1. - Harshita Mishra, Dy. Superintendent, Uttar Pradesh.
Managing Under trials: Need for Segregation of Women under trials from Convicts.
- Harshita Mishra, Dy. Superintendent, Uttar Pradesh.

2. Mulla Committee Report on Jail Reforms – 1980-83
One of the Key recommendations of the Mulla Committee was that civil prisoners should not be detained together in prisons meant for convicted and criminal prisoners.
However, the present reality is that due to a complex web of interconnected administrative impediments this goal has not been uniformly achieved and practiced in a lot of women prisons in the country.
This in turn, creates a set of problems since women prisoners are themselves a special class of prisoners that come with an array of problems unique to them, which demand for specialized care and treatment.

3. Statutory Guidelines under Model Prison Manual 2016
Section 2.05 of the manual states as follows:-
The Location of a new institution will be decided on the basis of- a) the function which the institution has to perform b) the training and treatment emphasis and c) Programme content of the institution.
The plan of the institutions shall be based on a careful analysis of inmate population, age group, custodial requirements, diversified work, educational programmes etc.
Closed prisons i.e. Central, District and sub-prisons not to exceed 1000,500 and 300 prisoners respectively.
The requirements of segregation of inmate groups within an institution in accordance with the prescribed principles of classification will be provided for in every building plan.
Under trials and détenues shall be lodged in separate institutions away from convicted prisoners.

4. Why Under Trials and Convicts are being kept together presently
Administrative Issues
Lack of Sufficient Infrastructure
Acute Shortage of Staff
Majority of the States have only one Central Women’s Prison and a few states do not have one at all.
Number of U.Ts is always far greater than convicts- This number is even reflected in their ratios both in district & central women prisons.
Constant Risk of Security Threats- Violence/Rioting/ or Escapes ; Smuggling of contraband
Mental Stress among inmates and staff
Improper working conditions for staff
Overcrowding
Health and Sanitation Problems.
Mental Health Issues.
Inability of jail staff to meet minimum humanitarian standards of care

6. Number of female Uts always far greater than convicts- This number is even reflected in their ratios both in district, central as well women prisons.
Stark difference in the age range of Uts and Convicts- Uts usually younger and agile while convicts are mostly feeble and geriatric.

9. Personality Profile differences between under trials and convicts
Locals: Undertrials are Locals and have Residential access and related resources are within their reach.
Interviews are frequent
More Influential, with access and knowledge of Local Resources
They possess higher purchasing power.
They Abuse their Monetary Resources/ power to influence, recruit, subjugate, entice convicts or to bribe staff.
Outsiders: Convicts are Outsiders (from distant parts of the state/ sometimes transferred from other states)
Interviews are negligible- neglected by family members
Dependant on almost entirely on wages (if under 60 yrs./healthy)
Susceptible to exploitation by Undertrials:- for running errands and other services inside prisons.

10. Perceive themselves as temporary inhabitants hence don't conform to rules and more likely to incite riots or indulge in prison offences:-
eg: Sexual harassment of fellow inmates and children, smuggling, radicalization, escape planning, causing grievous hurt to staff, abetment of suicide etc.
Under trials usually do not suffer from the ailments that are caused by prolonged incarceration.
Primary Needs of UTs: Legal Aid for proper and efficient management of their case.
Perceive the prison as their residence, hence have an attitude conducive to correctional counselling and can be rehabilitated or vocationally trained. Their attitude is overall more docile and co-operative with staff and they actively participate in reformative practices.
Convicts often suffer from chronic mental ailments due to prolonged incarceration- depression, senile dementia, partial amnesia, paranoia, schizophrenia and the like.
Needs of Convicts: Access to avenues of vocational training, Stress/ Trauma Management, Work and Wages, Health management, Recreation activities and parole in addition to legal aid.

11. Issues faced by Prison Staff
Convicts have a fixed and streamlined routine i.e. Those assigned specific duties or allotted labour. There is minimum disruption in their schedule. However, under trails are not bound by any such schedule and have frequent court visits, interviews, personal and medical profiling, bio-metric data recording sessions etc. In their case the staff has to be sporadically deployed on a need basis.
Having both classes of these prisoners detained together creates problems in deployment of staff and fixing their duty schedule, primarily because most women prisons are already under staffed. Many times the limited staff has to work overtime in back to back shifts and cannot avail leave.

12. Convicts and U.T.s have completely different mindsets and attitudes to life. It is an accepted principle that an undertrial is innocent until proven guilty and therefore has hope left in them as opposed to convicts.
Prison staff needs to have differential norms in dealing with and the treatment of the two classes since when they are detained together the staff faces difficulties/confusion of role, in properly dealing with them. Hence it is imperative that even the staff are trained accordingly and deployed separately.

13. Recommendations
Expeditious creation of Special Central Prisons for women in States where there are none and formation of more of them in states where the population of female convicts is higher.
Since district jails are already overcrowded and overburdened, to ensure the fast transfer of convicted females to the nearest Central Women’s prison.
Induction of more female staff into Central Women's Prisons to reduce the gap in staff to prisoner ratio, or re-deployment of staff from other jails in the state to women's prisons which have acute shortage.
Special Training to Staff deployed in female barracks or prisons according to the profile of the prisoners they shall be dealing with.

14. THANK-YOU! *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*