More jails needed in Maharashtra to ease overcrowding

Apart from the newly-added district prisons, Maharashtra has nine central prisons, 27 district prisons, 10 open prisons, one open colony and 172 sub-jails.

A few months ago, prison officials chalked out a plan to build five new jails as a measure to curb overcrowding in prisons in parts of the state other than Mumbai.

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At present, three of the five jails — Nandurbar, Washim and Jalna — are ready and have been handed over to the prison department. The other two prisons — in Gadchiroli and Sindhudurg — will be completed in the coming months.

Apart from the newly-added district prisons, Maharashtra has nine central prisons, 27 district prisons, 10 open prisons, one open colony and 172 sub-jails.

Prison department sources stressed the need for more jails in the state, given the rising crime rate. Occupancy rates in jail vary on a day-to-day basis, depending on the number of undertrials given bail.

According to a source in the department, there were 28,000 inmates in jails across the state at the end of October against the total capacity of 25,000.

NCRB’s all-India statistics indicate maximum overcrowding in district jails (134.7%) followed by central jail (121.2%) in 2013.

“We already have possession of new jails at Nandurbar, Washim and Jalna. We hope to get possession of the Gadchiroli jail soon. And by January-end we could get possession of the new jail in Sindhudurg,” said additional director general of police (prisons) Meeran Borwankar.