Prisons in India
Prisons in India are overcrowded and eight of out ten prisoners in Indian jails await trial.[1] There are 1319 prisons in India as of 2021. Currently, there are about 1400 prisons. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of prisoners increased 13% from 2020 to 2021, making over 80% of the prisons overcrowded. After the Supreme Court order, a number of prisoners were released in 2020 to decongest the jails, reducing the overall prison occupancy in 20 states and two Union Territories to a little over 93%.[2] However, the occupancy rate increased to 130% again by 2021.[1] About 63 unnatural deaths took place in Indian prisons.[3] Among the major states, Tamil Nadu is the only state which has less than 100% occupancy followed by Karnataka.[2]
Background[edit]
Prisons, and their administration, is a state subject covered by item 4 under the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The management and administration of prisons falls exclusively in the domain of the State governments, and is governed by the Prisons Act, 1894 and the Prison manuals of the respective state governments. Thus, the states have the primary role, responsibility and authority to change the current prison laws, rules and regulations.[4] The Central Government provides assistance to the states to improve security in prisons, for the repair and renovation of old prisons, medical facilities, development of borstal schools, facilities to women offenders, vocational training, modernization of prison industries, training to prison personnel, and for the creation of high security enclosures.
The Supreme Court of India, in its judgements on various aspects of prison administration, has laid down 3 broad principles regarding imprisonment and custody. First, a person in prison does not become a non-person. Second, a person in prison is entitled to all human rights within the limitations of imprisonment. Third, there is no justification for aggravating the suffering already inherent in the process of incarceration.
According to 2021 NCRB data, Indian prison population had 77% undertrials, while only 22% convicts, with almost half of the undertrials in prison for more than 2 years.[5] Out of 5,54,000 prisoners, 4,27,000 were awaiting trial, out of which 24,033 undertrials were already in jail for three to five years. The occupancy rate of prisons was 130%.[6]
Budget[edit]
All states and union territories in India had a combined sanctioned budget of ₹7,692 crore (US$920 million) in 2021–22, an increase of 13% over the previous fiscal, for prison related expenditure. Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for ₹12.72 billion (US$150 million) of the total budget.[15]
Prison expenditure is broadly categorised as Plan Expenditure and Non-Plan Expenditure. Expenditure on specific planned activities under the Five Year Plan is termed as Plan Expenditure. Expenditure made for meeting day-to-day expenses and running establishments like payment of salaries, wages, rent, etc. come under the Non-Plan Expenditure. Non-Plan Expenditure may also include activities for development of existing infrastructure and bringing about improvements in the prisons.
Expenditure on prison inmates is categorised as Food, Clothing, Medical, Vocational/Educational facilities, Welfare and Other
expenses. Food expenses account for 65% of the total expenditure on prison inmates.[7]
Prison population[edit]
Demographics[edit]
The National Crime Records Bureau data from 2019 shows that Muslims, Dalits and Tribal prisoners in India are disproportionate to their share in the Indian population. Muslims are 14.2% of the Indian population, but 16.6% convicts, 18.7% undertrials and 35.8% detenues in Indian prisons are Muslims. Dalits form 16.6% of the population, while 21.7% of convicted inmates, 21% undertrials and 18.15% detenues in Indian prisons are Dalits. Scheduled Tribes form 8% of the population, but they form 13.6% of convicts in Indian jails, while 10.5% of undertrials and 5.68% of detenues in prison.[16] Among these, Muslims had more undertrials than convicts.[17]
There were 433,003 prisoners in jails across India as on 31 December 2016. Males at 414,505 make up 95.73% of prisoners while females at 18,498 represent 4.27%. Most prisoners are between 30 and 50 years old (44.0%), followed by age group of 18–30 years (43.1%), and above 50 years (13.0%). Forty-one inmates were between the ages of 16 and 18 years as on 31 December 2016. There were 1,649 female prisoners with 1,942 children as on the same date.[7] The education/literacy profile of prisoners as on 31 December 2016 was below matriculation (42%), illiterate (28.4%), above matriculation but below graduation (21%), graduated secondary school (5.9%), post graduates (1.8%), and technical diploma/degree holders (1%).[7]
The majority of prisoners are housed in a jail from their home state. Around 91.1% of prisoners belonged to the state in which the prison is located, while 7.5% hailed from other states, and 1.5% were foreign citizens. The number of foreign prisoners in India was 6,370 as on 31 December 2016, a decrease of 5.4% from the previous year. Among convicted foreign prisoners, the highest number are from Bangladesh (75.7%, 1,792 convicts) followed by Nepal (8.9%, 211 convicts) and Myanmar (4.3%, 101 convicts).[7]
The following table gives the population and occupancy rate of prisons in India annually:
Prison officers ranks:
Prisons Departments:
Related:
List: