UP has highest count of ‘Padhe-Likhe’ languishing in prison

Not only does Uttar Pradesh hold the label of being the most populous state of the country or having the maximum parliamentary constituencies paving way for any government coming to power at Center, but it also merits the not so healthy tag of having the maximum number of well educated including post graduates, graduates and technical degree holders languishing in its jails.
As per official data made available in the Prison Statistics 2022 report, a total of 1,21,340 convicts and under trials are lodged in UP jails. Of it, 14,604 were Post graduate, Graduate or Technical degree holders.

Highly educated undertrials

The report revealed, of the total 94,131 under trials lodged in UP jails, a significant 2827 inmates, the highest in any state of the country, were post graduate degree holders while 7827 inmates were graduates while another 1001 had technical degrees to their academic profile.

Educated convicts

As in the case of educated convicts undergoing punishment in different UP jails, of the total 27,209 well educated convicts, a significant 2060 convicts presently serving jail term for heinous crimes had completed their graduation while 605 had post graduate degree in different disciplines. Another 284 convicts have technical degree in different streams.

UP JAILS WITH HIGHLY EDUCATED CONVICTS 

Academic status of prisoners in Indian jails

The Prison Statistics 2022 report further revealed among the 5,73,220 prisoners as on December 31, 2022 lodged in different jails of the country, the highest count of 2,28,369 (39.8%,) prisoners had not completed their matriculate while 1,46,879 (25.6%) were illiterates. The strength of prisoners with education up till Class X but below Graduation is 1,38,130 (24.1%).

Further of the total count of 5.73 lakh prison inmates in country, a significant 1,33,415 were convicts lodged in various jails of the country. Of these convict count, 31,625 were reported as illiterates while 56,943 convicts were educated below class 10. These two categories accounted for 23.7% and 42.7% of total convicts (1,33,415) respectively. However, 13,526 convicts were Post graduate, graduate or Technical degree holders serving a sentence in jails of 28 states and 9 Union territories.

In 2020, 41 per cent of prisoners had educational qualifications below Class 10 and 22.6 per cent had studied up to or beyond Class 10 but were not graduates. Around 6.4 per cent of the prisoners were graduates whereas 1.7 per cent had postgraduate degrees and 1.3 per cent had technical diplomas or degrees. About 26.9 per cent of the prisoners in the country had received no education.

MP and Rajasthan bag second and third spot in top 10 list

Reports revealed, after UP, Madhya Pradesh had second highest count of 2702 educated convicts in its jails in country followed by Rajasthan with 984 such inmates on third spot. Fourth position with maximum number highly educated convicts was bagged by Maharashtra with 962 while the state of Tamil Nadu had 806 educated inmates for the fifth position.
The remaining five states in top 10 list with maximum educated inmates in country include Punjab (710), Bihar (613), Chattisgarh (478)Kerala (432) and Karnataka (374) respectively.

Delhi tops with 175 qualified convicts amongst UTs

National Capital Delhi secured top spots eight Union Territories (UT) with 175 educated convicts including 136 graduates, 23 post graduates and 16 technical degree holders. Chandigarh had second highest count of 46 such inmates amongst UTs including 31 graduates, 9 post graduates and 6 technical degree holders.

TOP 10 STATES WITH HIGHEST NUMBER OF WELL QUALIFIED INMATES