New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have the highest number of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails among the states and union territories, Union Minister Nityanand Rai told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Rai said that while Uttar Pradesh had 80,557 undertrial prisoners as of December 31, 2020, as many as 44,187 undertrial prisoners are in jails in Bihar followed by 31,712 prisoners in Madhya Pradesh. The total number of prisoners in jails of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are 1,07,395, 51,934 and 45,484 respectively, he said in a written reply.
Rai said 26,171 undertrial prisoners are in jails in Maharashtra, 20,144 in West Bengal, 17,103 in Jharkhand, 16,930 in Rajasthan, 15,643 in Punjab, 15,619 in Odisha, 14,951 in Haryana and 14,506 in Delhi. Additionally, he said that MHA has taken various initiatives to address the issue of undertrial prisoners. The MHA has issued several advisories to States and UTs for adopting appropriate measures to provide legal assistance, etc. to undertrial prisoners.
The Model Prison Manual 2016 circulated to all States and UTs also has a Chapter on Legal Aid that provides the details of facilities that are to be provided to undertrials, viz. legal defence, interview with lawyer, signing of Vakalatnama, application to Courts for legal aid at Government cost etc, he added.
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