In 2021, over 23% of all detenues in Indian prisons were from the Scheduled Castes (SC) whose share in the population was 16.6% (as of 2011). The share of SC detenues saw an increase from 18% in 2019 to 23% in 2021. Indian jails host four types of prisoners — convicts (persons found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court), undertrials (currently on trial in a court of law), detenues (persons held lawfully in custody), and those who do not belong to any of these three categories and who comprise a small share of the total number of prisoners. Notably, in Tamil Nadu, over 30% of convicts and 30% of undertrials were SCs, while the SC share in the State’s population was 20%. Among States with a relatively high number of detainees, the share of SC detainees was notably disproportionate to the SC population share in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
Share of SCs
The chart shows the share of SCs in the total population in India in 2011, the share of SC convicts, the share of SC undertrials, and the share of SC detenues in Indian prisons as of 2021
