64 ... ... ... ... .. C I V I L L I B E RT I E S ● The functioning of the system of Board of Visitors was reviewed - it has, in recent years, become defunct in most of the States/Union Territories. ● The specific cases of prisoners who required surgical/specialist treatment in hospitals outside of the prison premises were examined, and action initiated in respect of them. 4.72 Each of the reports of the Special Rapporteur was considered by the Commission and appropriate directions were given to the competent authorities. Compliance of these directions has been monitored on a continuing basis. Thus, for example, the Action Taken Reports received from the Government of Jharkhand in respect of the jails of Ranchi and Jamshedpur, which were visited in 2001-02, show considerable improvement in respect of sanitation facilities, health-care, provision of escorts, production in court, holding of Lok Adalats, sanction of special diet to children and the functioning of jail factories. Some improvement has also been effected in the district jail, Karnal, the district jail, Meerut, the central jail, Gwalior and the central prison, Vellore. While the cases of certain of the under-trial prisoners to whom the Commission drew attention have been transferred to fast-track courts, others have been released on bail after scrutiny of their cases. Compliance of the Commission's directions in regard to the central jail, Patiala, the central jail, Coimbatore, the central jail, Buxar and the model prison, Beur, Patna is being pursued. 2) Prison population 4.73 It is an unfortunate reality that the living conditions of prisoners in most of the jails in the various States/Union Territories leave much to be desired. Overcrowding is the main reason for this, a principal reason being the presence of under-trial prisoners who languish in jail for long periods because of the slowness of the judicial process. 4.74 The Commission has been compiling and analyzing prison statistics since 2000 in order to assess the magnitude of the problem in every State/Union Territory. The analysis is based on prison statistics, as of 30 June and 31 December each year, which are obtained by the Commission. During the past year, the Commission analyzed data relating to the prison population as of 31 December 2001 and 30 June 2002. The salient points arising from this analysis are provided in the succeeding paragraphs. N AT I O N A L H U M A N R I G H T S C O M M I S S I O N