Filled with undertrials,Tihar struggles to accommodate its women prisoners

Reeling under staff shortage, officials have little time to give them enough attention

This is not where you would like your child to grow up. But it is perhaps better than living apart from your young children.

At Jail No 6 in Tihar, life goes on at the same pace as the rest of the jail. The only incentive for the women inmates is that their children – till they are of six years old – can stay with them in the premises.

The women’s wing of the jail has a crèche. Children are given basic educational skills here and also engaged in other activities.

“A female inmate is allowed to keep her child below six years of age. If she has more than one child below that age, she will be allowed to keep both her children,” says Mukesh Prasad, DIG and spokesperson of Tihar.

Though the children are cared for here, there is little hope for their development, feel specialists working for rehabilitation of the inmates.

“The cognisance of children growing up in the crèches here even among qualified trainers does not develop beyond a certain level. A child growing up here is disconnected from the reality,” says Sadhvi Jaya Bharti, Representative, Prisoner Reformation & Rehabilitation Programme, Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan.

“They are mostly growing up among women. Also, it is not possible to change the ambience of a jail into something else,” she added.

But having the young children with them is a relief in many ways. In cases where mothers have to leave behind their children, the emotional trauma is severe.

“These women wait for news of their children anxiously. With women who are in the jail for a long time and have daughters growing up, it is a constant fear over what they are going through. The challenges are many in this case. These are mostly women belonging to lower economic strata and are unable to furnish the bail bond,” says Bharti.

Overcrowding is not new to Tihar. The women’s jail has as many as 595 inmates while its official capacity is 400. Of these, 430 are undertrials and 165 convicts.

With an overall stretched capacity, the Tihar Jail is reeling under severe staff shortage which gives officials little time to give adequate attention to the inmates.

“The ideal staff to inmate ratio is 1:7. However due to staff crunch, the situation is different in reality. Here, the staff to inmate ratio is 1:18. We are currently running short by a staff strength of 2,146. Besides other officials, we are also short of doctors, including psychiatrists,” says Prasad.

There are ongoing projects at the Tihar to engage these women into various kinds of work.

These include making food items like papads and pickle, making incense sticks, baking and weaving.

“A woman’s aptitude is judged before she is given a certain kind of work. If the woman has been into teaching, she is given responsibilities in the same area. There are several women who are interested in IT-related work and are given the work on the same,” says Sunil Gupta, Law officer, Tihar.

The authorities are soon likely to experiment with the concept of open jails, he adds.
Advocate Anu Narula, who works extensively with women inmates in Tihar Jail, says these projects are not always enough as long-term solutions.

It is almost impossible to rehabilitate women through papad- and pickle-making once they are released from the jail. Here lies the shortsightedness of the project vision.
In cases, where the women have no money outside jail, there is no way she can even become a small-time entrepreneur by honing these skills.

“Rehabilitation of inmates remains the biggest challenge. There are broadly three categories of inmates. The first category of inmates comprises those who have been held for organised crime. These are women who were part of sex rackets or drug rackets. They might have been pushed into these crimes as well”, explains Narula.
“Post-release they have no income to fall back on and are again pushed into organised crime to eke out their living,” she adds.

There is little support from the family members.

The second category is women held for dowry deaths. In most cases, it is the mother-in-law and sister-in-law in the family who are behind bars.

“The third category is women convicted of crimes of passion. With women committing crimes against their husbands in several cases, they lose support from both the sides – from the parents and the in-laws. Their rehabilitation is worst hit,” says Narula
“They are the most vulnerable and often get drawn into drug rackets or other organised crimes after being targeted by the first category of inmates,” Narula added.

Some NGOs are now trying to reach out to the women through meditation classes and with an aim to touch them “spiritually”.

“On an average, at least 35-40 women come to the ashram inside the jail premises for the meditation classes. We also introduce the concept of seva to them for their inner transformation. But there is always the initial apprehension among inmates and they are sceptical to come forward for the classes. Gradually, they become comfortable,” says Bharti.

According to NGOs working with the inmates, there is a leadership vacuum in the jail which stands in the way of prisoner care.

“There is a lack of training of the officials who rarely show empathy with the inmates here. This also arises from the fact that Tihar postings are still looked upon as punishment postings even though it needs the most sensitised hands,” said an NGO member, requesting anonymity.

The other issue pointed out by another member of the NGO working in the Tihar premises is the rate of extortion by officials.

“There are severe extortion bids from officials. This is how inmates get space in specific cells or manage to use cellphones and other devices in the premises. While there is camaraderie of officials with some inmates, they are hostile towards the others,” says the member.