Assam Prisons Over Occupied As Per Government Data.

New Delhi/Guwahati; May 2026: As per latest Central government data, the overall occupancy rate in the prisons located in the State of Assam stood at 113% as on December 31, 2024. It has increased year-on-year compared to 2023 when Assam’s jails recorded an occupancy rate of 105.3%. The inmate population in the 31 prisons of the State was 11,674 on the last day of 2024, the latest date for which official figures were released recently, as against an available capacity of 10,330.

The occupancy rate in the jails of Assam has witnessed an increase, thus worsening the problem of overcrowding in such institutions. The issue is more serious in the district jails, and also for the male inmates compared to their female counterparts.

Of the total 31 prisons, 06 are Central Jails and 22 are District Jails, besides 01 Sub-Jail, 01 Open Jail, and 01 Special Jail. The combined available capacity for males in all the prisons of the State taken together was 9,559 as on December 31, 2024, while the inmate population numbered 11,199. These translates to an occupancy rate of 117.2%. On the other hand, the available capacity for female inmates was 761, while the inmate population on that date stood at 475, resulting in a comparatively smaller occupancy rate of 62.4%. The capacity for transgender inmates was 10. However, there were no persons belonging to the transgender category in Assam’s jails then.

• In the 06 Central Jails, the inmate population on the last day of 2024 was 4,402 compared to a total capacity of 4,500. This puts the occupancy rate at 97.8%.

• The problem of overcrowding was, however, more serious in the 22 district jails of the State. The district jails had 6,796 inmates, compared to a total capacity of 5,220, with the occupancy rate as high as 130.2%.

• Meanwhile, there were 395 inmates in the only 01 Special Jail of Assam, as against the total capacity of 442. The occupancy rate in the special jail was 89.4% as on December 31, 2024.

• The inmate population of the solitary Sub-Jail in Assam was 63, while its total capacity was 68, which resulted in a 92.6% occupancy rate.

• The open jail had 18 inmates as against a capacity of 100, with the occupancy rate being only 18%.

Overall, across India, the occupancy rate in jails on the last day of 2024 was 112.7%. These are figures void of the data from West Bengal, as the state has been claimed of not providing data. The nationwide figure was 120.8% a year previously, i.e., on the last day of 2023.

Among the other Northeastern States, the occupancy rate in the jails of:

• Manipur was only 38.8%,
• Nagaland was 40.5%,
• Tripura was 75%,  
• Arunachal Pradesh was 90.8%,
• Mizoram was 112.3%,  
• Meghalaya was 163.5%.

In addition, the jails in Assam reported the presence of 77 foreign inmates as on December 31, 2024. Of them, 25 were convicts and 52 were undertrials. Among the foreign convicts, all 25 were from Bangladesh. With regard to undertrial foreigners, 36 were from Bangladesh, 12 hailed from Myanmar, one was from Nigeria, one from a North American country, one from a Southeast Asian country, and one was categorised as ‘other foreign national’, as per the data.

Team Maverick.