Infrastructure Issues : Accommodation : Overcrowding

Component I(A) – Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Vice Chancellor, National Law Investigator Singh University, Delhi

Co-Principal Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai Registrar, National Law Investigator University, Delhi

Paper Coordinator Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Dean, School of Law, Rights and Tiwari Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)

Content Writer/ Dr. Upneet Lalli Deputy Director Author Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh

Content Reviewer Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Dean, School of Law, Rights and Tiwari Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)

Component I(B) – Description of Module

Subject Criminology

Paper Human Rights and Criminal Justice

Module Title Infrastructure Issues : Accommodation : Overcrowding

Module ID

Pre Requisites Basic knowledge of victimology and role of victim in criminal law. Understanding the writ jurisdiction of Supreme Court. Basic concepts of human rights and different international human rights instruments.

Learning Objectives 1. To understand about the prison system in ; 2. To know the different types of prisons and prison infrastructure available in the country; 3. To know about the nature and extent of the problem of prison

overcrowding 4. To have a general awareness about the scheme of modernization of prisons

Key Words Prison Accommodation , Overcrowding,

INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES: ACCOMMODATION : OVERCROWDING

Introduction

Prison institutions are known by different names in different countries like ‘Correctional Facilities’, ‘Detention Centre’, ‘Jails’, ‘Remand Centre’ etc. The earlier notion of prison as a place in which inmates are forcibly confined and deprived of their rights and freedom ,and further given punishment has changed. The purpose of prisons has changed from retribution and punishment to reformation and rehabilitation and there is a change in social perception towards prison and prisoners. Prisons are now treated as correction or improvement facility which indicates that there is more emphasis on reformation of prisoners than to punish them.

In India, Prisons have been included at Entry No. 4 (Prison Reformatories, Borstal Institutions and other institutions of like nature and persons detained therein; institutions) in the State List (List II) in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The management of prisons in the country is regulated by the Prisons Act, 1894, and Prison Manuals/Regulations prepared by various States based on their ground situations. Principal laws relating to prisons and their management are Constitution of India, 1950; The Prisons Act, 1894; The Prisoners Act, 1900; The Prisoners (Attendance in Courts) Act, 1955; The Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950; The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003; The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920; Model Prison Manual (2003); The Mental Health Act, 1987; The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958; The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and The Indian Penal Code, 1860.Each state has its own Prison Manual which specifies the rules and regulations for administration and management of prisons. Many states have revised their manuals to accord due emphasis on reformation and rehabilitation of offenders in society.

Prison and its administration is a State Subject. Prison Establishments in different States/UTs comprise several tiers of jails. The most common and

standard jail institutions which are in existence in the States/UTs are better known as central jails, district jails and sub jails. The other types of jail establishments are women jails, borstal schools, open jails and special jails. State of has the highest number (154 out of 1,401) of jails among the States/UTs followed by (137), (126), Madhya Pradesh (123), whereas , Arunachal Pradesh has only two district jails. As per Prison Statistics - 2015, there are 1401 different type of having an authorized capacity of 366781. The main types of prisons in India are -Central, district ,sub jails and women prisons and open jail, special jails.

The main function of prison officers is to make arrangement for safe and secure custody of prisoners sent to them by the courts. The jail administration is also responsible for reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of convicts in the Society. The prison department is also known as Department of Correctional Administration in some states today (e.g. West Bengal, ). There are following types of prisons :

(i) The Central Jails - to house mainly the convicts.

(ii) The District Jails - to house mainly the undertrials at district level.

(iii) The Sub Jails - house undertrials at Sub Division level.

However, the distinction between Central Jails and District jails has now vanished. Undertrials and convicts may be housed together in one jail. In big districts, sub jails are opened at sub divisional level to house undertrial prisoners.

In some of the States, revenue lock-up and civil prisons are also in use. But these prisons are not under the prison Departments. They are managed by revenue authorities. Table No. 1 :Number of prisons, capacity, population and occupancy rate in the country as on 31.12.2015

Actual SL. Authorised Occupancy rate TYPE Number population NO. capacity (%) Of inmates 1 CENTRAL PRISONS 134 159158 185182 116.4

