Himachal Pradesh prison department ranks second among small states in delivering justice Report

Shimla, May 17 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh Department of Prisons & Correctional Services has secured the second position among small states for delivering justice, according to a report by the India Justice Report (IJR) 2025.
     The IJR is a detailed, data-based review of how well different states in India deliver justice. The report is prepared by a group of well-known organisations including DAKSH, CHRI, Common Cause, and TISS-Prayas.
     It looks at four main areas which are Police, Judiciary, Prisons, and Legal Aid. Small states which have a population under one crore are ranked separately. The rankings are based on official government data collected over five years and consider factors like infrastructure, staffing, budgets, workload and diversity.
     Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services, Sanjeev Ranjan Ojha, said that Himachal Pradesh performed especially well in the prisons category.
     "This shows the state's strong and well-organised approach to prison management, particularly in terms of staffing, infrastructure improvements, and rehabilitation programmes," he said.
     DG also said that the department's key achievements include second rank among small states in delivering justice, strong performance in prison management with better staff-to-inmate ratios and lower occupancy than the national average, improvements in staffing of prison posts and attention to inmate welfare following the Model Prison Manual and its ongoing focus on healthcare, video conferencing facilities and legal aid services in prisons.
     He further said that the report appreciates Himachal Pradesh for consistently improving its performance compared to previous editions of IJR, especially after Covid when many states faced challenges in continuing justice reforms.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)