{"id":54351,"date":"2020-01-29T16:48:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T11:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54351"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:50:13","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T11:20:13","slug":"7-pm-indias-prison-system-needs-urgent-reform29th-january-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-indias-prison-system-needs-urgent-reform29th-january-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM |India\u2019s prison system needs urgent reform|29th January 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Prison\nReforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin News: <\/strong>Recently,\nthe ministry of home affairs released the Prison Statistics India (PSI) 2018\nreport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prison\nStatistics India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Prison Statistics India is the latest in\nthe series of annual statistical reports being brought out by the National\nCrime Records Bureau (NCRB). <\/li><li>NCRB was established in 1986 with a\nmandate&nbsp;to empower&nbsp;Indian Police with&nbsp;information technology\nsolutions and criminal intelligence.<\/li><li>In fact, this is the only annual\nstatistical publication started by NCRB, other publications having been started\nprior to the constitution of NCRB and continued by NCRB. <\/li><li>The data for the report is collected\nfrom Prison Headquarters of all States \/ UTs. Arunachal Pradesh did not have\nany jail prior to 2009. <\/li><li>The first edition of the report pertains\nto the year 1995 and the latest edition of the report pertains to the&nbsp;&nbsp;year\n2018.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scope\nof the report: <\/strong>The report contains information on<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>prisons;<\/li><li>prisoners; and<\/li><li>prison infrastructure<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prison\nin India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Prison is a facility in which\nindividuals are forcibly confined and denied a variety of freedoms under the\nauthority of the State as a form of punishment.&nbsp; <\/li><li>Prison is a State subject under List-II\nof the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. <\/li><li>The management and administration of\nPrisons falls exclusively in the domain of the State Governments, and is\ngoverned by the Prisons Act, 1894 and the Prison Manuals of the respective\nState Governments.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\nFindings of the report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Number\nif jails:<\/strong>\n<\/li><li>The\ntotal number of prisons at national level has decreased from 1,412 in 2016 to\n1,339 in 2018, having decreased by 5.17% during 2016-2018.<\/li><li>The\nhighest number of jails were reported in Tamil Nadu (138) followed by Rajasthan\n(130), Madhya Pradesh (130), Andhra Pradesh (105), Karnataka (104) and Odisha\n(91). These Six (6) States together cover 52.13 % of total jails in the country\nas on 31st December, 2018.<\/li><li>Delhi\nhas reported the highest number of Central jails (14) in the country. However,\nStates\/UTs like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, A &amp; N Island, D &amp; N\nHaveli, Daman &amp; Diu and Lakshadweep have no central Jail as on 31st\nDecember, 2018.<\/li><li>Only\n15 States\/UTs were having Woman Jails (24 Woman Jails) with a total capacity of\n5,593 in India.<\/li><li><strong>Capacity\nof prisons:<\/strong><\/li><li>The\nactual capacity of prisons has increased from 3,80,876 in 2016 to 3,96,223 in\n2018 (at a rate of 4.03 % during 2016-18). However, number of prisoners lodged\nin various jails has increased from 4,33,003 in 2016 to 4,66,084 in 2018 (at a\nrate of 7.64 %).<\/li><li>Out\nof the 4,66,084 prisoners, 4,46,842 were male prisoners and 19,242 were female\nprisoners.<\/li><li>The\noccupancy rate has increased from 113.7% in 2016 to 117.6% in 2018.<\/li><li><strong>Profile\nof prisoners:<\/strong><\/li><li>During\nthe whole year 2018, a total of 18,47,258 inmates were admitted in various\njails of the country.<\/li><li>A\ntotal of (4,66,084) prisoners were confined in various jails across the\ncountry. The number of Convicts, Undertrial inmates and Detenues were reported\nas 1,39,488, 3,23,537 and 2,384 respectively accounting for 29.9%, 69.4% and\n0.5% respectively.<\/li><li>In\n2018, the proportion of undertrial prisoners in India was almost 70% of the total\nnumber of those imprisoned, their number during the last decade increased by\n25.4%.&nbsp;<\/li><li>The\nshare of undertrails confined for more than three years has increased by 140%\nsince 2000.<\/li><li><strong>Deaths\nand illness in prisons:<\/strong><\/li><li>Number\nof deaths in prisons has increased marginally from 1,655 in 2016 to 1,845 in\n2018, having increased by 11.48% during 2018.<\/li><li>Number\nof deaths due to natural causes has increased from 1,424 in 2016 to 1,639 in\n2018, having increased by 15.10% during 2018.<\/li><li>Number\nof un-natural deaths in prisons has decreased by 35.50% from 231 in 2016 to 149\nin 2018.<\/li><li><strong>Prison\nBudget and Infrastructure:<\/strong><\/li><li>The\ntotal budget for the financial year 2018-19 for all prisons in the country was\n` 6,068.7 Crore. The actual expenditure was ` 5,283.7 Crore which is 87.06% of\ntotal annual budget for FY 2018-19.<\/li><li>Almost\n50.2% (` 891.232 Crore) of total expenses on inmates were spent on Food\nfollowed by 4.3% (` 76.487 Crore) on Medical matters, 1.4% (` 24.664 Crore) on\nwelfare activities, 1.4 %(` 24.692 Crore) on Clothing and 0.5% (` 8.139 Crore)\non Vocational\/ Educational trainings.