Anuradha Jayaratne: Prison population

Abstract

TRUE: As of today, the total number of inmates in prisons are 28,468. […] the number of drug-related offenders has increased rapidly. As per today 50.3% of the total inmates are people who were imprisoned for drug related offences. In some prisons about 65% are detained due to drug related offences [….] During this period, that is the last half of 2021 and the year 2022, just for the twenty-eight thousand inmates the Government incurred a cost of Rs. 3.9 billion on just their food. [….] the overall maintenance of the prison system is nearly 10 billion. Anuradha Jayaratne, Asian Mirror, 10 August 2023