Lok Sabha Question No. 289 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-15
Subject: Capacity of Prisons
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Ashok Kumar Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 289

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 15 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020/BHADRAPADA 24, 1942 (SAKA)

CAPACITY OF PRISONS

289.  SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of prisons in the country and the number of prisoners that can be accomodated in them, State-wise/place-wise;

(b)  the  number  of  prisoners  lodged  in  the  prisons  at  present,  prison-wise/Statewise; and

(c)  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  the  capacity  of  these prisons and the steps taken or proposed to be taken to improve the poor condition of such prisons?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a)  &  (b):  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  prison  statistics reported to it by States and Union Territories (UTs) and publishes it in its annual report  'Prison  Statistics  India'.  The  latest  published  report  is  of  the  year  2019. State/UT-wise number of prisons in the country, their capacity and the number of inmates lodged in them as on 31 st  December, 2019 are given in Annexure.

(c): 'Prisons' and 'persons detained therein' are 'State' subjects as per Entry 4 of List  II  of  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India.  States/UTs  are competent to take appropriate decisions in their jurisdictions for increasing the capacity  of  prisons  as  per  local  requirement  and  to  improve  the  condition  of prisons.

## LS.US.Q.NO.289 FOR 15.09.2020

However,  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA)  has  also  been  supplementing  the efforts  of  States  and  UTs  by  issuing  various  advisories  from  time  to  time  for adoption  of  measures  for  efficient  prison  administration  and  to  improve  the condition  of  prisons.  These  advisories  are  available  on  MHA's  website  at: https://www.mha.gov.in/. A Model Prison Manual has also been circulated by MHA to all States and UTs, which provides detailed guidelines on wide ranging issues like Prison Building & Architecture, Custodial Management, Welfare of Prisoners, Medical  Care,  Vocational  Training  and  Skill  Development  programmes  etc.  for safety, security and welfare of prison inmates.

State/UT-wise number of prisons, available capacity and inmate population as on 31st December, 2019

| Sl No.   | State/UT          |   Number of Prisons |   Available Capacity |   Number of Prison Inmates |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------|----------------------|----------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                 106 |                 8789 |                       7579 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                   2 |                  233 |                        247 |
| 3        | Assam             |                  31 |                 8888 |                       9226 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                  59 |                42222 |                      39814 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                  33 |                12063 |                      18112 |
| 6        | Goa               |                   1 |                  624 |                        518 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                  30 |                13762 |                      15089 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                  19 |                19306 |                      20423 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                  14 |                 2146 |                       2373 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir@   |                  15 |                 2910 |                       3689 |
| 11       | Jharkhand         |                  30 |                16795 |                      18654 |
| 12       | Karnataka         |                 104 |                14315 |                      14515 |
| 13       | Kerala            |                  55 |                 6841 |                       7499 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh    |                 131 |                28718 |                      44603 |
| 15       | Maharashtra       |                  64 |                24095 |                      36798 |
| 16       | Manipur           |                   5 |                 1272 |                        876 |
| 17       | Meghalaya         |                   5 |                  650 |                       1023 |
| 18       | Mizoram           |                  10 |                 1601 |                       1698 |
| 19       | Nagaland          |                  11 |                 1450 |                        446 |
| 20       | Odisha            |                  91 |                19291 |                      17563 |
| 21       | Punjab            |                  24 |                23488 |                      24174 |
| 22       | Rajasthan         |                 144 |                22952 |                      21599 |
| 23       | Sikkim            |                   2 |                  260 |                        400 |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        |                 141 |                23392 |                      14707 |
| 25       | Telangana         |                  37 |                 7785 |                       6717 |
| 26       | Tripura           |                  13 |                 2174 |                       1103 |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh     |                  72 |                60340 |                     101297 |
| 28       | Uttarakhand       |                  11 |                 3540 |                       5629 |
| 29       | West Bengal#      |                  59 |                21772 |                      23092 |
| 30       | A &NIslands       |                   4 |                  309 |                        244 |
| 31       | Chandigarh        |                   1 |                 1120 |                        984 |
| 32       | D&N Haveli *      |                   1 |                   70 |                         46 |
| 33       | Daman &Diu *      |                   1 |                   60 |                         62 |
| 34       | Delhi             |                  16 |                10026 |                      17534 |
| 35       | Lakshadweep       |                   4 |                   64 |                          4 |
| 36       | Puducherry        |                   4 |                  416 |                        263 |
|          | Total             |                1350 |               403739 |                     478600 |