THE road to reforms was not easy. A portion of the jail was renovated and converted into a school block. Today, this block houses five classrooms, one library, a computer lab, and teachers’ rooms. The ‘‘Principal’’ is a qualified undertrial with Ph.D while the faculty comprises postgraduate and graduate inmates.

Needless to say an empathy with their students makes teaching a rewarding affair. Principal R S Uppal wears a big smile as he guides you around the campus. Nearly 700 students have been enrolled. Computer literate inmates, some of whom even hold an MSc in Information Technology, have chipped in with their skills.

The results are showing already. ‘‘Earlier, there was rampant drug abuse among prisoners. And many prisoners had taken to drugs only after coming here. Now all that has changed as they spend a lot of time on other activities,’’ says Joginder Kumar who has enrolled for a postgraduate degree in political science.

The de-addiction centre in the jail, the first-of-its-kind in Punjab, has also come as a great help.

‘‘So far 75 hardcore addicts have been cured and another batch of 25 addicts is under treatment,’’ says Surjeet Sharma, past president, Rotary Club, South, Amritsar.