Based on the ‘Prison Statistics Report 2015‘ (PSI) released by the NCRB, here is a compilation of ten important things about Indian Prisons by ‘The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’ (CHRI) CHRI’s Comment: Such high proportion of undertrial prisoners points directly to the dysfunctions across the criminal justice system. India ranks 18th (out of 212 countries) for such high levels of undertrial population. Even Uganda and United Arab Emirates do better while countries such as Libya, Bolivia and Liberia rank worse. In the sub-continent, Sri Lanka and Nepal at 52.8 percent and 58.9 percent do much better than India in holding down the numbers in pre-trial detention while Pakistan and Bangladesh are only marginally worse with 69.1 percent and 73.8 percent respectively. Unnecessary arrests, sluggish pace of criminal trials, deliberate delays to suit administrative convenience, and inadequate security and escort staff to ferry prisoners back and forth from prison to court and vacancies in the magistracy are the primary culprits. The consequence are overcrowded prisons and sub-human prison conditions. CHRI’s Comment: Trials are taking longer to complete and more prisoners now spend longer in jail than before. In 2001 19% spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial now 25% do. Similarly in 2001, 40 percent had spent less than 3 months in prison, now 35 percent do. The proportion of prisoners who have spent less than three months in prison has decreased from 40 percent in 2001 to 35 percent in 2015. Despite all the ‘mission mode’ programmes and attempts to ‘speed up’ trials, the unfortunate reality is that the liberty of those whose guilt has not been established is being curtailed for even longer periods than before. CHRI has been assisting the Supreme Court, through the Amicus Curiae in the writ petition Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, on the working of the Undertrial Review Committees (UTRCs) with the objective to reduce un-necessary detention. CHRI’s national report on UTRCs ‘Circle of Justice’ would be released on 8th November 2016. CHRI’s Comment: Too many prisoners are dying behind bars. Most are reported as ‘Natural Deaths’. Natural deaths inside custody however need further scrutiny. Firstly because the person’s liberty is fettered in judicial custody; he/she is dependent on the state for the upkeep of their health. So, deprivation in this area cannot be termed ‘natural’. Secondly because the status of the inquiries conducted to investigate these deaths are not available in public domain. Suicides form the largest chunk of unnatural deaths. The NHRC has recently published a report on prison suicides. It is the responsibility of every prison department to follow the preventive measures the report recommends. Also, mentioning an unspecified category such as ‘others’ does not make for a useful data category in understanding the causes of prison deaths. CHRI’s Comment: A disproportionate 65 percent of the prison population is made up of Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. There has been miniscule variations in this proportion over the years. As per the PSI 2015 data, Schedule castes form 21.4 percent of the prison population, while they form 16.6% of the general population as per the 2011 Census data. Similarly Schedule Tribes form 12.8% of the prison population whereas only 8.6% of the general population. Muslims form 15 percent of the country’s population but 19% of the prison population. CHRI’s Comment: 70 percent of the prisoners are either illiterate or have been educated below Class X. These segments are easy to target, know little or nothing of their rights, are unable to challenge police procedures or ensure they have the benefit of good representation or insist on fair trial procedures. At the mercy of an over strained and burdened system they are its ultimate victims. CHRI’s Comment: Prison officials and staff includes officers, cadre staff, correctional staff, medical staff, ministerial staff and others. Jail cadre forms more than 70 percent of the force. The Model Jail Manual 2016 recommends there should be one guarding staff for every six inmates. In reality it is almost half the standard with 10 prisoners per guarding staff. Without the augmentation of guarding staff and correctional staff, prisons will stay fixed in adversarial staff-inmate relations, in a culture of punishment with extra lock-up hours to serve ‘effective’ management. PSI figures indicate the obvious huge short staffing of prisons. But even this tells just half the story of the sorry state of prison services. Many staff are on suspension or absent on leave or on ancillary and administrative work.