Prisons Ranking: Tamil Nadu Tops the List

Chennai: The Indian Justice Report has revealed that Tamil Nadu tops the prison ranking nationally. The nationwide survey shows that Tamil Nadu ranks at the top because of sustainable administrative growth, good infrastructure, less crowding and continuous correctional efforts.

Indian Justice Report

The Indian Justice Report appreciated the Tamil Nadu Prison Department on various parameters like infrastructure, less crowding, and correctional efforts. This research was executed in 2022. On 10 different parameters, Tamil Nadu ranks first, scoring 6.4 out of 10. Karnataka bagged the second position with a score of 6.01, and Telangana was in third place with a score of 5.35. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have come last with scores of 3.55 and 2.05, respectively.

Tamil Nadu is improving every year

As per the 2019 ranking, Tamil Nadu was in the tenth position, and in 2020 it bagged the sixth position nationally. The report points to a noticeable change in Tamil Nadu prisons after Chief Minister Stalin came to the helm. For instance, in February, the Stalin government provided heavy-duty washing machines to the prisons in Tamil Nadu and brought a major upgrade to the infrastructure of the Tamil Nadu prisons.

Gandhiji's grandson appreciated CM Stalin

There has been an appreciation of the government's efforts. Mahatma Gandhi's grandson and former West Bengal Governor Gopalakrishnan sent an appreciation letter to CM Stalin. He mentioned, "This is an exemplary action taken by CM Stalin. Especially providing heavy-duty washing machines to women's prisons is highly commendable".

Jharkhand prisons struggling

In terms of staff vacancies, Tamil Nadu has the lowest ranking at 9.8%. Whereas, Jharkhand is in a poor position at a rate of 60%. In Tamil Nadu, there are 21 officers for every 198 prisoners, a good ratio for the state. Except for Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh, no other state or union territory had followed this 1:200 ratio of correctional staff and prisoners. But Jharkhand has one correctional officer for every 21,257 prisoners.

This report also shows that Tamil Nadu is an outstanding state in the country in terms of providing facilities such as vocational training, healthcare, and video conference facilities to prisoners.

Transformations in the prison department

DGP Amaraesh Pujari, heading Prisons and Correctional Services in Tamil Nadu says, "I'm happy to know that the Tamil Nadu Prison Department has been ranked as number one in the all-India ranking of prisons." Several measures for the reform, rehabilitation, and re-socialisation of the prisoners were provided, including the renovation of prison libraries with audiobooks, skill development courses, yoga, an automated laundry system, enhanced interview facilities for the visiting family members of the prisoners for better family connections, free education, free legal aid clinics, and sports and music as therapeutic interventions. Transforming prisons into correctional colleges is my ultimate goal. CM Stalin's support and extended guide to the Prison Department made this achievement possible".

How does the survey work?

The Indian Justice Survey is a comprehensive quantitative index that uses government statistics and data to rank the efficiency of the justice system prevailing in various states of the nation. This report was made with the aid of DAKSH (Digital Access to Knowledge and Skilled Human Resource of Assam), the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Common Cause, the Centre for Social Justice, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, and TISS-Prayas.

This research is based on various parameters. The major parameter to be considered is the crowd. In March 2020, CM Stalin took severe measures to control COVID-19 in the prisons of Tamil Nadu. Especially when the Supreme Court directed the state governments and the Union Territories to establish a special high-powered committee to recommend interim bail and parole to prisoners. Thus, between April 2020 and June 2020, the prison count in the prisons of 20 states and 2 Union territories was reduced to 93.3%.

The Indian Justice Report embraces the principles of the United Nations Office on Drugs' extreme crisis. Per this principle, over 120% of the crowd is categorised as in crisis and over 150% as in extreme crisis." Based on the 2021 report, there were 13 states and union territories on the crisis list, and 6 states were on the 'Extreme Crisis' list. Tamil Nadu was one of the 17 states on the list of states with below 100% occupancy.