Asia’s largest prison at Tihar is bursting at the seams. Its official capacity is 6,250 prisoners but it has been forced to keep more than 13,000 inmates leading to many complications. Delhi Prisons Authorities are hoping that the commissioning of Mandoli jail in the near future will solve the problem of overcrowding.

The Tihar Jail has been overcrowded for many years now. Having ten jails with a sanctioned capacity of 6,250, the population of the prison has crossed 13,000 now. The number of female inmates also exceeds than the sanctioned capacity. Jail meant for women inmates can at best house 400 but its 550 now. The actual population of jail recorded in December 2012 was 12,113 out of which 540 are women prisoners, 3,219 are convicts, 8,887 are undertrials and 398 are foreigners.

Though Tihar Jail spokesperson Sunil Gupta denied facing difficulties due to the overcrowding of jails. “We have put all the resources at our disposal and all jails are being managed well. We take help from the paramilitary forces, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and others. We use the open space and the available yards to accommodate prisoners. The female inmates reside in a separate jail. Additional helpers have been deployed to maintain hygiene in the jail premises, Gupta said.

Psychiatrists said overcrowding jail could also be one of the reasons for internal rivalry among prisoners leading to scuffles between the inmates, few of which have resulted in death too. 

“As a scientist I can say that overcrowding and mismanagement effects are not good mentally, success rate of rehabilitation and this not only effects the inside environment but also the outside crime

solving situation,” Nimesh Desai, Director of Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences said.

“The Tihar Jail has been overcrowded from a long time but the prisoners are not in the barracks all the time. There are various activities that happen in the jail like yoga, classroom activities and educational and spiritual courses. The prisoners are forever engaged barring out the meal times. Tihar has a great compound area. The only prisoners who are in the barracks are the ones who are unwell. We use the space under the trees to teach. The barracks are used only during the time of rain,” said Kiran Bedi, Retired Indian Police Services officer, who was also DG of Tihar.