Lok Sabha Question No. 22 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-05
Subject: Overcrowded Prisons
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: RAJIV PRATAP RUDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *22

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 05 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019/ MAGHA 16, 1940 (SAKA)

OVERCROWDED PRISONS

*22. SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has conducted any assessment to check if the prisons in the country are overcrowded;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c)  the  total  capacity  of  the  prisons  in  the  country  along  with  the  total number of prisoners in these prisons, State-wise;

(d) the details regarding the total number of International prisoners in the country, country-wise; and

(e)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  that  the  prisons  in  the country are not overcrowded?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI HANSRAJ GANGARAM AHIR)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *22 FOR 5 TH  FEBRUARY 2019

(a)  to  (d):       As  per  information  published  by  the  National  Crime  Records Bureau (NCRB), State/Union Territory (UT) wise details of capacity of jails and inmates' population, as on 31.12.2015, are given in Annexure-I.  Total number  of  foreign  convicts  and  undertrial  inmates  in  Indian  Jails,  by nationality, as on 31.12.2015 are given in Annexure-II and III respectively. The latest published data pertains to the year 2015.

(e):      'Prisons'  and  'persons  detained  therein'  are  'State'  subjects  under List  II  of  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India.  Prison Administration is, therefore, the responsibility of State Governments. The State Governments are competent to formulate and implement appropriate strategies to address the issue of overcrowding in prisons.  However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued various advisories to States and UTs from  time  to  time  on  reducing  overcrowding  in  prisons.    Model  Prison Manual, 2016 has also been forwarded to all States and UTs, which inter alia, provides for measures to be taken to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  also  taken  various  initiatives  like insertion  of  Section  436A  in  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure  (Cr.  PC)  which provides  for  release  of  an  undertrial  prisoner  on  bail  on  undergoing detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law (not being an offence

## L.S.S.Q NO. *22 FOR 05.02.2019

for  which  the  punishment  of  death  has  been  specified  as  one  of  the punishments under that law) and introduction of a new chapter on 'Plea Bargaining'.   The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) provides free legal aid to undertrial prisoners through its 1126 legal service clinics and 9563  Remand  Advocates.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  Undertrial  Review Committees,  the  IT  solution  -  Eprisons,  developed  by  the  Government, generates the list of undertrials who are eligible for release under Section 436A of Cr. PC, on real time basis. Further, a Standard Operating Procedure has also been prepared by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) for the Undertrial Review Committees.

