WCD recommends bail for women undertrials who have spent one-third time in detention

The Women and Child Development Ministry has recommended that bail should be granted to those under-trial women who have spent one-third of their maximum possible sentence in detention.

The recommendation was made in a report titled 'Women in Prisons'.

The report covers a wide range of issues that women face in prisons and is inclusive of the needs of the elderly and the disabled.

It suggests that necessary changes must be made in Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that provides for release after half of the maximum sentence has been served.

As per the most recent data available from the end of 2015, there are 4,19,623 persons in jails in India of which 17,834 (about 4.3 per cent) are women.Of these, 11,916 (66.8 per cent) are under-trial prisoners, according to the report.

In India, an analysis of prison statistics at five-year intervals reveals an increasing trend in the number of women prisoners, from 3.3 per cent of all prisoners in 2000 to 4.3 per cent in 2015, it said.

The report said a majority of female inmates are in the age group of 30-50 years (50.5 per cent), followed by 18-30 years (31.3 per cent). Of the total 1,401 prisons in India, only 18 are exclusively for women, housing 2,985 female prisoners, it said.

Thus, a majority of women inmates are housed in women's enclosures of general prisons, the report said.

The report also contains a comprehensive list of 134 recommendations for improving the lives of women under incarceration and addresses a wide range of issues pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth in prison, mental health, legal aid, reintegration in society and their care giving responsibilities among others.

Various changes in the National Model Prison Manual 2016 have also been suggested to bring it in line with international standards and norms, the ministry said in a statement.

"Keeping in mind the mental needs of prisoners it has been recommended that inmates should have access to female counsellors/psychologists at least on a weekly basis or as frequently as needed by them," it said.

This report would now be shared with the Ministry of Home Affairs for issuing an advisory to states for implementation of the recommendations made in the report.