LAHORE, Jan 12: Almost all the 29 jails in the Punjab are overcrowded and short of staff.

Built for 17,413 inmates, the Punjab jails are stuffed with 46,993 prisoners —- almost three times more than the capacity of these buildings. The number came down from 54,335 during Ramazan when philanthropists paid Rs5.7 million as diyat and fine for 7,623 prisoners and they were released subsequently.

The situation on ground is worse as far as distribution of prisoners is concerned. The jail manual categorize prisoners on the basis of crime, age, region and sex and practically speaking categorization makes the distribution of prisoners brutally uneven.

Lahore’s Central Jail, sectarian terrorist — Shabbir Fauzi —- is housed alone in a six-room cell. The other barracks have around 55 to 60 prisoners. Another sectarian terrorist is locked in a barrack of 10 cells while the other 10 cells have almost 100 inmates.

“The jail staff is bound to keep these prisoners separate to severe their links from the outer world. But this can only be done at the cost of other inmates,” says an official of the jail. These two prisoners are occupying the space meant for 160 prisoners. Presently, the jail houses 2,976 inmates against a capacity of 994, he said.

Women and juvenile prisoners are another problem. There is only one women jail in Multan where 273 prisoners are housed against a capacity of 104. The other women prisoners are kept at Lahore and Rawalpindi. These prisoners have to be kept separated regardless of space and capacity. So are juvenile prisoners. They are not only kept apart from older prisoners but are further divided into sub-categories to avoid any social problem. Only strict compartmentalization can reduce the risk of sex-related incidents.

“The jail authorities keep them separated not only from the older ones but they also categorized them further according to age. On room in juvenile barracks houses 100 prisoners aged 15 years but the other one has only 55 prisoners of 17 years of age,” says another jail official.

“Overcrowding is the cause of most of the problems. Prisoners should be kept in humane conditions. As along as the jails are short of space, conditions can’t improve,” says a human rights activist.

What can jails staff do if courts keep dumping people there? Occasional releases hardly make any difference. Jails are not meant for addicts and they have to be put in rehabilitation centres. They sometimes form 25 per cent of prisoners and they are being kept in jail at the cost of other prisoners, he said.

Shortage of jails staff is another major problem. Presently, the jails department faces a shortage of 730 officials against a sanctioned strength of 7,642.

In a jail, around 1,500 people come and go daily. Lahore’s Central Jail has an average of around 450 visitors daily. This is in addition to the jail staff that moves in and out in three shifts.

Overcrowding also causes hygienic problems as facilities like sewerage, drainage, bedding, toilets and bathrooms are provided in a jail according to its capacity.

“Prisoners are forced to breathe on each other while being locked in a small room from dusk to dawn,” says a former medical officer of the jail. Any infectious disease can, and do spread quickly in the jails. An outbreak of meningitis in Gujranwala and skin diseases in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Sheikhupura jails are a few examples. Itching is the most common problem found in the jails, he added.

Administrative problems caused by overcrowding eat up most of the time of the jail administration. “Prisoners cannot sleep without crossing their legs due to space shortage.