Bhopal, Apr 8 (PTI) Prisons in Madhya Pradesh hold as much as 42 per cent excess inmates against their capacity, a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.
Also, as of December 2023, about 43 percent of prisoners belonged to tribal and Dalit communities while 11 percent were Muslim, official data showed.
There are a total of 133 jails in the state including 11 central jails, 41 district jails, 73 sub-jails and six open jails.
In response to information sought by PTI under the RTI Act, the Bhopal-based Jail Headquarters said that as of December 2023, there were a total of 44,938 prisoners lodged in various jails. Of these, the number of Hindu prisoners was 39,811, while 5,127 were Muslim.
Among Hindu prisoners, 10,448 belonged to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 9,036 were from Scheduled Castes (SC).
As per the 2011 census, 21.1 percent of Madhya Pradesh’s population was tribal. The state is home to 24 tribes. SCs accounted for 15.6 per cent and Muslims 6.5 percent of the population.
The department also provided the latest figures of prisoners, but not their community-wise break-up.
As of February 2025, there were 24,122 prisoners in 11 central jails. Of these, 22,944 were male and 1,178 female, the RTI reply said.
There were 17,568 convicted prisoners including 807 women in central jails, while 6,428 including 368 women were under-trial inmates.
The total number of inmates of the eight open jails was 125 as of February-end, all of them convicted prisoners. There was no woman among them.
The number of prisoners lodged in 41 district jails was 13,306, including 12,669 male and 637 female inmates.
There were 6,150 prisoners in 73 sub-jails in the state.
As of February 28, 2025, there were a total of 43,703 prisoners in the jails across the state, including 3,630 women, against their official capacity of 30,724. In other words, there were 12,979 or 42 per cent excess prisoners.
The central jails appear to be especially overcrowded, as they hold 24,122 prisoners at present against the capacity of 15,176.
The district jails have 13,306 prisoners against the capacity of 10,009, while sub-jails house 6,150 prisoners against the capacity of 5,401. PTI BNS MAS KRK
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