Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: For the first time in history, a survey of approximately 14,000 jail inmates willbe carried out across Punjab in order to know the exact causes of drug addiction and to plan effective anti-drug intervention programs. At present around 46 per cent of prisoners in the state are addicted to drugs. Out of 30,000 prisoners, 14,000 tested positive for drugs.
The survey came as a follow-up to a drug screening project of the jail department. It will start from Monday (September 12) in all the twenty-five jails across the state. 350 volunteers (students of various universities and institutions) have been engaged to complete the purpose within twelve days’ time span.
Renowned educationists and professors of Punjabi University, ISB Mohali and DAV collage Sector 10 were roped in as research committee members to prepare the questionnaire in collaboration with officers of the Punjab prisons department and Special Task Force on Drugs (STF), along with Dr Ranbir Singh de-addiction expert and co-founder of OOAT program.
The survey will be in coded format to keep it confidential and the prisoner’s identity will not be revealed. During the interview jail officials will remain at a reasonable distance and permit the interviewee to give their responses without apprehension while keeping observation over them. The jail officers have also been instructed to issue identity cards to interviewers and sensitised to ensure that the interviewers are made secure and comfortable in each jail.
The identity of the prisoner shall be kept anonymous as each prisoner will be allotted a special code number for this purpose. During the survey, the jail department is making it sure that the identity of the prisoners is not revealed when they are asked the questions and the answers are recorded by the interviewer.
The questionnaire will contain 85 questions based on factors (both inside and outside prison) which may have a substantial impact on the addiction or de-addiction status of the prisoners. These factors include geographical factors, psycho-social factors, socio-economic factors, policing, prison specific and de-addiction.
The questionnaire includes questions such as how to improve de-addition services in jails, how can authorities effectively detect drugs in and outside the jails, how they manage to get drugs in the jails and outside, how to improve the peer support system, how they manage when they are unable to get drugs, how can prevention programs be made more effective and so forth.
The prisoners will also be asked about how long they have been in jail, how many times they have come to jail and duration, their income level, till which class they have studied, what is their occupation and the list is endless.
The idea of the survey was put forward by Harpreet Singh Sidhu Special DGP (Prisons) before the Punjab Jail Minister Harjit Singh Bains and the Additional Chief Secretary (Jails) KAP Sinha. It is a joint effort between the jails department and the Special Task Force on drugs (STF) which is also headed by Sidhu.
Bains addressed the training program held on September 10 to motivate the students and staff. After the completion of the survey inside the prisons, a similar survey would be conducted amongst the general public to get large-scale data in order to formulate a long-term action plan for eradicating the menace of drugs in the whole state, he added.
CHANDIGARH: For the first time in history, a survey of approximately 14,000 jail inmates will
be carried out across Punjab in order to know the exact causes of drug addiction and to plan effective anti-drug intervention programs. At present around 46 per cent of prisoners in the state are addicted to drugs. Out of 30,000 prisoners, 14,000 tested positive for drugs.
The survey came as a follow-up to a drug screening project of the jail department. It will start from Monday (September 12) in all the twenty-five jails across the state. 350 volunteers (students of various universities and institutions) have been engaged to complete the purpose within twelve days’ time span.
Renowned educationists and professors of Punjabi University, ISB Mohali and DAV collage Sector 10 were roped in as research committee members to prepare the questionnaire in collaboration with officers of the Punjab prisons department and Special Task Force on Drugs (STF), along with Dr Ranbir Singh de-addiction expert and co-founder of OOAT program.
The survey will be in coded format to keep it confidential and the prisoner’s identity will not be revealed. During the interview jail officials will remain at a reasonable distance and permit the interviewee to give their responses without apprehension while keeping observation over them. The jail officers have also been instructed to issue identity cards to interviewers and sensitised to ensure that the interviewers are made secure and comfortable in each jail.
The identity of the prisoner shall be kept anonymous as each prisoner will be allotted a special code number for this purpose. During the survey, the jail department is making it sure that the identity of the prisoners is not revealed when they are asked the questions and the answers are recorded by the interviewer.
The questionnaire will contain 85 questions based on factors (both inside and outside prison) which may have a substantial impact on the addiction or de-addiction status of the prisoners. These factors include geographical factors, psycho-social factors, socio-economic factors, policing, prison specific and de-addiction.
The questionnaire includes questions such as how to improve de-addition services in jails, how can authorities effectively detect drugs in and outside the jails, how they manage to get drugs in the jails and outside, how to improve the peer support system, how they manage when they are unable to get drugs, how can prevention programs be made more effective and so forth.
The prisoners will also be asked about how long they have been in jail, how many times they have come to jail and duration, their income level, till which class they have studied, what is their occupation and the list is endless.
The idea of the survey was put forward by Harpreet Singh Sidhu Special DGP (Prisons) before the Punjab Jail Minister Harjit Singh Bains and the Additional Chief Secretary (Jails) KAP Sinha. It is a joint effort between the jails department and the Special Task Force on drugs (STF) which is also headed by Sidhu.
Bains addressed the training program held on September 10 to motivate the students and staff. After the completion of the survey inside the prisons, a similar survey would be conducted amongst the general public to get large-scale data in order to formulate a long-term action plan for eradicating the menace of drugs in the whole state, he added.
