Bhubaneswar: As many as 17,500 undertrial prisoners are lodged in different jails of Odisha.
Minister of State (MoS) for Home Tusharkanti Behera revealed this in a written reply in the Odisha Assembly today.
Replying to a query by BJP legislator from Jashipur Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, the MoS informed that a total of 20,260 convicts are lodged in 87 prisons of the State as on date.
Behera said that out of the 20,260 convicts, 1,543 are serving life imprisonment.
He informed that a total of 3,474 prisoners are Adivasis, 2,787 are Dalits and 716 are women. They are lodged in different jails of the State, he added.
The MoS stated that it has not come to the government’s notice of any prisoner staying in jail on being unable to fight the case against him or her.
He further informed that the government has directed the Legal Services Authority to provide assistance to the seven prisoners who are still in jail despite being granted bail.
