New Delhi: The 2024 report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals a dire situation regarding Delhi’s prisons. The capital’s jails are among the most overcrowded in the country. According to the data, Delhi’s prisons are housing nearly twice their capacity. This means that space that should accommodate one prisoner is now housing two prisoners on average. This is putting pressure on prison infrastructure, security management, and the living standards of prisoners.
According to the NCRB’s ‘Prison Statistics of India-2024’ report, the occupancy rate in Delhi’s prisons was recorded at 194.6 percent, the highest in the country. Although this shows a slight improvement from around 200 percent in 2023, Delhi still tops the list. This means that prisons are housing almost twice the number of prisoners than their capacity. According to the report, the situation in other states was also worrying. Occupancy was recorded at 163.5 percent in Meghalaya, 148.3 percent in Jammu and Kashmir, 147.1 percent in Madhya Pradesh and 143.9 percent in Maharashtra.
A spokesperson for the Delhi Prisons Department stated that the administration has taken several steps to address the overcrowding problem. The most significant of these is the commencement of construction of a new jail in Narela, which will provide additional capacity for prisoners in the future.
According to the spokesperson, prisoners have been effectively reallocated across the three existing prison complexes to avoid excessive pressure on any one jail. Efforts have also been made to control the overall inmate population. He added that continuous efforts are being made to reduce the burden on Tihar Jail, one of the largest prison complexes in the country.
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