***********

## Annexure-I

## L.S.S.Q NO. *22 FOR 05.02.2019

State/UT-wise Capacity of Jails and  Inmate Population as on 31.12.2015

| Sl. No   | State/UT          | Available Capacity   | Available Capacity   | Available Capacity   | Inmate Population   | Inmate Population   | Inmate Population   |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Sl. No   | State/UT          | Male                 | Female               | Total                | Male                | Female              | Total               |
| (1)      | (2)               | (3)                  | (4)                  | (5)                  | (6)                 | (7)                 | (8)                 |
| 1        | ANDHRA PRADESH    | 7984                 | 899                  | 8883                 | 7481                | 416                 | 7897                |
| 2        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 188                  | 24                   | 212                  | 180                 | 4                   | 184                 |
| 3        | ASSAM             | 7706                 | 586                  | 8292                 | 8780                | 317                 | 9097                |
| 4        | BIHAR             | 36449                | 1360                 | 37809                | 27527               | 891                 | 28418               |
| 5        | CHHATTISGARH      | 7046                 | 506                  | 7552                 | 16754               | 908                 | 17662               |
| 6        | GOA               | 1070                 | 25                   | 1095                 | 393                 | 30                  | 423                 |
| 7        | GUJARAT           | 11359                | 973                  | 12332                | 11262               | 516                 | 11778               |
| 8        | HARYANA           | 15242                | 1476                 | 16718                | 17546               | 723                 | 18269               |
| 9        | HIMACHAL PRADESH  | 1649                 | 138                  | 1787                 | 1912                | 67                  | 1979                |
| 10       | JAMMU & KASHMIR   | 2800                 | 201                  | 3001                 | 2247                | 91                  | 2338                |
| 11       | JHARKHAND         | 14666                | 742                  | 15408                | 16751               | 862                 | 17613               |
| 12       | KARNATAKA         | 12850                | 1196                 | 14046                | 12934               | 539                 | 13473               |
| 13       | KERALA            | 5773                 | 417                  | 6190                 | 7106                | 219                 | 7325                |
| 14       | MADHYA PRADESH    | 25857                | 1650                 | 27507                | 37136               | 1322                | 38458               |
| 15       | MAHARASHTRA       | 24584                | 1719                 | 26303                | 28321               | 1336                | 29657               |
| 16       | MANIPUR           | 860                  | 110                  | 970                  | 611                 | 40                  | 651                 |
| 17       | MEGHALAYA         | 485                  | 45                   | 530                  | 935                 | 8                   | 943                 |
| 18       | MIZORAM           | 1126                 | 185                  | 1311                 | 1151                | 93                  | 1244                |
| 19       | NAGALAND          | 1290                 | 160                  | 1450                 | 481                 | 9                   | 490                 |
| 20       | ODISHA            | 16371                | 1641                 | 18012                | 15323               | 642                 | 15965               |
| 21       | PUNJAB            | 18479                | 1588                 | 20067                | 22510               | 1135                | 23645               |
| 22       | RAJASTHAN         | 18409                | 1210                 | 19619                | 19409               | 677                 | 20086               |
| 23       | SIKKIM            | 206                  | 47                   | 253                  | 238                 | 13                  | 251                 |
| 24       | TAMIL NADU        | 19774                | 2427                 | 22201                | 13495               | 627                 | 14122               |
| 25       | TELANGANA         | 6388                 | 677                  | 7065                 | 5750                | 451                 | 6201                |
| 26       | TRIPURA           | 2051                 | 122                  | 2173                 | 997                 | 42                  | 1039                |
| 27       | UTTAR PRADESH     | 49434                | 3138                 | 52572                | 85214               | 3533                | 88747               |
| 28       | UTTARAKHAND       | 3065                 | 123                  | 3188                 | 4162                | 186                 | 4348                |
| 29       | WEST BENGAL       | 19493                | 1423                 | 20916                | 20017               | 1506                | 21523               |
|          | TOTAL (STATES)    | 332654               | 24808                | 357462               | 386623              | 17203               | 403826              |
| 30       | A & N ISLANDS     | 1209                 | 40                   | 1249                 | 493                 | 6                   | 499                 |
| 31       | CHANDIGARH        | 1000                 | 120                  | 1120                 | 664                 | 24                  | 688                 |
| 32       | D & N HAVELI      | 50                   | 10                   | 60                   | 153                 | 13                  | 166                 |
| 33       | DAMAN & DIU       | 120                  | 40                   | 160                  | 43                  | 3                   | 46                  |
| 34       | DELHI             | 5850                 | 400                  | 6250                 | 13604               | 579                 | 14183               |
| 35       | LAKSHADWEEP       | 64                   | 0                    | 64                   | 24                  | 0                   | 24                  |
|          | PUDUCHERRY        |                      |                      |                      |                     |                     | 191                 |
| 36       | TOTAL (UTs)       | 371 8664             | 45 655               | 416 9319             | 185 15166           | 6 631               | 15797               |
|          | TOTAL (ALL-INDIA) | 341318               | 25463                | 366781               | 401789              | 17834               | 419623              |

Source: Prison Statistics India

## Annexure-II

## L.S.S.Q NO. *22 FOR 05.02.2019

Number of Foreign Convicts by Nationality as on 31.12.2015

| S. No.                 | Name of Country                              |   Foreign Convicts |
|------------------------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| 1                      | Canadians                                    |                  2 |
| 2                      | North American Countries (other than Canada) |                  1 |
| 3                      | South American Countries                     |                  1 |
| 4                      | Africans (other than Nigerians)              |                 18 |
| 5                      | Nigerians                                    |                 59 |
| 6                      | CIS (Russian) Federation                     |                  2 |
| 7                      | Middle East Countries                        |                  1 |
| 8                      | Chinese                                      |                  1 |
| 9                      | Japanese                                     |                  1 |
| 10                     | Nepalese                                     |                228 |
| 11                     | Pakistanis                                   |                 97 |
| 12                     | Myanmar                                      |                376 |
| 13                     | Bangladeshis                                 |               1493 |
| 14                     | Sri Lankan                                   |                 30 |
| 15                     | South East Asian Countries                   |                 12 |
| 16                     | Other Foreign Nationals                      |                 31 |
| Total Foreign Convicts | Total Foreign Convicts                       |               2353 |

Source: Prison Statistics India

## Annexure-III

## L.S.S.Q NO. *22 FOR 05.02.2019

Foreign Undertrials by Nationality as on 31.12.2015

| S. No.                    | Name of Country                              |   Foreign Undertrials |
|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1                         | Canadians                                    |                     2 |
| 2                         | North American Countries (other than Canada) |                     2 |
| 3                         | South American Countries                     |                    14 |
| 4                         | Africans (other than Nigerians)              |                   177 |
| 5                         | Nigerians                                    |                   340 |
| 6                         | CIS (Russian) Federation                     |                    10 |
| 7                         | Middle East Countries                        |                     9 |
| 8                         | Chinese                                      |                     9 |
| 9                         | Japanese                                     |                     3 |
| 10                        | Nepalese                                     |                   361 |
| 11                        | Pakistanis                                   |                   113 |
| 12                        | Myanmar                                      |                    41 |
| 13                        | Bangladeshis                                 |                  2579 |
| 14                        | Sri Lankan                                   |                    35 |
| 15                        | Maldivians                                   |                     3 |
| 16                        | South East Asian Countries                   |                     5 |
| 17                        | Australians                                  |                     2 |
| 18                        | Other Foreign Nationals                      |                    90 |
| Total Foreign Undertrials | Total Foreign Undertrials                    |                  3795 |

Source: Prison Statistics India