Social Work: Correctional Admin
PROBLEM IN CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA INTRODUCTION The Union of India is a Federal Polity consisting of 28 States and 7 Union Territories directly administered by the Union Government. Under this federal system the States have their own Governments, and Legislatures, with powers and functions which are clearly defined under a written Constitution. Under such devolution of executive and legislative power the State Governments manage education, health-care, policing and prisons within their jurisdiction among many other functions. We are a large nation with a large population, which includes in large numbers of the followers of every major religion in the world. According to the population census conducted by the Union Government in the year 2001, our population crossed the one billion mark. This huge population includes 824 million Hindus (82.41%), 116 million Muslims (11.67%), 23 million Christians (2.32%) and 20 million Sikhs (2.0%). In India over one million criminal cases are reported every year. such annual incidence of crime in the country necessitates the existence of a huge network of prisons and other institutions of correctional administration, even when in our country the number of prison inmates per million of population is one of the lowest in the world. We have in our country a total of 1119 prisons of different categories and sizes, with an authorised inmate capacity of 2, 29,713. Under the Seventh Schedule to Constitution of India, prisons are managed and governed by State Governments and Governments of Union Territories. The Governments of the States and Union Territories have the last word in all matters relating to prevention and detection of crime, trial and sentencing of offenders, and the custody of criminals in prisons. The State Governments have the powers to make rules and regulations for administration and management of prisons and