28 i CIVIL LIBERTIES 3) Statistics on Prison Populations 3.55 Given the serious over-crowding in certain prisons in the country, the Custodial Justice Cell (CJC) of the Commission has started collecting statistics from all States/Union Territories regarding the prison population as of 30 June and 31 December of each year. The reports received from the States/Union Territories for the period ending 30 June 2000 were analysed and submitted to the Commission. Overcrowding was noticed in prisons in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, ICamataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The worst situation was in Delhi, where over-crowding was 221 per cent higher than the niunber for which the facilities were built. The Secretary General of the Commission has written to the Chief Secretaries of these States on 5 February 2001 requesting them to take remedial measures to reduce congestion in the prisons of their respective States. Replies received thus far indicate that certain States have begun to take steps to reduce over-crowding in prisons, inter alia, by expediting trials or by ensuring that those undertrials who are eligible for the grant of bail can be released in this maimer. 4) NHRC Nominees for Prison Visitors in Maharashtra 3.56 The Commission had in October 1997 appointed 33 nominees as Prison Visitors in Maharashtra on a request from Government of Maharashtra based on the direction of Mumbai High Court in writ petition No. 3899/96, Mukta Ram-Sita Ram Shinde vs. the State of Maharashtra. The Commission has observed, however, that only 12 of them have actually been visiting prisons and sending reports to the Home Department, Maharashtra and the Commission. The visits of the nominees to the prisons have proved useful in improving conditions in the jails that they have inspected. The Commission therefore urges those nominees who have not been visiting prisons regularly to do so, for only then will the purpose of their nomination be fulfiled. 5) Seminar on Prison Reforms 3.57 The Custodial Justice Cell of the Commission, in collaboration with the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences (NICFS), New Delhi organised a one- day Seminar on Prison Reforms on 14 September 2000 at Vlgyan Bhawan, New Delhi. NATIONAL HUMAN RI6HTS COMMISSION J