Lok Sabha Question No. 1597 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-26
Subject: Undertrial Prisoners
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Haji Fazlur Rehman

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1597

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 26 TH  JULY, 2022/ SRAVANA 04, 1944 (SAKA)

UNDERTRIAL PRISONERS

1597. SHRI HAJI FAZLUR REHMAN:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the number and details of undertrial prisoners in prisons throughout the country  at present  including the number  of  prisoners  out  of  these belonging to Dalit and Minority community;

(b)  whether  there  are  such  detainees  in  prisons  of  the  country  who  are unable  to  fight  their  case  for  lack  of  an  advocate  due  to  their  financial hardships; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a):  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  prison  statistics reported to it by the States and Union Territories (UTs) and publishes the same  in  its annual  publication 'Prison Statistics India'. The  latest published  report  is  of  the  year  2020.  State/UT-wise  number  of  undertrial prisoners in the jails of the country as on 31 st  December, 2020 are given in Annexure-I. Caste-wise and Religion-wise number of undertrial prisoners in the jails of the country as on 31 st  December, 2020 are given in Annexure-II and III respectively.

## L.S.US.NO. 1597 FOR 26.07.2022

(b)  &  (c):  This  information  is  not  maintained  centrally.  'Prisons'/'persons detained therein' is  a  'State  List'  subject  under  Entry  4  of  List  II  of  the Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India.    Administration  and management of prisoners is the responsibility of State Governments. State Legal Services Authorities have established Legal Service Clinics in jails, who  provide  free  legal  assistance  to  persons  in  need.  There  are  about 1181 Legal Service Clinics in the jails of the country which are managed by Empanelled Legal Services Advocates and trained Para-Legal Volunteers. Such clinics have been established in the jails to ensure that no prisoner remains unrepresented and legal aid and advice is provided to them.  National  Legal  Services  Authority  (NALSA)  also  holds  awareness camps in jails to generate awareness about the availability of free  legal aid, plea bargaining, Lok Adalats and legal rights of inmates including their right  to  bail.  The  Model  Prison  Manual  2016  circulated  to  all  States  and UTs  by  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  also  has  a  Chapter  on  'Legal  Aid' which,  inter-alia,  provides  that  the  States  should  adopt  the  practice  of nominating Jail Visiting Advocates to visit different prisons on fixed days of the week to help the poor and unrepresented inmates.

******

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          |   Total |
|-----------|-------------------|---------|
| 1         | ANDHRA PRADESH    |    5001 |
| 2         | ARUNACHAL PRADESH |     127 |
| 3         | ASSAM             |    6495 |
| 4         | BIHAR             |   44187 |
| 5         | CHHATTISGARH      |   11963 |
| 6         | GOA               |     419 |
| 7         | GUJARAT           |   10195 |
| 8         | HARYANA           |   14951 |
| 9         | HIMACHAL PRADESH  |    1574 |
| 10        | JHARKHAND         |   17103 |
| 11        | KARNATAKA         |   10577 |
| 12        | KERALA            |    3569 |
| 13        | MADHYAPRADESH     |   31712 |
| 14        | MAHARASHTRA       |   26171 |
| 15        | MANIPUR           |     506 |
| 16        | MEGHALAYA         |     821 |
| 17        | MIZORAM           |     609 |
| 18        | NAGALAND          |     261 |
| 19        | ODISHA            |   15619 |
| 20        | PUNJAB            |   15643 |
| 21        | RAJASTHAN         |   16930 |
| 22        | SIKKIM            |     328 |
| 23        | TAMIL NADU        |    8709 |
| 24        | TELANGANA         |    3946 |
| 25        | TRIPURA           |     472 |
| 26        | UTTAR PRADESH     |   80557 |
| 27        | UTTARAKHAND       |    3906 |
| 28        | WEST BENGAL       |   20144 |
| 29        | A &NISLANDS       |     194 |
| 30        | CHANDIGARH        |     619 |
| 31        | DNH &DAMANDIU     |     138 |
| 32        | DELHI             |   14506 |
| 33        | JAMMU &KASHMIR    |    3717 |
| 34        | LADAKH            |      21 |
| 35        | LAKSHADWEEP       |       2 |
| 36        | PUDUCHERRY        |     156 |
|           | TOTAL             |  371848 |

