Aimed at bringing reforms in the state’s jails to make them ‘correctional centres’, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Thursday launched mental health intervention program in the state’s jails.

Dr Balbir, launching a program during a state-level function, said that the initiative will provide screening, counseling and referral services to prisoners in four jails of Punjab — Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, Patiala, and Amritsar.

“The project will soon be implemented across all the jails in Punjab. Counsellors have been recruited in these centers with the support of World Health Partners, who will conduct counselling with the aim of improving the mental health of detainees and prisoners,” he said.

Dr Balbir said that this initiative will further strengthen our commitment to implement the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, which will make it mandatory for every State Government to have a mental health facility in the medical wing of prisons. 

Underlining the mental health issues faced by the prisoners, Dr Balbir Singh said suicide is a major consequence of mental illness among inmates. The Supreme Court appointed Committee, in its latest report, has stated that suicide is a major cause of unnatural deaths among prisoners in India. The committee said that out of 817 unnatural deaths in prisons, 660 were suicides, which is quite worrying.

Dr Balbir said that mental health issues among prisoners not only affect their well-being but its implications are that every day, there are seizures of mobile phones, drugs from jails. Now with this initiative, good news will start coming from jails and the prisoners will be made self-reliant by giving them training and by improving their mental health.

“Out of 25,000 prisoners in jails, 14,000 prisoners are lodged under NDPS Act. All of such prisoners are not smugglers, but they are in jails due to drug addiction. Instead of sending these drug addicts to prisons, if they are sent to de-addiction centers by improving their mental health, the prison load can be reduced considerably,” he said.

He added that the reformed prisoners, who are in the jails, will also become role models for the society by giving up drugs and becoming self-reliant.