MEETING TINY TOTS: Home Minister M.P. Prakash with children of the nursery on the premises of Bangalore Central Prison.

Bangalore: In accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court, the State Government has not only brought about amendments to the Karnataka Prisons Manual, but also established crèche and nursery centres for children of women convicts and undertrials in all prisons of the State.

These are integrated crèches and nursery schools wherein children of convicts will learn alongside those of the local population.

Soon after the establishment of the first crèche and nursery at the Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, Home Minister M.P. Prakash visited the premises and spent time with the young children. This was followed up by a visit of Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Cyriac Joseph and judges V. Gopala Gowda and K.L. Manjunath.

Soon after this, the Prisons Department established a nursery school and crèche at Mysore Central Prison and the Chief Justice along with another judge of the High Court S.R. Bannurmath paid a visit there.

Additional Director-General of Police (Prisons) S.T. Ramesh told The Hindu that the Prisons Department recently issued instructions for establishing a crèche and nursery in all the 96 other prisons in the State apart from the ones in Bangalore and Mysore and the infrastructure was ready.

Novel scheme

A novel scheme has been prepared by the department wherein the nursery or crèche in a given prison would start functioning soon after a woman convict with a small child is lodged in the prison.

The Supreme Court, while delivering a judgment in April 2006 in Upadhyaya vs. State case relating to the care of women convicts and undertrial prisoners and their children, directed the State governments to take steps to take care of certain basic welfare measures for women and their children.

This included the care required for pregnant women prisoners and women who are delivered of children while undergoing sentence.

Mr. Ramesh said with there being very few women prisoners in Karnataka and very few of them with children in the 0-6 age group, the Prisons Department implemented a novel scheme of integrating the children of convicts with the children of prison personnel and those in the neighbourhood of prisons.

For instance, while there were only seven infants in the Bangalore prison, the strength in the crèche and nursery was 25.

This scheme enabled the children of convicts to interact with the other children and feel one with them. Added to this, a woman convict had to participate in the crèche and nursery activities by rotation every day, which, in turn, enabled them to mingle with children and simultaneously help in reform.

Of the total 12,700 prisoners in the 98 jails of the State as on December 31 last, 506 were women with 29 children.

Managing women, more so those with young children is considered difficult owing to various reasons, but the Prisons Department keeps them busy with a wide range of activities.

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