The Prison Data Report, Pakistan’s Prison Landscape: Trends, Data and Developments in 2024, paints a bleak picture of the state of prisoners. People expect the conditions in a jail system to be dismal — they are being punished after all — but three out of four in jails are those who are still under trial, hence technically not sentenced as guilty.

Punjab, the most populous province, houses the largest number of prisoners — approximately 62,000 — but spends a modest Rs860 per inmate daily. This allocation reflects the challenges of managing a significantly large prison population within the constraints of a provincial budget.

Sindh has the second-largest prison population at 22,500 inmates and allocates a similar amount — Rs880 per prisoner per day. With one of the largest urban centres, Karachi, Sindh faces unique challenges in managing its inmate population, including addressing higher crime rates and ensuring adequate resources for both prisoners and prison staff.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which houses 13,000 prisoners, allocates Rs1,400 per day per inmate — a significantly higher amount than Punjab and Sindh. Balochistan, the most sparsely populated and resource-constrained province, houses the smallest number of prisoners — just 3,000 inmates — but allocates the highest daily expenditure per prisoner at Rs1,560. While this might seem disproportionate given Balochistan’s economic challenges, the high per-prisoner spending may reflect the logistical costs of managing prisons in a geographically vast and underdeveloped province.

Given the massive overcrowding problems and sub-optimal living conditions, these allocations are vastly insufficient. Part of the problem lies with the Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997 (CNSA), under which harsh punishments are doled out to those who are addicted. Under it, incarceration rates have increased, but conviction rates have plummeted. In Punjab, convictions dropped from 16pc in 2022, to just 2pc in 2023, according to the report. Roughly 98pc of the people jailed for drugs were ultimately not found guilty.

In 2024, the prison population grew by only 1.7pc. Given the state of extreme overcrowding, this is perhaps positive news though it is uncertain what it says about the country’s law and order situation and security of citizens. In Karachi’s Central Prison alone, prisoners are housed at 335pc capacity — a jail built for 2,400 inmates houses 8,518.

At about 40 prisoners for every 100,000 individuals, Pakistan’s incarceration rate is lower than the global average. Keep in mind that of those, three-quarters are under trial and hence not proven guilty. Pakistan is not known for its law and order conditions. While typing up this article, a message was circulating on one of the WhatsApp groups about a mugging incident with a plea for the stolen bag to be returned if found. The odds are that many of those reading these words have been in a similar situation of being mugged. How many of us report to the police and expect the criminal to end up in jail?

As a result, the jails are overcrowded by people who may not be guilty living in abysmal circumstances. Series like ‘Prison Break’ and ‘Orange is the New Black’ do not paint a pretty picture but those jails are in the US with much more humane conditions. In Pakistan, those outside jails have limited access to clean water for drinking or bathing and nutritious food, much less those incarcerated.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, January 20th, 2025