2 DISTRICT PRISONS 379 137972 180893 127.4

3 SUB PRISONS 741 46368 39989 85.2

4 WOMEN PRISONS 18 4748 2985 66.4

5 BORSTAL SCHOOLS 20 1830 1003 48.0

6 OPEN PRISONS 63 5370 3789 70.7

7 SPECIAL PRISONS 313 10915 5769 53.4

8 OTHERS 3 420 13 24.8

9 TOTAL 1401 366781 419623 114.4

Central Jail

The criteria for a jail to be categorized as a central jail differs from State to State. However, the common features observed in all the States/UTs are that the prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for a longer period (more than 2 years) are confined in the central jails, which have larger capacity in comparison to other jails. These jails also have rehabilitation facilities. Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of 11 central jails followed the Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu (9 each) and & Delhi (8 each). Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep do not have any central jail in their territories. The available information regarding capacity for prison inmates in central jails in respect of States/UTs indicates that Punjab (15,322) Maharashtra (14,841), Tamil Nadu (14,127), Madhya Pradesh (13,422), West Bengal (12,300) and Bihar (11,836) have comparatively larger capacity followed by Rajasthan (9,306), (8,760), Uttar Pradesh (7,769), Gujarat (7,680) and Karnataka (7,162). Central jails in Punjab (1,030), Karnataka (694), Madhya Pradesh (623), Gujarat (480), West Bengal (460) and Gujarat (480) have comparatively higher capacity to accommodate female prisoners.

District Jail

District jails serve as the main prisons in some of the States/UTs. States which have considerable number of district jails are Uttar Pradesh (57) followed by Madhya Pradesh (39), Bihar (31), Maharashtra (28), Rajasthan (24), Assam (22), Karnataka (19), Jharkhand (17), Haryana (16) and West Bengal (12). The district jails in Uttar Pradesh (43,289), Bihar (18,486), Haryana (14,115), Madhya Pradesh (8,771), Maharashtra (6,938), West Bengal (5,217), Jharkhand (4,975), Rajasthan (4,020), Karnataka (3,861) and Assam (3,832) have the capacity of lodging a large number of inmates. Generally district jails in some States have comparatively higher capacity for accommodation of female inmates these States were Uttar Pradesh (2,635), Haryana (1,247), Madhya Pradesh (628) and Bihar (599).

Sub Jail

These jails are at the sub division level. Nine States have reported comparatively higher number of sub-jails revealing a well organized prison set-up even at lower formation. These States are Maharashtra (100), Andhra Pradesh (99),Tamil Nadu (96), Odisha (73), Madhya Pradesh (72), Karnataka (70), Rajasthan (60) and West Bengal & (33 each) while 9 States/UTs have no sub-jails (namely Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Chandigarh and Delhi). The State of Odisha had the highest capacity of inmates (10,272) in various sub jails followed by Madhya Pradesh (5,289), Rajasthan (4,234), Bihar (4,012), Andhra Pradesh (3,302), Tamil Nadu (3,100), Maharashtra (2,361), Karnataka (2,297) and West Bengal (2,132). In some states the officer in charge of these prisons is the sub divisional magistrate, and not the prison officers.

Women Jail

Women jails exist exclusively for women prisoners .These exist only in 13 States/UT. Tamil Nadu & have 3 women jails each and Rajasthan have 2 women jails. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi have one women jail each. The total capacity of women inmates was highest in Tamil Nadu (1,569) followed by Rajasthan (450),

Uttar Pradesh (420), Delhi (400), Punjab (320), West Bengal (300), Kerala (272), Maharashtra (262), Telangana (250), Gujarat (210) and Andhra Pradesh (160).

Borstal School

The primary objective of borstal schools is to ensure care, welfare and rehabilitation of young offenders(above 18 years of age) in a different environment suitable for children and keep them away from contaminating atmosphere of the prison. The young offenders who are in conflict with law ,are detained in borstal schools are provided various vocational trainings. They are also given education with the help of trained teachers. Nine States namely, Tamil Nadu (12) and Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan & Telangana (1 each) have reported borstal schools in their respective jurisdiction. Tamil Nadu had the highest capacity for keeping 692 inmates followed by Punjab (500), Karnataka (200), Maharashtra (105), Jharkhand (100), Telangana (93), Kerala (90), Himachal Pradesh (30) and Rajasthan (20). Himachal Pradesh (15) and Kerala (12) are the only States which have reported capacity for lodging female inmates in their borstal schools. Existence of borstal schools was not reported from any of the UTs.

Open Jail

Prisoners(normally life convicts ) with good behavior satisfying certain norms prescribed in the prison rules are admitted in open prisons. Minimum security is kept in such prisons and prisoners are engaged in agricultural activities. Only 17 States have reported about the functioning of open jails in their jurisdiction. Amongst these States, Rajasthan has reported the highest number of 29 open jails followed by Maharashtra (13) Kerala & Tamil Nadu (3 each) and Gujarat & West Bengal (2 jails each). The remaining 11 States – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and Uttarakhand have one open jail each. Maharashtra has an open jail exclusively for women prisoners.There are separated norms for these open prisons.

