TOI: Behind high walls & metal bars, these prisoners lead a miserable life

Mumbai: In the heart of south Mumbai, behind high walls and metal bars, inmates and their guards lead equally miserable lives inside the city’s two prisons at Arthur Road and Byculla. At first glance, the prisons look neat and well kept. But scratch the surface and the grime begins to show.

MEDICAL FACILITIES “Medical facilities are pathetic. The women (prisoners) take care of each other when they fall ill. One woman had a miscarriage and bled for a few hours before she was taken to the hospital.’’ That’s what the mother of an inmate lodged at Byculla jail had to say. “The food is old, spoilt and rotten,’’ she added.

   Doctors are in short supply. There are only two doctors at Byculla jail, one male and the other female. “The lady doctor had cancer and was absent for six months. Until recently, no one replaced her. The women felt awkward approaching a male doctor, and so they would often approach the compounder instead,’’ said a person familiar with the prison.
At Arthur Road jail, which houses male undertrials, there are only four resident doctors for the 3,000-odd inmates. An activist working in prisons told TOI that, in many instances, the Directorate of Health Services deputed ayurvedic doctors to work at the city’s prisons, and they would, in turn, prescribe allopathic medicines to the inmates. When doctors are in short supply and medical facilities scarce, mental health obviously takes a back seat. Only one psychiatrist from JJ Hospital visits Arthur Road jail every Wednesday.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

“There are definitely several minors lodged in prison. One look at them and I was convinced they were below 18,’’ says a prison insider. “Many of the minors are part of a group of people picked up by the police. They fudge their ages, and claim they are adults, just so that they are not separated from the group,’’ she added. 

While all inmates are under psychological stress, the problem is more acute for women with children. A woman prisoner is allowed to keep a child under six years of age with her. But children above the age of six are either sent to state-run institutions or handed over to relatives. According to a government resolution, it is the responsibility of the institution where a child is lodged as well as probation officers, both at the institution and at the district level, to arrange for a meeting between mother and child. The rules allow for a mulakaat once a week. “In reality, the meetings are infrequent. There are times when a woman does not see her child for a few months at a time,’’ said a social worker.

FOREIGNERS 

At least 10% of the inmates in Mumbai’s prisons are foreigners. Of the foreigners, the maximum are Africans, said a jailer. “While prisoners from western countries get a great deal of support from their respective consulates, this is not the case with African prisoners,’’ said an insider. While divulging data on foreign inmates, a jailer said that he was “not counting Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans as foreigners, because they eat the same things we do.’’ The rest are unable to digest spicy Indian food and are given bland food instead. Most of them are languishing in jails after they were found in possession of narcotic substances.
Mumbai’s jails have a floating population of Bangladeshis. “In all other criminal cases, one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. But for Bangladeshis, the onus lies on them to prove that they are Indian. We have sometimes located the villages of suspected Bangladeshis and discovered that they were actually from West Bengal,’’ said a source.

OVERCROWDING 

In Mumbai’s prisons, the word overcrowding is a euphemism . They house nearly 300% to 400% their actual capacity. While Arthur Road jail—a prison for male undertrials—was built for 800 prisoners, it houses 3,000. The Byculla Jail, which has a capacity of 365 (200 male inmates and 165 female) is now crammed with a total of 800 inmates.
Overcrowding in jails is a problem across the country. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, while the capacity of all jails in India was over 2.64 lakh in 2006, the total number of inmates exceeded 3.73 lakh.

UNDERSTAFFING 

Ironically, while the number of inmates far outstrips capacity, jailers are in short supply. At Arthur Road, there are only 216 posts sanctioned for staff, all of which have not been filled. In effect, there are 190-odd staff for the 3,000 inmates. “We work seven days a week, without a single day off, because there are too few of us,’’ a jailer told TOI. The absence of holidays in a high-stress job like guarding prisons only adds to the pressure-cooker like situation inside the jail. “The British understood the importance of jail guards, and paid them more than any other government employee. But now, we get paid less than the police, for working without weekly offs,’’ said a jailer. “If I want to take a day or two off in a few months, I need to send in a written leave application to my superior.’’

OFFICIAL SPEAK 

Deputy Inspector General, prisons, Rajnish Seth, doesn’t think the city’s jails are understaffed. “Arthur Road jail as well as Byculla jail have almost the entire sanctioned strength in terms of staff. There are only 15 to 20 vacancies, which is normal for any department,’’ he said. He does, however, feel that the sanctioned number of staff at Arthur Road and Byculla, could be increased. “The central government has sanctioned funds for the modernisation of jails. Maharashtra will now construct a new jail in Palghar, Thane, Gadchiroli and Latur,’’ he says, adding that the new prisons would ease the pressure on the existing jails. As for the poor medical facilities, Seth points to a high court committee that has been appointed to look into the matter. Anna Dani, principal secretary (appeals and security) home department, refused to comment on the issue of understaffing, and would not divulge details on whether or not the government would increase its staff. When this reporter confronted her with the figures, she questioned their authenticity without confirming or denying the numbers.

UNDERTRIALS 

Ironically, overcrowding and understaffing are two problems that aren’t difficult to solve, especially since most inmates are undertrials. A sizeable number are in jail for petty crimes but have no money for bail.
The latest available statistics on prisons across the country, provided by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2006, showed that, of 3.73 lakh odd prisoners across India, over 2.45 lakh were undertrials. That’s a whopping 65.7%.
Recently, it was found that 200 prisoners from Mumbai who had been given bail were still languishing in jail because they had no one to stand surety for them, and no money to pay for bail.