OVERCROWDING THE BANE OF PRISONS

ALLAHABAD: The UP Prisons Administration and Reform Services, in a letter dated April 02, 2018 under the RTI Act, revealed extreme overcrowding in prisons in the state. In 36 jails in the state, including five central jails, 59.28 per cent more prisoners are behind bars than the original capacity. Eight of the jails had twice the number of inmates than the original capacity.

Three jails had more than three times the inmates than the original capacity. Two jails had four times the number of inmates than the original capacity.

As per the official data, against total capacity of 35,870 inmates in 36 jails of UP, including five central jails, a whopping 60,504 prisoners (59.28% more), including convicts and undertrials, are behind bars.

Eight district jails in Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Jhansi, Rampur, Kheeri, Etawah and Bulandshahar have double the capacity of prisoners lodged in it. Three district jails situated in Mathura, Badaun and Shahjahanpur have three times the capacity of prisoners.

Further, the Lalitpur and Moradabad district jails have four times the original capacity of prisoners.

Against its capacity of a maximum of 108 prisoners, the Lalitpur district jail has 458 prison inmates, including 154 convicts and 304 under trials. The Moradabad jail having a capacity of 652 prisoners has 2905 prisoners, including 331 convicts and 2574 under trials.

The Badaun district jail, against its maximum capacity of 529 inmates, has 1782 prisoners, including 396 convicts, and 1386 undertrials.

The Shahjahanpur district jail having a maximum capacity of 511 prisoners has 1642 inmates, including 526 convicts and 1116 undertrials.

The Mathura district jail having a maximum capacity of 554 has 1701 inmates, including 318 convicts and 1383 undertrials.