Over 22% convicts in Gujarat jails illiterate, 53% have not studied till Class 10: Report

Data from the prison statistics available suggests that over 50% of the convicts lodged across jails in Gujarat have not studied till Class 10 and over 20% were illiterate.

According to the Prison Statistic India 2023 report by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 2,739 out of total 5,154 inmates, that is over 53% convicts in the state, had not studied even till Class 10, while 1,184 convicts were found to be illiterate. This combined figure stands at almost 77% in Gujarat.

Moreover, over 49% undertrial prisoners in the state had not even studied up to class-10. As many as 5,682 out of the total 11,549 undertrial prisoners fall under this category, while 1,966 undertrials were found illiterate. And the data mentions that 2,774 undertrials had not completed graduation. Regarding gender wise data, there are 11,183 males, 364 females and 4 transgender’s as undertrial prisoners across 32 jails in Gujarat in 2023.

Over 30% convicts were below the age of 30

Surprisingly, 1,631 out of the total 5,154, that is around 31.6% convicts were below the age of 30 in the state in 2023. Apart from this over 50% convicts fall under the 30 to 50-year age group. Only 18% (926) convicts were above 50 in Gujarat.

45% undertrials below the age of 30

As many as 5,284 out of the total 11,549 undertrial prisoners in the state were below the age of 30 in the state. This amounts to 45% undertrial prisoners, while 46.1% undertrial prisoners were between the age group of 30 and 50 years, whereas only 8.2% undertrial prisoners were found to be above the age of 50 years.

64% convicts face life imprisonment

The highest number of 3,254 convicts were facing sentences of life imprisonment in various jails, while a total of 58 convicts were awarded capital punishment as of December 31, 2023. Around 715 convicts in the state were facing jail sentences for a period of 10 to 13 years in the state.

The occupancy rate of jails was 122.8% in the state in 2023. Total 17,265, including 16,710 males and 549 females, were behind bars against the total available capacity of 14,065 in jails of Gujarat.