THE Punjab government is spending Rs5bn on modernising jail facilities in the province, but to what end? The provincial home department’s shopping list is quite something to behold: reportedly, more than 12,000 modern cameras are to be installed in Punjab’s prisons, as well as “615 panic buttons, 1,525 public address systems, 369 body cameras, 615 walkie-talkie systems and 41 X-ray body scanners [...] In addition, 82 under-vehicle surveillance systems and 787 facial recognition access devices will also be installed”. Armed with all this equipment, the jail authorities will monitor entry and exit points, offices, barracks, security walls, kitchens, hospitals and libraries. This upgradation exercise, expected to be completed by March 2027, is supposed to make Punjab’s jails ‘better’. But how? It is worth recalling that Punjab’s prisons are some of the most overcrowded in the country. Will any of this expenditure contribute towards making conditions more humane in those facilities?

It is worth highlighting here that in Punjab’s overcrowded jails, about three-quarters of the prison population comprises undertrial prisoners; in other words, individuals suffering endlessly from the deprivation of their civil liberties without being found guilty of any crime. There are also thousands of women, and hundreds of juveniles and infants accompanying their incarcerated mothers. Health issues are rampant, with a high incidence of hepatitis, HIV and diabetes reported in the past. The mental health of prisoners is underserved, and there usually are not enough doctors to cater to the burgeoning population. While the Punjab government has, to its credit, other commendable initiatives to improve prison conditions as well, it would have been better if it continued to focus on improving conditions for prisoners instead of spending so much money on turning its jails into even more dystopian places than they already are. More than the facilities, it is the people housed in them that need the authorities’ care and compassion.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026