NEW DELHI: As many as 273 prisoners, of which 107 were in Maharashtra alone, have benefited from the Union home ministry’s ‘support to poor prisoners’ scheme meant to provide financial aid to undertrial prisoners who are unable to secure bail due to financial constraints and convicts who remain in jail due to non-payment of court-imposed fine, the ministry told LS on Tuesday.Sharing details of prisoners who have benefited from the scheme, junior home minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar said over Rs 71 lakh of Central funds were utilised across 16 states and Union territories to provide financial aid to eligible jail inmates. Maharashtra utilised the maximum funds worth Rs 18.7 lakh to benefit 107 prisoners, while Madhya Pradesh used Rs 9.9 lakh to provide relief to 38 prisoners. Over Rs 9 lakh was utilised by Tripura for seven eligible prisoners and Rs 7.7 lakh by Uttarakhand for 37 jail inmates. Assam too ensured the release of 28 prisoners with an aid of Rs 6.8 lakh under the scheme. The ‘support to poor prisoners’ scheme was launched by the ministry of home affairs in 2023 and its guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) revised and shared with all states and Union territories on Dec 2, 2025.
