27.37% prison inmates in India ‘illiterate’, over 5,600 techies, says government data

Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous State, houses the maximum number of prisoners at 1,01,297.

A view of the Puzhal prison in Chennai. File

As many as 1,32,729 (27.37%) of the 4,78,600 prison inmates in the country are “illiterate” while 5,677 hold a technical degree or diploma, according to Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) data.

The prison statistics presented by Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy recently in Parliament were based on a compilation of data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) updated till December 31, 2019.

The data on education of prison inmates showed that the maximum number of 1,98,872 (or 41.55 per cent) prisoners are educated below class 10 level.

It showed that 1,32,729 (27.37%) prison inmates were illiterate, while 1,03,036 (or 21.52%) studied beyond class 10 but below graduate level. According to the data, 30,201 (6.31%) prison inmates were graduates, while 8,085 (1.68%) were post graduates and as many as 5,677 (1.18%) held a technical degree or diploma, etc.

Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous State, houses the maximum number of prisoners at 1,01,297.

Uttar Pradesh also houses the maximum number of prison inmates who are illiterate (31,927), educated up till class 10 (36,390), beyond class 10 but below graduation (21,269), graduates (8,151), post graduates (2,635) and techies (925), it showed.

West Bengal had not furnished prison statistics for 2018 and 2019 because of which its figures from 2017 were used in the data, while Maharashtra’s category-wise break up was ‘not available’, the data mentioned.