UP is planning gaushalas in jails that are 69% overcapacity, 33% short-staffed

The capacity of jails across UP is 49,434, but they hold 88,747 inmates: NCRB data

The jails of Uttar Pradesh (UP), overcrowded and understaffed, are in no position to house gaushalas (cow shelters) as the state government recently proposed.

The prisons of India’s most populous state are 69% over capacity–compared with the national average of 14%–and have only two-thirds of the staff they need, according to 2015 prison statistics, the latest available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The capacity of jails across UP is 49,434, but they hold 88,747 inmates, the data reveal. Nationally, the figures are 366,781 and 419,623, respectively.

The highest occupancy rate was reported in Dadra & Nagar Haveli, 277%,