RTI reveals over 60% of inmates in UP jails are under trials
17 Sep, 2013
An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of the number of inmates and the number of under trials in various prisons across Uttar Pradesh. The reply to the application reveals that the total number of prisoners in Uttar Pradesh is 81,027 out of which 55,460 inmates are undertrials i.e. over 60 per cent.
The data provided in the reply shows that Ghazipur jail has 532 under trials out of 594 prisoners while the district jail in Mau has 402 under trials out of 494 prisoners and in Balrampur, 243 prisoners out of 284 are under trials. The data also shows that many under trials have been in prison for much longer than what their punishment would have been in case their offences would be proved.
The RTI reply adds that the prisons in the state are overcrowded and most of them have the population of inmates much more than the jail infrastructure can support. The data shows that the maximum capacity of all the jails in UP is 48,298 prisoners. In some cases, the number of under trials in jails is more than their total capacity.
The applicant has written a letter to the governor of the state seeking his immediate attention to the poor condition of the prisons.