Jails

Gurpreet Singh :- Punjab’s prison system is facing mounting pressure as inmate numbers continue to rise well beyond capacity, posing a serious administrative challenge. Against an overall capacity of around 26,000 across 25 jails in the state, the current population has swelled to nearly 34,000—about 30 per cent higher than what the facilities are designed to hold. Officials attribute the surge largely to intensified action against drug trafficking and gangster networks. Notably, nearly 45 per cent of the inmates are booked in cases related to narcotics. Central jails in Ludhiana and Kapurthala are among the most overcrowded, each housing close…