16,000 convicts,undertrials in Punjab will not participate in polls

When contacted,Hira Singh Gabria,Minister for Jails,Punjab,who has been talking of jail reforms since the SAD (B) government came to power,seemed stumped by the query. He remarked,“At present,we are following the old Jail Act,which was enforced in 1894. The new Act is under formulation and hopefully it would have a provision for voting for prisoners. As of now,there is no way we can help the convicts and undertrials cast their votes.”

Notably,Punjab has seven central jails at Patiala,Bathinda,Ferozepur,Amritsar,Gurdaspur,Jalandhar and Ludhiana; five district jails at Nabha,Sangrur,Faridkot,Kapurthala,Hoshiarpur; two open-air jails at Nabha and Kapurthala; one women’s jail at Ludhiana; one borstal jail at Ludhiana and 10 sub-jails at Fazilka,Moga,Muktsar,Patti,Ropar,Barnala,Malerkotla,Phagwara,Dasuya and Pathankot. Against the total capacity of lodging of about 12,000 convicts,Punjab jails have nearly 16,000 of them.

Garbria further added,“Basically,the convicts and undertrials are the property of the court who are kept in jails. All the decisions regarding the jail inmates are taken by the court and hence this decision has also to be taken by them only.” Kuldeep Singh,former superintendent,Ludhiana Central Jail,who is now the principal of a police training school at Patiala,said,“The major issue here is of security. We do not have that kind of manpower that we can take convicts out of jails for voting. It is up to the Elections Commission if they want to open a polling station inside the jail. But yes,it is true that these people do not get to be a part of the country’s democratic process.”