Haryana’s jam-packed jails hold 26% more prisoners than capacity

There are 20 prisons in Haryana spread over 22 districts. The jails in Haryana can accommodate 20,638 prisoners and contrary to this, as on the first week of September month this year, there were 26,049 prisoners in the jails which added to woes of the jails administration leading to mismanagement. Out of the total, men and women prisoners are 25,158 and 891 respectively. Thus, 5,411 more prisoners have been accommodated which is 26 per cent higher against the accommodation capacity of prisoners. Amid this, it is learnt that out of the total sanctioned posts in jails, a sizable chunk is lying vacant in Haryana. Out of the total prisoners, women constitute just 3.42 per cent of the total. Apart from that, there are 70 foreigners and out of these, 7 male prisoners are convicted. Among the remaining 63 undertrials, 59 and 4 prisoners are male and female respectively. The prisoners being kept in jails fall under several categories namely facing trails, facing life imprisonment and under trials and many more.
The data made available by the concerned department revealed that 17 of the 20 prisons in Haryana overcrowded, with the Panipat district jail coping with nearly twice the number of inmates it should hold. Maximum overcrowding was reported at Faridabad, Gurugram and Hisar districts. In all, over 10 per cent of the convicts are facing life imprisonment. As many as 2,822 convicts are serving life imprisonment. Among these, men and women
convicts are 2,717 and
105 respectively.
Regarding this, Mohmmad Akil, the Director General, Prisons, Haryana said that the jail administration is putting its best to ensure better infrastructure in the jails. While reacting to the question of prisoners’ much higher occupancy than fixed capacity, he replied that the efforts are being made to expand the jails’ capacity and the officials have directed to provide sound infrastructure, regular maintenance and basic cleanliness to the prisoners.
It is pertinent to mention that Faridabad, Gurugram, Rohtak and Hisar are among those district which have higher occupancy rate of prisoners against the set capacity in the prisons. There are 2,879, 3,101 and 1,798 prisoners in Gurugram, Faridabad and Rohtak Jails against the fixed capacity of 2,412, 2,500 and 1,300 prisoners respectively.

Besides, the list of districts with much higher occupancy rate of prisoners also includes Hisar, Panipat and Sonipat. It is learnt that an increased number of arrests added to the overcrowding in the prisons, requiring the concerned department to come up with a strategy to deal with the issue.