The Prison statistics India report is published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Prison Population: At the end of 2020, there were close to 4,88,511 people in prison. Of these, 76.1% were undertrials..
Detenues: The number of detenues has increased from 3,223 in 2019 to 3,590 in 2020, having increased by 11.4% during this period.
Prisoner Release: A total of 12,91,504 undertrial prisoners were released during 2020 in comparison to 16,06,731 in 2019. Thus, the release of undertrials has declined by 19.6%
Unnatural Deaths Number of un-natural deaths in prisons has increased by 18.1% from 160 in 2019 to 189 in 2020.
Mental Health Concerns: There were 7,524 prisoners, who were suffering from mental illness as on 31st December, 2020. Among the 189 un-natural deaths of inmates, 156 inmates have committed suicide. This is an indicator of the magnitude of mental health concerns within prisons.
