The Maharashtra Home Department has informed the Bombay High Court that it has begun to make significant headway in addressing the critical staff shortage across the state's prisons. In a recent affidavit, the department revealed that a concerted recruitment drive has already filled nearly 200 positions, with a clear roadmap to fill hundreds more in the coming months.
Substantial Reduction in Prison Vacancies
In an affidavit submitted to the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, Additional Chief Secretary (Appeals & Security) Radhika Rastogi provided a detailed update on the staffing crisis. The affidavit was filed in response to a criminal writ petition (No. 256/2025) by an undertrial, Sachin Chandramani Lone, who sought directions to fill the long-pending vacancies.
The data shows tangible progress. Between October 14 and November 17, 2025, the department successfully filled 198 positions. This recruitment effort brought the total number of vacancies down from 2,018 to 1,820. In percentage terms, the vacancy rate in the prisons department has improved from 29% to 25.75% of the total sanctioned strength of 7,067 posts.
Rastogi stated that this reduction is a direct result of the department's "sincere efforts" to accelerate the recruitment process across various cadres.
Immediate Recruitment Drive and Medical Staff Solution
The government has outlined a phased plan to tackle the remaining vacancies. In the immediate term, recruitment is actively underway for 726 key posts that are expected to be filled by March 2026. This batch includes a major boost to frontline security with 713 prison sepoys, along with 7 jailors, and several technical and supervisory roles like Tailoring Supervisors and Physical Education Instructors.
Filling these 726 positions will further reduce the vacancy count to approximately 1,094 posts, bringing the overall vacancy rate down to around 15%.
Addressing a crucial gap, the affidavit notes that the Public Health Department has assured cooperation in providing medical officers on deputation. As a stop-gap arrangement until these deputations are finalized, medical officers will be appointed on a contractual basis within the next six months through the respective district collectors.
Long-Term Plan to Eliminate All Vacancies by 2027
For the remaining 1,094 vacancies, the process is more complex as it involves posts whose recruitment rules are currently under revision. The revision is being carried out on the directions of the General Administration Department (GAD).
Rastogi explained that the revised rules require approvals from multiple authorities, including the GAD, the Law and Judiciary Department, the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), the Chief Minister, and the Governor. Due to this multi-layer approval process, the department estimates that a period of two years will be required to complete recruitment for these posts.
Consequently, the government has assured the High Court that all 1,094 remaining posts will be filled by December 2027, effectively eliminating the current backlog. The home department has submitted a detailed recruitment timetable to the court as an annexure, in compliance with the bench's oral directions from November 4, 2025.
The department has requested the court to consider the demonstrated pace of ongoing recruitment and the structured, court-mandated timeline while issuing any further orders in the matter.
