New Delhi: Ten per cent of 12,500 inmates of Asia's largest prison, Tihar jail are drug addicts, revealed prison officials.
Even as a large number of inmates suffer from drug addiction, jail authorities are still not able to completely check the flow of tobacco and drugs into the complex despite stringent checking and frisking.
Though officials claimed incidents of smuggling had decreased, some officials were found to have a hand in the availability of drugs in the prison. “We are taking strict action against such personnel,” PTI quoted Director General (Prisons) B K Gupta as saying. He added that he had already suspended six staffs for such illegal activities.
"Eight to ten per cent of the inmates are drug addicts and a drug de-addiction and rehabilitation programme is being carried out in a big way," Gupta added.
Officials say 5,180 prisoners took de-addiction treatment including counselling last year and the authorities had to open a 120-bedded integrated de-addiction centre in Tihar.
A survey conducted by the prison officials showed that more than half of the drug addicts are illiterate and around 46 per cent of them took to drugs due to peer pressure.
Officials are skeptical about the statistics but say the inmates had been taking drugs before being lodged in Tihar.
Studies indicate that while 28 per cent of the drug addicts are in the age group of 18-23, 36 per cent are aged between 24-30 and 29 per cent 31-45.
Adding to the problem, it was discovered that over 1,000 drug addicts indulged in unsafe sex and around 900 of them had multiple partners when they were outside the prison.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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