§ Colonel DAYasked the Under-Secretary of State for India if he is aware of the plight of political prisoners where accommodation is insufficient to house them; and that it is a common 1551W practice to chain them together at night in tents, where the sanitary arrangements are such as to prove a grave source of discomfort and danger to the health of the prisoners; and will he consider taking immediate steps to improve the condition of these prisoners?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe question does not state to what prisons or what province or provinces the allegations made in it refer, but I am aware that it was recently suggested in the Punjab Legislative Council that a practice existed in the Punjab prisons of fastening prisoners together at night. It was explained on behalf of the Punjab Government that they had put an end to such a practice, as it had existed in earlier years, though it might conceivably have still to be re-sorted to in grave emergencies. The explanation referred to prisoners generally, and was given on the 10th December. I will send the hon. Member a copy if he requires it.