Shimla, Sept. 5 -- The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its latest compliance audit, found that Himachal Pradesh's 14 prisons are overcrowded and face a severe shortage of manpower.

According to the CAG report, tabled in the assembly by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on the last day of the monsoon session, against a sanctioned capacity of 2,560, the actual inmate population stood at 2,921 in 2023-24, an excess of 14%.

The state government also acknowledged the fact on August 24 last month, when it placed the data on the 14 prisons showing they were operating nearly 30% above the sanctioned capacity, with 3,355 inmates lodged against a combined capacity of 2,580.

The audit of the department of prisons and correctional se...