Punjab, HP jails more overcrowded than national average; Haryana lower but still stretched

Bathinda: Prisons in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are more overcrowded than the national average, while Haryana's jails, though slightly better placed, continue to operate beyond sanctioned capacity, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data as on Dec 31, 2024.Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest inmate occupancy among the three states at 115.7% across its 16 jails, narrowly ahead of Punjab's 115.5% in 26 jails. Haryana reported 108.4% occupancy in its 22 jails. The national prison occupancy stands at 112.7% across 1,333 jails.Despite accounting for just 2.3% of India's population, Punjab ranks fifth nationally in jail capacity at 26,543 and inmate population at 30,663. The state stands fourth in terms of convicted prisoners and undertrials, with 6,695 convicts and 23,922 undertrials lodged in its prisons.Punjab has the highest number of inmates among the three states — 30,663 prisoners against a capacity of 26,543. Haryana follows with 24,756 inmates housed against a capacity of 22,838, while Himachal Pradesh has 2,984 inmates lodged against a capacity of 2,580. Nationwide, 5.11 lakh inmates are housed in jails built for 4.54 lakh, NCRB data shows.Male inmate occupancy was highest in Himachal Pradesh at 120.8%, followed by 119.9% in Punjab and 113.9% in Haryana. Women's occupancy was highest in Punjab at 66.6%, compared to 52.8% in HP and 43.4% in Haryana. Punjab had 1,445 women inmates against a sanctioned capacity of 2,170, Haryana 767 women inmates against 1,766, and Himachal 103 women inmates against 195. Haryana also reported two transgender inmates against a capacity of 12.Among jail categories, Punjab's 10 central jails are operating at 118.4% capacity, housing 24,138 inmates against a sanctioned strength of 20,393. Its district jails show similar congestion at 118.5%, while sub-jails operate at 108.1% occupancy. By contrast, women jails (74.3%), borstal school (43.8%) and the lone open jail (60%) remain under-utilised.Haryana's central jails run at 114.3%, district jails at 107.5%, while its open jails remain sparsely occupied at 54.5%. In Himachal Pradesh, district jails are the most overcrowded, operating at 131.4%, compared to 108.8% in central jails.Undertrials dominate all three states' prison populations. In Punjab, undertrials account for 23,922 inmates, including 1,094 women, while 6,695 are convicts. Haryana has 19,015 undertrials and 5,693 convicts, while Himachal Pradesh has 1,942 undertrials and 1,042 convicts.Educational profiling shows a large proportion of prisoners with education below Class X. Among Punjab's convicts, 1,802 were illiterate and 2,126 studied below Class X. Similar trends were seen in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.Punjab also houses 52 children with 50 women inmates, Haryana 30 children with 29 women, and Himachal Pradesh one child with one woman, reflecting the presence of dependent children in jails.Foreign nationals remain a small but notable segment. Of the 7,493 foreign inmates nationwide, 195 are lodged in Himachal Pradesh, 160 in Punjab, and 87 in Haryana, the majority being undertrials.