Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s lone women’s jail (Nari Bandi Niketan) in Sambalpur witnessed the lowest occupancy of prisoners last year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Against the capacity to accommodate 55 women prisoners, only 15 (four convicts and 11 undertrials) were lodged at Nari Bandi Niketan last year, the NCRB report said.
Of the 32 dedicated women’s prisons in the country, Nari Bandi Niketan’s original capacity (55) is the lowest in the country. Tamil Nadu has five women’s jails with a capacity to accommodate 2018 prisoners, the highest in the country.
Jail officials attributed the reason for the lowest occupancy to less arrival of undertrial prisoners (UTP)s last year. Though other jails in the state have women inmates, those at the Nari Bandi Niketan are mostly residents of Sambalpur district. “We assume that the number of women arrested by Sambalpur police in 2021 was less. Though there is a sub-jail at Kuchinda in Sambalpur district with a capacity to accommodate 65 men and 4 women, the occupancy of women stays nil most of the time,” an official of state prisons directorate said.
Of the 92 jails, 87 are operational in the state. Against the capacity to hold 2033 women inmates in those jails, only 739 (78 convicts and 661 UTPs) were present in different jails by the end of 2021, the NCRB report stated. The women prisoners (both convicts and UTPs) were arrested in connection with murder, theft, fraud, prostitution, kidnapping and domestic violence cases.
The prisons directorate said they have been focusing on safety, security and hygiene of women prisoners across the state. Recently, the government has decided that the birth certificate of a child born in a jail will no longer mention prison as his/her birthplace.
“We have been organising livelihood awareness programmes for women jail inmates. Empowerment and skill training for female prisoners is necessary and will help them in future,” the prison official said.
Of the 32 dedicated women’s prisons in the country, Nari Bandi Niketan’s original capacity (55) is the lowest in the country. Tamil Nadu has five women’s jails with a capacity to accommodate 2018 prisoners, the highest in the country.
Jail officials attributed the reason for the lowest occupancy to less arrival of undertrial prisoners (UTP)s last year. Though other jails in the state have women inmates, those at the Nari Bandi Niketan are mostly residents of Sambalpur district. “We assume that the number of women arrested by Sambalpur police in 2021 was less. Though there is a sub-jail at Kuchinda in Sambalpur district with a capacity to accommodate 65 men and 4 women, the occupancy of women stays nil most of the time,” an official of state prisons directorate said.
Of the 92 jails, 87 are operational in the state. Against the capacity to hold 2033 women inmates in those jails, only 739 (78 convicts and 661 UTPs) were present in different jails by the end of 2021, the NCRB report stated. The women prisoners (both convicts and UTPs) were arrested in connection with murder, theft, fraud, prostitution, kidnapping and domestic violence cases.
The prisons directorate said they have been focusing on safety, security and hygiene of women prisoners across the state. Recently, the government has decided that the birth certificate of a child born in a jail will no longer mention prison as his/her birthplace.
“We have been organising livelihood awareness programmes for women jail inmates. Empowerment and skill training for female prisoners is necessary and will help them in future,” the prison official said.