Incarcerated undertrial prisoners are the main reason for overcrowded prisons

Overcrowding in prisons is not because of a large number of people convicted of crimes. In fact, on average, convicts have been just around 30% of all prisoners in Indian jails since 2010. In 2021, they were just 22% of all prisoners, the lowest share since

2010. It is undertrial prisoners – on average 69% of all prisoners since 2010 – who are the reason for overcrowding. A breakup of their duration of confinement in 2021 shows that 29% of undertrial prisoners had been inmates for over an year and

16% for over two years. If one were to consider releasing such long-term undertrial prisoners, even as a theoretical exercise, it would be enough to end the problem of overcrowding.

For 2021, the number of prisoners would be higher than the total prison capacity by just

278 prisoners or 0.06% of capacity.