Daman and Diu spends most on each prisoner, Telangana least

Daman and Diu spends the most on its prisoners while Telangana spends the least, according to a Ministry of Home Affairs' provisional data for the year 2016-2017.

In a first, India Today has accessed figures of expenditure incurred by states and Union territories on each prisoner. The results are surprising.

The tax payers money actually goes into food, clothing, medical, vocational or educational activity of prisoners. According to a Ministry of Home Affairs' provisional data, with merely 114 prisoners, Daman and Diu spends Rs 32,000 on each inmate annually followed by country's tourist hotspot Goa, which spends as much as Delhi just a little less than Rs 32,000 with merely 1,356 prisoners in its jails.

Most states have declared that they spend Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000 on an average on each prisoner. The relatively newer state of Telangana, which has 70,232 prisoners, seems to have tightened its purse spending as little as Rs 1,997 on each inmate. Also, at the bottom of the rung in terms of expenses on prisoner is Lakshadweep, which has less than 50 prisoners in jail, also the lowest in the country. Jammu and Kashmir, the state which witnesses extreme violence, spends nearly Rs 8,500 on each prisoner for a year.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh, which tops the crime charts, houses maximum prisoners in the country at over 3.6 lakh and it spends Rs 6,868 on each prisoner annually.

UP, which has the maximum number of prisoners, is followed by Madhya Pradesh with 1.7 lakh inmates and Bihar with 1.5 lakh prisoners. At number four is Maharashtra with 1.4 lakh prisoners followed by Punjab with 1.1 lakh inmates. But, while the numbers should automatically translate into the most expenses on food, clothing, medical and other expenses, it is not the case.

Overall expenditure on prisoners food

The state of Uttar Pradesh also feeds the maximum mouths, spending the most on food by any state with a whopping Rs 15,000 lakh budget on food alone, the next in line is Bihar with Rs 9426 lakh followed by Madhya Pradesh which spends Rs 6617 lakh. The lowest is spent by Lakshadweep with only Rs 50,000 for a year.

Overall expenditure on clothing

Madhya Pradesh spends maximum on clothes with Rs 660 lakh followed by Bihar at Rs 282 lakh. Naxal-affected Jharkhand spends Rs 231 lakh on over 57,000 prisoners and Punjab nearly Rs 200 lakh. The lowest spenders are Himachal Pradesh spending a mere Rs 1.2 lakh for prison clothes and Meghalaya with Rs 1.5 lakh. Among Union territories, Delhi spends Rs 152 crore -- the highest, Puducherry spends Rs 90,000 while Lakshwadeep spends no money at all.

Overall medical budget

Overall medical expenditure is the highest in Delhi -- with the state spending Rs 1755 lakh for over 69,000 prisoners followed by Uttar Pradesh with Rs 1000 lakh followed by a distant Chhattisgarh at over Rs 460 lakh. Jammu and Kashmir which houses 8,864 prisoners spends Rs 63 lakh on the medical facility.

Vocational and educational activities seems to be a low priority. At least 10 states and four Union territories have told MHA they spend zero money on prisoners. For educational activity, Andhra Pradesh pumps in Rs 120 lakh followed by Kerala with Rs 72 lakh. Chandigarh, India's first smart city, spends Rs 60 lakh on education of its prisoners. Delhi lags behind with only Rs 60,000 expenditure on education while big state like UP spend Rs 11 lakh.

Welfare activity:

Madhya Pradesh spends nearly Rs 1400 lakh on welfare activity followed by Chhattisgarh which spends Rs 888 lakh and Kerala that spends almost Rs 460 lakh.