The public health crisis in India’s prisons is distinguished by its poorer infrastructure and a general disregard for treating ailments until they become inconvenient. While the State has many foreign national inmates, overcrowding is a persistent fact of India’s correctional facilities. A 2023 study in The Lancet Public Health found prisoners in India five times more likely to develop tuberculosis (TB) than the general population. In 2025, the Home Ministry ordered prison screening camps as unventilated environments allow TB to spread rapidly. Filling this gap requires integrating prisons into the National Health Mission, ensuring a sufficient number of health workers trained to manage outbreaks, and enforcing the Manual’s standards uniformly across States.

Source: The Hindu March 18, 2026 15:53 UTC