Kochi, June 20: Jails in Kerala are overcrowded with
about 6628 prisoners being lodged in 41 jails across the state
against the permitted capacity of 4309, says a report here.
The report of the 'Janakeeya Manushyavakasa Prasthanam,'
prepared on the basis of information provided by the Jail
Headquarters under the RTI act reveals that jails were
overcrowded surpassing the permitted capacity of prisoners by
53.82 percent.
The Jails-- three central prisons, two open prisons, one
women's prison, three district jails and five special sub
jails and 27 sub jails in the state can together accommodate
3844 men prisoners and 465 women convicts. But figures point
out that as of May 12 this year, there are 6425 men
and 203 women prisoners in these 41 jails, the report said.
There is an urgent need for modernisation of the jails as
overcrowding can cause problems. The organisation is planning
to conduct further studies into the issue, said Advocate
Thushar Nirmal Sarathy, convener of the 'prasthanam.'
The report points out that while the authorised capacity
of prisoners in Thiruvananthapuram Central prison was only 727
with 709 men and 18 women, presently there are 1453
prisoners, 25 of them women. Of this, 1037 are convicted
and 416 are undertrial prisoners.
The capacity of Viyyur central prison is only 376, while
there are 553 prisoners lodged there while in Kannur central
prison against the authorised capacity of 1086, it has 1206
prisoners with 967 convicted inmates.
About 57 percent (3743) of those lodged in the various
prisons are undertrial prisoners, the report said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, June 20, 2009, 14:19