Special Jail

Special jail means any prison provided for the confinement of a particular class or particular classes of prisoners which are broadly as follows:- i) Prisoners who have committed serious violations of prison discipline. ii) Prisoners showing tendencies towards violence and aggression. iii) Difficult discipline cases of habitual offenders. iv) Difficult discipline cases from a group of professional/organised criminals.

Out of the fourteen States/UTs having special jails, Kerala has the highest number of special jails (16) followed by Tamil Nadu (5), Telangana (4), West Bengal (3) jails, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh & Puducherry (2 jails each) and Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan & A&N Islands. As far as the available capacity in these jails is concerned, the highest capacity for keeping the prisoners was available in Bihar (3,288) followed by Odisha (1,551), Kerala (1,010), West Bengal (842), A & N Islands (800), Uttar Pradesh (788), Gujarat (650), Tamil Nadu (576), Assam (372) and Rajasthan (264) in their special jails. Provision for keeping female prisoners in these special jails was available in Tamil Nadu (404), West Bengal (70), Gujarat (50), Telangana (44), Kerala (40), Odisha (39), Puducherry (16) Assam & Karnataka (12 each) and Maharashtra (3).

Other Jails

Some States/UTs have other jails also besides the jails discussed above. Only three States namely Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra (1 each) have other jails in their jurisdiction. The capacity of inmates (male & female) in such jails was highest in Karnataka (250) followed by Kerala (142) and Maharashtra (28) at the end of the year 2015.

PRISON STATISTICS

As per Prison Statistics - 2015, there are 1401 different type of prisons in India having 366781 authorized capacity. Against this authorized capacity, the

actual prison population in Indian prisons is found to be 419623 which amounts to 114.4% of occupancy rate.

Some of the prisons are very old, built by the British, pre independence era, and the accommodation does not meet the required minimum standards as alid down in the national and international norms. Many new prisons have been constructed in the last decade and living conditions inside pris ons have improved

Overcrowding

In last few decades prison population have increased tremendously which create number of challenges before prison administration like security & safety in prison, hygienic issues, overcrowding etc. A comprehensive database on various aspects of prison institutions is required to understand and analyze issues and challenges before prison management.

Overcrowding refers to the situation in which more inmates are staying than the sanctioned strength. In recent years, it is one of the biggest problems faced by prison inmates. Overcrowding results in poor hygiene, lack of sleep etc. Keeping in view the human rights of the prisoners, it is essential that they are given reasonable space and facilities in jails. For this purpose, the special attention is being given on the modernization of jails. More funds are being allocated to increase the infrastructure in jails.

Occupancy rate is defined as number of inmates staying in jails against the authorized capacity for 100 inmates. In other words, if occupancy rate of any jail is 100, it means the number inmates are as per authorized capacity of the jail. Overcrowding in jail means occupancy rate is more than 100.

Table No. 2 :Number of prisons and authorized capacity, occupancy rate and prison population.

Year Total no. of Authorized Prison population Occupancy rate prisons capacity

2012 1394 343169 385135 112.2%

2013 1391 347859 411992 118.4%

2014 1387 356561 418536 117.4%

2015 1401 366781 419623 114.4% (Source: Prison Statistics, 2015 NCRB, MHA, New Delhi)

As would be seen from the table below (Table No.3) occupancy rate in 2015 has increased slightly from 2012, despite an increase in authorized capacity.

Table No. 3 :Percentage change in the total prison population during last 5 years

Percentage change over previous Year Total prison population year 2011 3,72,926 1.06%

2012 3,85,135 3.27%

2013 4,11,992 6.97%

2014 4,18,536 1.58%

2015 4,19,623 0.25%

It is quite evident from the Table below(Table no. 4) that the total prison population in India comprises of about one-third convicts and around two- thirds un-sentenced population, with around 0.5% as detenues coming under preventive detention category.

Table No. 4 :Composition of prisoners from 2014 to 2015 Year Authorized Prison Convicts Undertrials Detenues Others capacity population (Sentenced (Unsentenced

131517 282879 3237 903 2014 356561 418536 (31.4%) (67.6%) (0.8%) (0.2%) 134168 282076 2562 817 2015 366781 419623 (32.0%) (67.2%) (0.6%) (0.2%)

The overall sex wise composition of prison population is 95.6% male and 4.4% female, it shows very low incidence of criminality in the female population of the country. The percentage of women prisoners in the total prison population though statistically seems to be meager, but conceptually it is very significant which needs to be looked into and provided for by way of creating such additional infrastructure and facilities as shall respond to their gender specific biological, social and privacy related needs.

