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Govt spends Rs. 5.4M on prisoners daily

26 Jan 2021

  • 20,000 prisoners cost Rs. 1.97 B annually

  By Dinitha Rathnayake   The Government incurs a cost of approximately Rs. 5.4 million on a daily basis for the maintenance of 20,000 prison inmates, according to the statistics of the Department of Prisons, which adds up to Rs. 1.97 billion per year. An examination of these statistics reveals that the daily cost per inmate is Rs. 270 and that therefore, for 20,000 inmates, the amount for the same would come to Rs. 5.4 million. Rs. 98,550 is spent per year on each inmate while the amount for the year for 20,000 inmates would then be over Rs 1.97 billion.  Speaking to The Morning, the Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya said that the total number of inmates in the prison system fluctuates and that therefore it is difficult to specify the exact number of prisoners in the country. “In October last year, 32,000 persons were in prisons, but by December, that number had dropped to 20,000,” he said. However, even if we use 20,000 prisoners as a conservative sample, the Government spends Rs. 5.4 million per day on inmates. Upuldeniya added that these expenses are on both the maintenance and rehabilitation of the inmates. “It is not possible to say exactly how long these prisoners will stay in the prison. The Government also has to spend on the rehabilitation of these prisoners. It is not possible to cover this amount from other sources of income of prisons.” However, the General Secretary of the Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners Sudesh Nandimal Silva questioned the statistics of the Department of Prisons, claiming that there are approximately 30,000 inmates in the prisons at present. He said that the detention of many prisoners was due to a failure in the social system. “It is unfortunate that some detainees had not been rehabilitated for 20-25 years when they could have easily completed their rehabilitation and been released within 10 years.” The State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte said that when he took over as the State Minister for the subject, more than 27,000 prisoners were detained in prisons. “A total of 8,300 of them have been released now. Around 19,000 prisoners are currently being held in prisons. We spend around Rs. 300-400 a day on each inmate,” he added. Going by Ratwatte’s daily cost assessment on the basis that a sum of Rs. 300 is spent per inmate per day and for a total of 19,000 inmates, the Government then incurs a cost of approximately Rs. 5.7 million on maintaining 19,000 prison inmates daily, a figure higher than our original estimate for 20,000 inmates at a rate of Rs. 270 per head. However, a Professor in Sociology attached to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Mayura Samarakoon, highlighted that this situation is due to the breakdown of the rule of law. “There are even times when criminals are imprisoned so as to rescue and protect them and for them to then carry out their criminal enterprises, unharmed and unhindered. The Police should be proactive in this regard. Steps can be taken to prevent ordinary people from becoming criminals and being imprisoned, and thereby reduce unnecessary Government expenditure.”


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