India’s overcrowded jails pose a serious health risk to inmates

 

Prison outbreak

India’s overcrowded jails pose a serious health risk to inmates




INTRODUCTION

Indian jails are severely overcrowded, with a national occupancy rate of roughly 131%, holding over 5.7 lakh inmates against a capacity of 4.36 lakh as of 2022-2023. 


The crisis is driven by a massive undertrial population (about 76% of inmates), slow judicial processes, and inadequate infrastructure, leading to poor health, violence, and violations of Article 21 (right to life)


 between August 20, 2025, and March 9, 2026, around 92 inmates at the Jalpaiguri Central Correctional Home were infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) and seven of them died. 



HSV is 

common in the general population but experts have said that in imm -uno-compromised or overcrowded populations with poor care, it can lead to encephalitis, which is often fatal. 



The Home’s 171% occupancy rate rendered good hygiene and isolation a luxury. 


According to the 2023 Prison Statistics of India

district prisons in West Bengal have reported occupancy rates exceeding 160% 



and certain facilities, such as the Kandi Sub-Jail, have historically reached staggering levels of over 400%. 


While the State has many foreign national inmates, overcrowding is a persistent fact of India’s correctional facilities. 



In 2023, 30% of inmates in 10 prisons in Kerala 


were found to have skin diseases caused by humidity and a lack of personal space. 



A 2023 study in The Lancet Public Health


 found prisoners in India five times more likely to develop tuberculosis (TB) than the general population. 


In 2025, the Home Ministry ordered prison screening camps as unventilated environments allow TB to spread rapidly. The Nagpur and Indore central jails had major COVID-19 outbreaks.


According to the India Justice Report 2025


 HIV prevalence among inmates -

 is also significantly higher than the national average due to shared equipment and inadequate screening at entry.


 Mandatory, comprehensive medical screening -

could catch many of these infections before they become injurious, which also requires facilities to have the requisite personnel. 


43% vacancy rate for medical officers - 

But the report also flagged a 43% vacancy rate for medical officers, 


resulting in the number of inmates per doctor being 2.6 times higher than recommended by the Model Prison Manual.


 There are also only 25 psychologists for India’s 5.7 lakh inmates. 



Filling this gap 

requires 

  • integrating prisons into the National Health Mission,

  •  ensuring a sufficient number of health workers trained to manage outbreaks, 

  • and enforcing the Manual’s standards uniformly across States. '


As West Bengal’s actions in 2020 illustrate — 

temporarily releasing thousands of undertrials to relieve overcrowding in the South 24 Parganas District Correctional Home and the Baruipur Central Jail — the solutions are not confined to health. 


The judiciary must fast-track cases 

involving undertrials, who constitute the majority of inmates, expand the use of bail and non-custodial alternatives for minor offences and expedite the repatriation of foreign nationals.


source the hindu 

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