Eight-bed ward for women prisoners at Victoria soon

To provide medical treatment exclusively for women prisoners, a separate eight-bed ward will be opened shortly at the Victoria Hospital in the City.

A highly-placed official from the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) said that 90 per cent of the work on the ward was already completed. Victoria Hospital and three other government hospitals are attached to BMRCI.

“The plan for the exclusive ward was discussed around one-and-a-half year ago at a meeting with the ADGP of Prisons. The BMCRI put its foot forward to implement this idea.

The facility is coming up due to a grant of Rs 25 lakh released by Rajya Sabha member B Jayashree from her MPLAD funds. It is a full-fledged ward with toilet and bathing facilities,” the BMRCI official said. 

Further, the official said that new facility would not only provide ‘dignified’ medical treatment for women prisoners but may also reduce the need for police resources.

“Normally, inmates brought to the hospital are kept in the general ward. A lady constable keeps constant watch. In an event, such as this, other patients get curious which might make the women inmates uncomfortable. The new ward, however, would be away from public eye and fully secure. Usually, one constable would be required to keep a watch over an inmate, however, the new facility is designed in such a way that only one or two female guards can keep watch over 8 such inmates,” said the official.

At a function held recently, even Dr P K Devadass, dean and director, BMRCI, had hailed the setting up of such a facility.  

Presently, there are around 4,500 prisoners in the Parappana Agrahara prison. Of which, 100 are women prisoners, according to Kamal Pant, ADGP and IG (Prisons).

He said that in case of common ailments, doctors who visit the prison are quite good. Otherwise for treatments related to specific issues such as gynecology, they are taken out. “There is Vani Vilas, as well as women wards in Bowring and Jayadeva hospitals.

There are usually not many issues with women inmates and we do not have any regular cases of women being admitted to hospitals. In any case, their numbers are quite less.
However, it is definitely helpful and a good thing if such an exclusive ward for women prisoners also comes up at Victoria,” he said.
DH News Service