Overview
- The Prison Department review, held Monday and chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ordered a shift in policy to redevelop jails as centres for reform, rehabilitation and skill development rather than only places of confinement.
- Officials reported overcrowding has eased since 2017 from a rate of 1.77 to 1.03 as the state increased capacity to 77,673 beds across 77 prisons while 79,782 inmates are currently lodged there.
- The chief minister directed officials to prepare a special action plan to expand 'open jails' for minor offenders and to list vulnerable inmates — those over 75, with terminal illness, women with children and those who cannot meet bail — for expedited release processes.
- Practical steps ordered include completing six prisons now under construction that will add 6,156 places, stepping up technology-based surveillance and inmate healthcare, and filling 3,647 vacant prison department posts through ongoing recruitment.
- The review highlighted expanded prison work and farming programmes, including 'One Jail One Product' units in 37 prisons and increased farm output, which officials say will help inmates gain skills, lower costs and aid social reintegration.