Chhattisgarh’s prison system is groaning under an explosive overcrowding crisis, with jails across the State operating at nearly 144 per cent occupancy and housing more than 6,500 inmates beyond sanctioned capacity, RTI documents accessed by The Hitavada have revealed, exposing mounting custodial stress, infrastructure pressure and an expanding undertrial burden across 33 prisons. The disclosures emerged from official correspondence issued by Headquarters, Jail and Correctional Services, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, in response to an RTI application filed by Nagpur-based applicant and Association of Social and RTI Activists (ASRA) president Sanjay Thul. Official records dated April 8 and April 27, 2026, show that Chhattisgarh prisons collectively housed 21,518 inmates against approved accommodation capacity of 14,973 prisoners as on March 31, 2026. The RTI documents reveal that undertrial prisoners continue to dominate the State’s prison population. Of the total inmates lodged across Chhattisgarh jails, 14,349 are undertrials while only 7,169 are convicted prisoners, indicating that nearly two out of every three inmates are still awaiting completion of legal proceedings. The statewide inmate population included 20,613 men and 905 women, with 258 convicted women and 647 female undertrials. The gender break-up in the RTI records shows that women inmates are concentrated mainly in central and larger district jails.

 

Central Jail Raipur housed 190 women prisoners, including 48 convicted and 142 undertrial women; Central Jail Jagdalpur recorded 164 women inmates, including 17 convicts and 147 undertrials; Central Jail Bilaspur housed 177 women prisoners, including 84 convicts and 93 undertrials; Central Jail Ambikapur recorded 134 women inmates, equally split between 67 convicts and 67 undertrials; while Central Jail Durg housed 128 women prisoners, including 42 convicts and 86 undertrials. District Jail Raigarh recorded 46 female undertrials, Korba 26, Jashpur 17, Kanker 15 and Baikunthpur 8. Central Jail Raipur emerged as the most overcrowded prison facility in the State. Against an approved capacity of 1,586 prisoners, the jail housed 4,031 inmates, including 1,621 convicted prisoners and 2,410 undertrials. District Jail Mahasamund recorded one of the sharpest occupancy spikes. Designed for 220 inmates, the prison housed 757 prisoners, including 739 undertrials, pushing occupancy close to 344 per cent. Central Jail Bilaspur housed 3,103 inmates against sanctioned capacity of 2,290, while Central Jail Jagdalpur recorded 1,867 prisoners against approved strength of 1,451. Central Jail Ambikapur also crossed capacity limits with 2,080 inmates against sanctioned accommodation of 1,620, while Central Jail Durg lodged 2,154 prisoners against approved capacity of 2,006.

 

District Jail Raigarh housed 907 inmates against sanctioned strength of 695. District Jail Dantewada recorded 594 prisoners against approved capacity of 350, while Janjgir Jail housed 439 inmates against sanctioned strength of 280. Several smaller district and sub-jails too reflected severe congestion. Sub Jail Sarangarh housed 170 prisoners against capacity of merely 50, while Sub Jail Bijapur lodged 206 inmates against approved strength of 90. District Jail Sukma recorded 276 inmates against capacity of 160, Kanker Jail housed 254 prisoners against sanctioned strength of 205 and Ramanujganj Jail recorded 474 inmates against approved accommodation of 313. Balodabazar Jail housed 463 inmates against capacity of 410. The disclosures point towards rising pressure on prison security, inmate healthcare, sanitation systems and correctional management infrastructure amid growing inmate populations and prolonged judicial pendency. The RTI correspondence further disclosed that several categories of prison-related information sought by the applicant were “not maintained” by the statistical branch at Jail Headquarters level. Authorities clarified that all 33 prisons are treated as separate “public authorities” under RTI provisions and prison-specific details would have to be sought individually from concerned jail superintendents. The replies issued by Public Information Officer Prafulla Kumar Joshi also acknowledged that certain ratio-based prison data was not centrally maintained at headquarters level.