<\/li><li><strong>Prison\nStaff:<\/strong><\/li><li>The\nsanctioned strength of jail-staff was 85,840 while the actual strength was\n60,024.<\/li><li>Among\nthe jail-staffs, the sanctioned strength of Officers, Jail-cadre Staff and\nCorrectional Staff were 6,944, 64,545 and 1,065 respectively while the actual\nstrengths were 4,630, 46,248 and 616 respectively.<\/li><li>The inmate-to-staff ratio is 7:1.<\/li><li>The inmate-to-correctional staff ratio stands at 756:1, and the\ncorrectional staff which include welfare, law and probation officers is\ncompletely absent in 14 states and union territories.<\/li><li>The inmate to medical staff ratio remains at 243:1.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Issues:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Overcrowding\nand violation of Human Rights:<\/strong> The prison population is\nincreasing which in turn deteriorate the prison conditions. This goes against\nthe Nelson Mandela Rules, 2015. Nelson Mandela Rules calls upon governments to\nensure that \u201cthe prison regime should seek to minimize any differences between\nprison life and life at liberty that tend to lessen the responsibility of the\nprisoners or the respect due to their dignity as human beings.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"345\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/777.jpg?resize=600%2C345&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Text Box: Nelson Mandela Rules:\n\u2022\tIn the resolution A\/RES\/70\/175, the General Assembly decided to extend the scope of Nelson Mandela International Day, observed each year on 18 July, to be also utilized in order to promote humane conditions of imprisonment; to raise awareness about prisoners being a continuous part of society; to value the work of prison staff as a social service of particular importance.\n\u2022\tThus, General Assembly resolution adopts the revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and approves that they should be known as the &quot;Nelson Mandela Rules&quot; in honour of the legacy of the late President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.\n\u2022\tFundamental principles on Nelson Mandela Rules are:\n\u00d8\tPrisoners must be treated with respect for their human rights and dignity\n\u00d8\tNo torture or inhumane practice towards prisoners\n\u00d8\tSet an objective to prevent recurrence of crime\n\u00d8\tEveryone in the prison should be safe at all times\n\u00d8\tThere should be no discrimination and administrators should take into account needs of individual prisoners especially the vulnerable ones\n\n\" class=\"wp-image-54354\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Undertrials:\n<\/strong>In\n2018, the proportion of undertrial prisoners in India was almost 70% of the\ntotal number of those imprisoned.<\/li><li><strong>Lack\nof legal aid: <\/strong>Legal aid lawyers are poorly paid, and often\nover-burdened with cases. Further, there is no monitoring mechanism to evaluate\nthe quality of legal aid representation in most states.<\/li><li><strong>Unsatisfactory\nliving conditions:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li><li>Prison\nstructures in India are in dilapidated condition. Further, lack of space, poor\nventilation, poor sanitation and hygiene make living conditions deplorable in\nIndian prisons. <\/li><li>The\nliving conditions in prisons for vulnerable groups are even worse.&nbsp; In 2018, there were 19,242 women prisoners,\n5,168 foreign national prisoners (excluding those confined in detention\ncentres) and 6,623 suffering from mental illness. The information on other\nvulnerable groups like transgender prisoners and person with disability is\nmissing too.<\/li><li><strong>Health:\n<\/strong>The\ninmate to medical staff ratio remains at 243:1. This shortfall, with the lack\nof effective health care, might also be a major reason behind the high number\nof custodial deaths in 2018.<\/li><li><strong>Custodial\ndeaths: <\/strong>Number\nof deaths in prisons has increased&nbsp; by\n11.48% during 2018. Data on prison deaths over the last few years indicate that\ndeaths in prisons are increasing at a higher rate than the increase in the\npopulation of prison.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nForward: <\/strong>There\nis a dire need to address the issue of overcrowding in Indian jails. Further,\nsincere efforts should be made to improve living conditions which include\nbetter sanitation and hygiene, adequate food and clothing. The 2018 statistics\nmust spur the criminal justice system to assess, evaluate and take affirmative\nsteps to check this.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/analysis\/analysis-india-s-prison-system-needs-urgent-reform\/story-HYecwGnYLtYqCZqfV3rycL.html\">https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/analysis\/analysis-india-s-prison-system-needs-urgent-reform\/story-HYecwGnYLtYqCZqfV3rycL.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Prison Reforms. More in News: Recently, the ministry of home affairs released the Prison Statistics India (PSI) 2018 report. Prison Statistics India: Prison Statistics India is the latest in the series of annual statistical reports being brought out by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB was established in 1986 with a mandate&nbsp;to empower&nbsp;Indian&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-indias-prison-system-needs-urgent-reform29th-january-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM |India\u2019s prison system needs urgent reform|29th January 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704866971},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}