page_title: Prisons in India
section_title: Types of prisons
hierarchical_section_title: Prisons in India / Types of prisons
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the Central Prison at Puzhal, near Chennai.
context_page_description: 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. 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.
context_section_description: Prison establishments in India exist at three levels—the taluka level, district level, and central (sometimes called zonal/range) level. The jails in these levels are called Sub Jails, District Jails, and Central Jails respectively. In general, the infrastructure, security, and prisoner facilities such as medical, educational and rehabilitation are progressively better from Sub jail to Central Jail. The other types of jail establishments are Women Jails, Borstal Schools, Open Jails and Special Jails. The following table shows the number of jails and available capacity across India as on 31 December 2016.
caption: The Central Prison in Puzhal, Chennai.
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