike. Within a week of The Tribune investigations into the state of Punjab prisons, death came knocking at the doors of women’s cell in Jalandhar Central Jail.

Around 11 pm on July 3, Anu, 40, an undertrial, charged with her husband’s murder, reported acute abdominal pain. By the night of July 5, she was dead, with her relatives claiming ‘neglect’, more than illness, caused the death. Anu was put on treatment at civil hospital only after 1 am on July 4, two hours after she complained of pain, which was later attributed to appendicitis. Some jail sources say the treatment started as late as 2 am.

There is no denying the fact that jail authorities can’t arrange immediate medical aid in emergency cases even if they want to. For 1,179 inmates, this jail has one medical officer and one pharmacist, neither being in-house. Precious time is lost in summoning medical help in case of urgency, and results are often devastating.

“Since Anu was in the women’s barracks, the matron informed us of her condition around 11 pm. We then called the jail doctor, who lives off-campus. Between his arrival and referral to civil hospital, some time was lost. We have been requesting the government for two in-house jail doctors, two permanent pharmacists and one woman nurse, but nothing has happened,” said a functionary at Jalandhar jail, where mortality records are depressing.

In 2004, the jail recorded seven natural deaths. The numbers were 12 in 2005 and 18 in 2006. Till July this year, seven inmates have died, most deaths attributed to disease or illness.

The story in most jails is the same, thanks to the indifference of the Punjab government towards the prisons department. Until a year ago, Central government grants given to Punjab for jail modernisation were lapsing, as Punjab had failed to add its share. Sangrur jail’s Central grant of Rs 90 lakh had lapsed, following Punjab government’s inability to match up.

Further, unlike the police department, whose annual budget runs into thousands of crores, the jail department receives about a hundred crore, annually. “Most of the money goes towards salaries, basic jail maintenance and inmates’ diets. We have not got the jails whitewashed for over 30 years, let alone welfare measures for prisoners. There is no money. The government is also disinterested as prisons don’t yield profits,” said a jail superintendent, requesting anonymity, while listing poor pay parity and poor promotions as major causes behind demoralisation in jail cadres.

Surprisingly, an assistant jail superintendent’s pay scale is equivalent to a sub inspector’s, though his rank equals an inspector’s. That apart, the Punjab government has never cared to replace vehicles of jails department since 1987. “We were given jeeps after the Kapurthala jail break in 1987, that too because we couldn’t chase runaways as there were no vehicles. Since then, no replacements have been made. Whereas new vehicles for the police department must have been purchased as recently as 2006, our vehicles were purchased in early 1980s,” said another superintendent. Punjab jails have one old, rickety Gypsy each.

Besides, posts of constables/head constables in prisons have not been filled since 1992. Even at officers’ levels (assistant superintendents etc), no recruitment has taken place since 1997. Hundreds of posts are vacant, as serving functionaries find it hard to cope with the rising prison population - about 10,000 now. The jail capacity remains about 6,563, although new barracks are being added, said DGP Prisons Izhar Alam.

Despite such major shortage no major budget enhancement has been planned. This has led to serious shortfalls in provisions of basic medical and welfare services for inmates and other serious issues like jail security, add jail officers.

The Tribune correspondent did not find any modern security gadget in any the jails she visited. Manual frisking is the order of the day, as metal detectors lie dysfunctional in jail stores, awaiting repair. There are no X-ray machines anywhere; even security cameras are not working in many jails. The Jalandhar jail authorities have already requested for repair of their cameras, but to no avail.

Ironically, last year, the Punjab government had even failed to clear the prisons department proposal for vehicle replacement.