NHRC reviews `over-crowding’ in Indian jails
With a view that jails all over India are mostly over-crowed and under- trials account for an alarming high percentage of prison population, the National Human Rights Commission has directed all States and Union Territories to send details of prison population in a prescribed format, as of 1st January and 1st July every year.
The information received as of 1 July 2000 in respect of all States/Uts except Meghalaya and Tripura show that the sanction capacity of jails in 30 States/Uts is 2,15,981. There were 2,79,082 inmates in prisons as of 1 July 2000. Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep have reported nil prison population in this period.
Where most of the States/Uts are facing problems of over-crowding in their jails, there are some States/Uts which have a lot of idle capacity.
Of the States/Uts facing problems of over-crowding in jails, Delhi tops the list. The over-crowding expressed as a percentage of authorized capacity, is 221% in Delhi. This is followed by Haryana 145.2%, Bihar 88%, Madhya Pradesh 73.6%, Orissa 61.7%, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 60.7%, Goa 48.8%, Gujarat 46.6%, Sikkim 39%, Uttar Pradesh 37.4%, Andhra Pradesh 21.8%, Punjab 19.9% and Karnataka 16.9%.
Some States have manageable prison population like Assam, whose excess population, expressed as percentage of authorized capacity is 10%, followed by Maharashtra 9.6%, Mizoram 6.5% and Dadra & Nagar Haveli 5%.
Of the States/Uts have idle capacity in their jails. Daman & Diu has 26.7% of occupancy of its total authorized capacity, Manipur 28.1%, Jammu & Kashmir 40%, Chandigarh 42.2%, West Bengal 58.8%, Nagaland 68.5%, Rajasthan 81.3%, Himachal Pradesh 89.1%, Pondicherry 89.8%, Kerala 93.3% and Tamil Nadu 97.5%.
Of the 30 States/Uts from which data have been received, in 24 more than 60% of prison populations are undertrials. The highest percentage of undertrials is reported from Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Here 100% of the prison population is undertrials. In Jammu & Kashmir it is 90.5%, Manipur 90%, Nagaland 89.8%, UP 88.7%, Bihar 85.3%, Karnataka 84.2%, Delhi 83.5%, Mizoram 80%, West Bengal 78.1%, Orissa 77.2%, Tamil Nadu 76%, Sikkim 75.5%, Chandigarh 75.1%, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 74%, Rajasthan 71.4%, Andhra Pradesh 70.6%, Assam 70.5%, Haryana 70%, Maharashtra 69.8%, Punjab 67.4%, Kerala 66.4%, Gujarat 64.2 and Goa 61.9%.
The national average of female prisoners vis-à-vis the total prison population in the country is 3.3. The highest percentage of female prisoners is reported from Mizoram – 9%. In Tamil Nadu it is 8.2%, Pondicherry 7.2%, Manipur 6.9% Chandigarh 6.4%, Punjab 5.4%, West Bengal 5%, Delhi 4.9%, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 4.8%, Haryana 4%, Maharashtra 3.7% and Himachal Pradesh 3.5%.
The Commission is planning to write to the States asking them about the measures being taken by them to tackle the problem of over-crowding after which the Commission plans to bring out comprehensive recommendations in this regard
The information received as of 1 July 2000 in respect of all States/Uts except Meghalaya and Tripura show that the sanction capacity of jails in 30 States/Uts is 2,15,981. There were 2,79,082 inmates in prisons as of 1 July 2000. Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep have reported nil prison population in this period.
Where most of the States/Uts are facing problems of over-crowding in their jails, there are some States/Uts which have a lot of idle capacity.
Of the States/Uts facing problems of over-crowding in jails, Delhi tops the list. The over-crowding expressed as a percentage of authorized capacity, is 221% in Delhi. This is followed by Haryana 145.2%, Bihar 88%, Madhya Pradesh 73.6%, Orissa 61.7%, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 60.7%, Goa 48.8%, Gujarat 46.6%, Sikkim 39%, Uttar Pradesh 37.4%, Andhra Pradesh 21.8%, Punjab 19.9% and Karnataka 16.9%.
Some States have manageable prison population like Assam, whose excess population, expressed as percentage of authorized capacity is 10%, followed by Maharashtra 9.6%, Mizoram 6.5% and Dadra & Nagar Haveli 5%.
Of the States/Uts have idle capacity in their jails. Daman & Diu has 26.7% of occupancy of its total authorized capacity, Manipur 28.1%, Jammu & Kashmir 40%, Chandigarh 42.2%, West Bengal 58.8%, Nagaland 68.5%, Rajasthan 81.3%, Himachal Pradesh 89.1%, Pondicherry 89.8%, Kerala 93.3% and Tamil Nadu 97.5%.
Of the 30 States/Uts from which data have been received, in 24 more than 60% of prison populations are undertrials. The highest percentage of undertrials is reported from Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Here 100% of the prison population is undertrials. In Jammu & Kashmir it is 90.5%, Manipur 90%, Nagaland 89.8%, UP 88.7%, Bihar 85.3%, Karnataka 84.2%, Delhi 83.5%, Mizoram 80%, West Bengal 78.1%, Orissa 77.2%, Tamil Nadu 76%, Sikkim 75.5%, Chandigarh 75.1%, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 74%, Rajasthan 71.4%, Andhra Pradesh 70.6%, Assam 70.5%, Haryana 70%, Maharashtra 69.8%, Punjab 67.4%, Kerala 66.4%, Gujarat 64.2 and Goa 61.9%.
The national average of female prisoners vis-à-vis the total prison population in the country is 3.3. The highest percentage of female prisoners is reported from Mizoram – 9%. In Tamil Nadu it is 8.2%, Pondicherry 7.2%, Manipur 6.9% Chandigarh 6.4%, Punjab 5.4%, West Bengal 5%, Delhi 4.9%, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 4.8%, Haryana 4%, Maharashtra 3.7% and Himachal Pradesh 3.5%.
The Commission is planning to write to the States asking them about the measures being taken by them to tackle the problem of over-crowding after which the Commission plans to bring out comprehensive recommendations in this regard