Of over 25,000 Haryana jail inmates, 28% SCs, 13% Muslims

The proportion of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Muslims in Haryana jails was higher than their share in the state population, according to the Prison Statistics India report for 2023.

Of the total 25,833 inmates in Haryana jails as on December 31 (2023), 7,393 or 28.6 per cent (more than one in four) belonged to the SC community, which included 263 women. Among them, 1,496 were convicts, 5,868 undertrials and 29 detenues. The share of SC undertrials stood even higher at 30.4 per cent. The count of total SC inmates stood at 25.4 per cent in 2022. Compared to inmates, the SC share in the state’s population was 20.2 per cent, as per the 2011 Census. Ambala Congress MP Varun Chaudhary said, “This reflects the poor socioeconomic background of the SCs in Haryana. They should be provided proper legal aid.”

Muslims made up for 13.6 per cent of the total inmates whereas their share in the state population was nearly half at 7 per cent. There were 3,502 Muslim inmates, including 768 convicts, 2,548 undertrials and 186 detenues. Haryana jails had a total 248 detenues and 75 per cent of them were Muslims. In 2022, the share of Muslim inmates was slightly lower at 12.8 per cent.

“The high percentage of Muslims in Haryana jails reflects lack of jobs and other opportunities for the community. Their involvement in petty crimes can be a reason for their higher representation among inmates. They are also not getting proper legal help,” said Nuh Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed.

A similar trend was observed among Sikhs and Christians. The share of Sikhs among jail inmates was 8.1 per cent (2,088 individuals) compared to 4.9 per cent in the state population. Christian inmates made up for 0.6 per cent (161 individuals) of the jail population. Their proportion in the state population was 0.2 per cent. Hindus comprised 76.8 per cent of the total inmates while their share in the state population was 87.5 per cent.

Head of Training and Research at the Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh, Dr Upneet Lalli, said, “The share of SCs and Muslims in jails has been higher not only in Haryana, but also at the national level. Besides socioeconomic conditions, the quality of legal assistance they get is also a factor. In Haryana, the proportion of inmates from outside the state is also significant. The high crime rate in NCR, where migrants might be involved, is notable.”

Lalli said regarding SCs and Muslims, it was also important to study what type of crimes they were involved in: thefts, property offences or crime involving humans. It was also pointed out that Haryana reported the highest percentage of convicts (14.2 per cent) and the second-highest percentage of undertrials from other states (11.4 per cent) in 2023.

At the national level, the share of SC inmates stood at 20.3 per cent compared to 16.6 per cent share in the population. For Muslims, the nationwide count of inmates was 17.5 per cent whereas their share in the country’s population was 14.2 per cent.