By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow,
New Delhi, 18 March 2014: What will be your comment when you come to know that in literacy rate Uttar Pradesh is at No. 29 in the list of 35 states/Union Territories of India but it is at No. 1 in having graduate and post-graduate convicts as well as undertrials?
According to the Census 2011, Uttar Pradesh has a literacy rate of 67.68% which is much below the national literacy rate of 74.04%. In the list of 35 states and Union Territories of the country, UP is at No. 29 just above Jammu and Kashmir (67.16), Andhra Pradesh (67.02), Jharkhand (66.41), Rajasthan (66.11), Arunachal Pradesh (65.38) and Bihar (61.80).
It is interesting that despite having low literacy rate, UP leads the country in the number of convict graduates and post-graduates. The state has been leader in that field for last three consecutive years.
According to Prison Statistics India Report 2012 prepared by National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), country’s premier agency working on the subject under the Union Home Ministry, the country had 1,27,789 convicts lodged in various jails in the year 2012. Some 74.6% of them were either illiterate or educated below Class X.
Uttar Pradesh had reported the highest number of graduate convicts ((1,218) as well as post-graduate convicts (398) in 2012.
In 2011 also according to NCRB, UP had the highest number of graduate (1,425) and post-graduate (405) convicts.
UP was leader in the year 2010 also with the state having the highest number of graduate (1,248) and post graduate (321) convicts.
Not only convicts, more graduate and post-graduate undertrials are also in Uttar Pradesh.
In 2012, Uttar Pradesh had reported the highest number of graduate undertrial prisoners (2,824) and post graduates (776).
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