Updated on Saturday, June 20, 2009, 14:19 IST

Kochi, June 20: Jails in Kerala are overcrowded with about 6628 prisoners being lodged in 41 jails across the state against the permitted capacity of 4309, says a report here.

The report of the 'Janakeeya Manushyavakasa Prasthanam,' prepared on the basis of information provided by the Jail Headquarters under the RTI act reveals that jails were overcrowded surpassing the permitted capacity of prisoners by 53.82 percent.

The Jails-- three central prisons, two open prisons, one women's prison, three district jails and five special sub jails and 27 sub jails in the state can together accommodate 3844 men prisoners and 465 women convicts. But figures point out that as of May 12 this year, there are 6425 men and 203 women prisoners in these 41 jails, the report said.

There is an urgent need for modernisation of the jails as overcrowding can cause problems. The organisation is planning to conduct further studies into the issue, said Advocate Thushar Nirmal Sarathy, convener of the 'prasthanam.'

The report points out that while the authorised capacity of prisoners in Thiruvananthapuram Central prison was only 727 with 709 men and 18 women, presently there are 1453 prisoners, 25 of them women. Of this, 1037 are convicted and 416 are undertrial prisoners.

The capacity of Viyyur central prison is only 376, while there are 553 prisoners lodged there while in Kannur central prison against the authorised capacity of 1086, it has 1206 prisoners with 967 convicted inmates.

About 57 percent (3743) of those lodged in the various prisons are undertrial prisoners, the report said.

Bureau Report