It is evident from the information made available by States/UTs regarding population of inmates in various prisons that the prison population was satisfactorily managed during the year 2015 in 15 States and 5 UTs as the occupancy rate in these States/UTs remained less than 100%. These States and UTs are Karnataka (95.9%), Gujarat (95.5%), Sikkim (99.2%), Andhra Pradesh (88.9%), Telangana (87.8%), Bihar (75.2%), Odisha (88.6%), Mizoram (94.9%), Jammu & Kashmir (77.9%), Tamil Nadu (63.6%), Chandigarh (61.4%), Puducherry (45.9%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (40.0%), Manipur (67.1%), Daman & Diu (28.8%), Lakshadweep (37.5%), Tripura & Goa (38.6% each) and Nagaland (33.8%). Dadra & Nagar Haveli has reported the highest overcrowding (276.7%) followed by Chhattisgarh (233.9%), Delhi (226.9%), Meghalaya (177.9%), Uttar Pradesh (168.8%), Madhya Pradesh (139.8%), Uttarakhand (136.4%), Kerala (118.3%), Punjab (117.8%), Jharkhand (114.3%), Maharashtra (112.8%), Himachal Pradesh (110.7%), Assam (109.7%), Haryana (109.3%), West Bengal (102.9%) and Rajasthan (102.4%). It is observed that the occupancy rate of such prisons during the period under consideration was high against the available capacity for the female inmates in Chhattisgarh (179.4%) followed by Uttarakhand (151.2%), Delhi (144.8%), Jharkhand (116.2%), Uttar Pradesh (112.6%) and West Bengal (105.8%). The occupancy rate at All India level at the end of 2014 was 117.4% which decline slightly to 114.4% at the end of the year 2015. 8 States/UTs reporting further overcrowding in their prisons in 2015 in comparison to 2014, these States/UTs were Delhi (from 221.6% in 2014 to 226.9% in 2015), Uttar Pradesh (from 167.1% in 2014 to 168.8% in 2015).

Meghalaya (from 153.4% in 2014 to 177.9% in 2015), Madhya Pradesh (from 133.7% in 2014 to 139.8% in 2015), Uttarakhand (from 127.2% in 2014 to 136.4% in

2015), Kerala (from 114.3% in 2014 to 118.3% in 2015), Maharashtra (from 110.7% in 2014 to 112.8% in 2015) and Assam (from 101.9% in 2014 to 109.7% in 2015). In 8 States where the inmate population was still more than the available capacity, although the overcrowding declined in 2015 over 2014, these States & UT were D & N Haveli (from 331.7% in 2014 to 276.7% in 2015), Punjab (from 139.2% in 2014 to 117.8% in 2015), Rajasthan (from 118.4% in 2014 to 102.4% in 2015), Himachal Pradesh (from 122.4% in 2014 to 110.7% in 2015), Chhattisgarh (from 258.9% in 2014 to 233.9% in 2015), Haryana (from 112.0% in 2014 to 109.3% in 2015) and Jharkhand (from 123.1% in 2014 to 114.3% in 2015). Maximum overcrowding were reported in district jails (131.1%) followed by central jails (116.4%) in 2015.

The problem of overcrowding in prisons in India has been in existence since long. However, it is not uniform in all prisons of India. The District Prisons are more overcrowded than the other Prisons while in special category of prisons, the facilities are not at all affected by the problem of overcrowding. 54.1% of prisoners (sentenced prisoners) are lifers followed by 12.7% sentenced to 10-13 years and 9.5% are 7 to 9 years.

The current rate of imprisonment in India is very low i.e. 33 per 100,000 of the population as compared to the rate of imprisonment in other countries like USA (666) Russia (430). (Source: World Prison Brief, website:www.prisonstudies.org).

RISON BUILDING AND RENOVATION - SCHEME ON MODERNISATION OF PRISONS (2002- 2007): Assistance From Central Government

A major investment in improving prison conditions was done by the Central Government. The Non Plan Scheme of Modernization of Prisons involved a total outlay of Rs 1800 Crore on a cost sharing basis in the ratio of 75:25 between the Central Government and State Governments respectively. The main objective of the scheme was to decongest the jails by construction of new prisons, expanding the capacity of the existing prisons and to improve the living conditions of prisoners and prison staff. Under this scheme 125 new prisons, 1579 additional barracks in

the existing prisons, and 8658 staff quarters for prison personnel have so far been constructed by the State Governments. Apart from this, the Finance Commissions in India have provided funds to certain States to construct new prisons and upgrade the infrastructure. The Thirteenth Finance Commission has also granted Rs 609 Crore over a period from 2011-2015 for prisons in 8 states. This has resulted in much better infrastructure in prisons. However ,the second phase of modernisation has not come, and states are now feeling the financial constraints in bringing improvements in the physical infrastructure.

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