## State/UT-Wise Caste of undertrial prisoners as on 31.12.2020

## Annexure-II

| S.No.   | State/UT          | SC    | ST    | OBC    | Others   |
|---------|-------------------|-------|-------|--------|----------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    | 957   | 646   | 1616   | 1782     |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh | 0     | 82    | 0      | 45       |
| 3       | Assam             | 1203  | 1362  | 1740   | 2190     |
| 4       | Bihar             | 8960  | 1622  | 22868  | 10737    |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      | 1771  | 4506  | 3970   | 1716     |
| 6       | Goa               | 63    | 58    | 42     | 256      |
| 7       | Gujarat           | 1175  | 1697  | 5150   | 2173     |
| 8       | Haryana           | 4294  | 184   | 3919   | 6554     |
| 9       | Himachal Pradesh  | 411   | 113   | 204    | 846      |
| 10      | Jharkhand         | 2732  | 4320  | 7084   | 2967     |
| 11      | Karnataka         | 2177  | 1039  | 4802   | 2559     |
| 12      | Kerala            | 795   | 138   | 1706   | 930      |
| 13      | Madhya Pradesh    | 8059  | 7657  | 10430  | 5566     |
| 14      | Maharashtra #     | -     | -     | -      | -        |
| 15      | Manipur           | 5     | 160   | 41     | 300      |
| 16      | Meghalaya         | 45    | 579   | 15     | 182      |
| 17      | Mizoram           | 17    | 584   | 0      | 8        |
| 18      | Nagaland          | 23    | 191   | 33     | 14       |
| 19      | Odisha            | 4460  | 4167  | 3879   | 3113     |
| 20      | Punjab            | 5983  | 321   | 2642   | 6697     |
| 21      | Rajasthan         | 3325  | 2686  | 6993   | 3926     |
| 22      | Sikkim            | 54    | 82    | 131    | 61       |
| 23      | Tamil Nadu        | 2482  | 307   | 5624   | 296      |
| 24      | Telangana         | 662   | 408   | 1007   | 1869     |
| 25      | Tripura           | 107   | 90    | 64     | 211      |
| 26      | Uttar Pradesh     | 20389 | 4295  | 34233  | 21640    |
| 27      | Uttarakhand       | 830   | 207   | 1134   | 1735     |
| 28      | West Bengal       | 2785  | 1029  | 3405   | 12925    |
| 29      | A&NIslands        | 0     | 7     | 4      | 183      |
| 30      | Chandigarh        | 212   | 1     | 146    | 260      |
| 31      | DNH&Daman Diu     | 11    | 24    | 50     | 53       |
| 32      | Delhi             | 3525  | 239   | 4631   | 6111     |
| 33      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 168   | 223   | 53     | 3273     |
| 34      | Ladakh            | 0     | 5     | 0      | 16       |
| 35      | Lakshadweep       | 0     | 2     | 0      | 0        |
| 36      | Puducherry        | 36    | 0     | 120    | 0        |
|         | Total             | 77716 | 39031 | 127736 | 101194   |

Annexure-III State/UT-wise Religion of undertrial prisoners as on 31.12.2020

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | Hindu   | Muslim   | Sikh   | Christian   | Others   |
|-----------|-------------------|---------|----------|--------|-------------|----------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 4292    | 501      | 7      | 201         | 0        |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 52      | 5        | 0      | 60          | 10       |
| 3         | Assam             | 2668    | 3403     | 81     | 169         | 174      |
| 4         | Bihar             | 36937   | 7007     | 158    | 62          | 23       |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 10860   | 683      | 90     | 199         | 131      |
| 6         | Goa               | 324     | 48       | 0      | 47          | 0        |
| 7         | Gujarat           | 8099    | 1860     | 131    | 83          | 22       |
| 8         | Haryana           | 11839   | 2096     | 911    | 96          | 9        |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  | 1379    | 78       | 65     | 32          | 20       |
| 10        | Jharkhand         | 12486   | 3267     | 73     | 1153        | 124      |
| 11        | Karnataka         | 7636    | 2482     | 5      | 396         | 58       |
| 12        | Kerala            | 1865    | 984      | 0      | 707         | 13       |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh    | 27134   | 4014     | 355    | 82          | 127      |
| 14        | Maharashtra #     | -       | -        | -      | -           | -        |
| 15        | Manipur           | 212     | 92       | 0      | 165         | 37       |
| 16        | Meghalaya         | 182     | 77       | 0      | 540         | 22       |
| 17        | Mizoram           | 18      | 34       | 0      | 539         | 18       |
| 18        | Nagaland          | 48      | 20       | 1      | 192         | 0        |
| 19        | Odisha            | 13970   | 830      | 22     | 745         | 52       |
| 20        | Punjab            | 4659    | 722      | 9047   | 779         | 436      |
| 21        | Rajasthan         | 12719   | 3161     | 888    | 19          | 143      |
| 22        | Sikkim            | 226     | 13       | 0      | 59          | 30       |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu        | 6603    | 1041     | 1      | 1054        | 10       |
| 24        | Telangana         | 2725    | 1041     | 14     | 138         | 28       |
| 25        | Tripura           | 334     | 103      | 0      | 11          | 24       |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh     | 56443   | 22849    | 492    | 152         | 621      |
| 27        | Uttarakhand       | 2336    | 1199     | 334    | 37          | 0        |
| 28        | West Bengal       | 11130   | 8774     | 32     | 129         | 79       |
| 29        | A & N Islands     | 101     | 15       | 0      | 60          | 18       |
| 30        | Chandigarh        | 538     | 36       | 41     | 4           | 0        |
| 31        | Dnh & Daman Diu   | 80      | 58       | 0      | 0           | 0        |
| 32        | Delhi             | 9999    | 3902     | 255    | 340         | 10       |
| 33        | Jammu & Kashmir   | 1152    | 2381     | 160    | 24          | 0        |
| 34        | Ladakh            | 3       | 7        | 0      | 0           | 11       |
| 35        | Lakshadweep       | 0       | 2        | 0      | 0           | 0        |
| 36        | Puducherry        | 141     | 5        | 0      | 10          | 0        |
|           | Total             | 249190  | 72790    | 13163  | 8284        | 2250     |

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#   Maharashtra did not provide breakup