Question : Welfare of Women Prisoners

(a) whether the Government has undertaken any projects to provide sanitary napkins or menstrual cups to women prisoners for maintenance of health and hygiene;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has formulated any policy for rehabilitation of women undertrials and convicts in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether any of the Government’s social security schemes are applicable to women prisoners;

(e) if so, the details thereof;

(f) whether the Government has made efforts to establish a Board of Visitors (BoVs) in all prisons that detain women prisoners and if so, the details thereof; and

(g) whether any training is provided to sensitize members of BoVs towards the specific needs of women prisoners and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI HANSRAJ GANGARAM AHIR)


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L.S.US.Q NO. 3930 FOR 20.03.2018

(a) to (g): The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided guidance to all States and UTs on various aspects of prison management and welfare of prison inmates, through Model Prison Manual 2016, which was circulated to all States and UTs for their guidance and adoption. There is a dedicated chapter in the Manual titled ‘Women Prisoners’ which lays down several steps for the healthcare and welfare of women prisoners which, interalia, provides that sterilised sanitary pads should be issued to women prisoners as per their requirement.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has advised the Ministry of Skill Development to coordinate with Skill Development departments of States and make provision for suitable opportunities for development of skills of prison inmates, particularly women prisoners, to facilitate their reintegration with society by providing them employment opportunities post-release.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has been providing wide-ranging guidance to States and Union Territories, including guidance on after-care and rehabilitation of women prisoners, through advisories in which guidance has been provided to the States that the process of after-care and rehabilitation of offenders is an integral part of institutional care and the administrative machinery carrying out the programmes should be integrated with Department of Prisons. There is also a dedicated chapter
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L.S.US.Q NO. 3930 FOR 20.03.2018
on ‘after-care and rehabilitation’ in Model Prison Manual 2016, which was shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs with all States and UTs and they were advised to adopt the best practices and guidance provided in the Manual.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has advised the States to formulate suitable schemes for providing employment to released convicts. States have been advised that on release from prisons, individual cases of released prisoners should be followed up by concerned Probation/Welfare/Rehabilitation Officers for a period ranging from one year to five years according to the requirement of each case and the status of their rehabilitation and reintegration with the society should be monitored.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided guidance to States through Model Prison Manual 2016 for constituting Board of Visitors comprising Official and non-official members at District and Sub-divisional level. In terms of available information, Boards of Visitors have been established in States and UTs. However, prison-wise details of such Boards of Visitors in States/UTs are not maintained centrally.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has also advised all States and UTs to organise special training courses to bring attitudinal change in the behaviour of prison officials in dealing with prison inmates. They have also been advised to ensure regular oversight over prisons through internal inspection by prison authorities and external inspection by Board of Visitors, Legal Aid authorities etc with a view to ensuring welfare of prison inmates, particularly women inmates.




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