Krishnagar, Feb. 2: State human rights commission chairman Shyamal Sen today came down heavily on the Nadia administration for not maintaining the jail and hospitals.

Sen was taken aback by the ?pathetic state? he found the district maternity clinic in Krishnagar, about 85 km from Calcutta, and the jail in.

He held meetings with officials including district magistrate Rajesh Pandey and chief medical officer of health Mrinal Kanti Biswas. He will submit a report to the government on reaching Calcutta.

Speaking to reporters, Sen said he was shocked at how the government failed to maintain hygiene and a healthy environment inside the jail and the hospital. He said the district jail at Krishnagar houses 600 inmates in space insufficient for even 500.

?I visited the district correctional home and was appalled at its condition. How could inmates, even though criminals or undertrials, take such foul-smelling food? How can the inmates stay in such congested surroundings? How can the security inside the jail be so unsafe? I fail to understand all these,? he said.

Since taking over as panel chairman last year, the former Calcutta High Court chief justice has visited several jails across the state. ?The one at Krishnagar is the worst,? Sen said.

There are about 54 jails in Bengal. He found the Suri jail most advanced and upgraded.

Sen was equally shocked after visiting the hospital, where 14 patients, including infants, were seen sharing four beds. It can accommodate about 200 but was treating over threefold the figure.