Gated toilets, min wage, more lawyers: DCW suggests prison reforms for women inmates

New Delhi: Covered and gated toilets inside cells, more lawyers and restarting the 'Mulakaat' programme till Covid cases are under control are some of the recommendations made by Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal for women lodged in Tihar Jail.

In the recommendations sent to jail authorities and the government, Maliwal has also suggested hiring teachers for courses like fashion designing that were being run earlier. As many as 276 women are lodged in Tihar out of which 240 are undertrials and 35 have been convicted by a court, a statement from the DCW said.

Women lodged in Tihar manufacture clothes, office files, biscuits, jewellery, etc which are sold in stores under the brand name TJ's.

The panel recommended that these products should be widely promoted and the government should encourage departments to buy products from Tihar as it helps in the rehabilitation and transformation of such women.

E-commerce websites should also be approached to help sell these products on their respective platforms, she said.

Maliwal, who along with her team conducted an inspection of the women's jail, recommended that toddlers and young children living with their mothers inside the jail complex be provided the best care.

The jail has a well-equipped creche but presently lacks teachers and caretakers and they need to be inducted to ensure proper care of these children, the Commission said.

In the prison complex, the team found three women were kept in one congested cell and there was no gated separation from the toilet in the room, it said. The Commission has recommended that toilets built inside the cell should be covered and gated.

"Considering the high number of women imprisoned in Tihar, the Commission recommends increasing the number of lawyers to five for better legal assistance," the panel said. Currently, two lawyers are deputed to visit the jail to assist women inmates.

Praising prison authorities, the DCW said they had taken some good initiatives to ensure the rehabilitation of women inmates.

Women engaged in different jobs in the jail are supposed to get minimum wages for their work done inside the Jail. "However, the government deducts Rs 340 from their wage as living expenses, but women who are not working don't have to pay any such charge. This deduction disincentivises the women to work in the jail," it said.

The Commission recommended that these charges should be done away with.

Apart from this, the Commission also recommended regular sensitisation of the jail staff, adding more books to the library and initiating de-addiction programmes within the prison.

The team met the DG prisons and other senior officials to discuss the functioning of the jail and the challenges faced by the authorities.