The official said that the recommendation was aimed at bringing down the overcrowding in jails, and to make it easier for women who face greater societal pressures than men for serving jail-time.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has recommended that women undertrials in non-heinous crimes, who have already spent a third of their sentencing in jail, should be granted bail.
The suggestion comes as part of the national policy of women, a vision document with guidelines for government policies to follow for the better inclusion of gender goals. While the policy is awaiting a Cabinet nod, an official from the WCD ministry said that the bail recommendation has been adopted.
The official said that the recommendation was aimed at bringing down the overcrowding in jails, and to make it easier for women who face greater societal pressures than men for serving jail-time.
"Many women do not have access to legal aid because they cannot afford it, or because they are illiterate. There have been cases where women undertrials have spent more time behind bars than the actual sentencing," said the official.
Last month, the Law Commission submitted a report on bail reforms, recommending that undertrials in jails, who have spent a third of their jail-time behind bars, irrespective of their gender, should be eligible for bail.
The report suggests multiple amendments to the CrPC, including amendments to section 436(A), which states that when an undertrial has undergone detention for a half of the period of imprisonment specified for the offence under that law, he shall be released on personal bond with or without sureties.
As per the Prison Statistics 2015 of the National Crime Records Bureau, women prisoners in India account for 4.3 per cent of the total prison population. In 2015, 51 women inmates were reported dead.
"In 2001, 11,094 women inmates formed 3.5 per cent of all prisoners in India. This rose by a whopping 61 per cent in 2015, with 17,834 prisoners," said Raja Bagga of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, who has been working in the area of prison reforms.
Bagga said that the leniency for women undertrials accorded by the law is usually not followed by prisons. He added that over 70 per cent of the prison population in India is made up of undertrials. "With better provisions, all of it is avoidable," he said.
For the national women policy, an inter-ministerial committee, headed by Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, was formed to put forward recommendations. "Action plans stretching over different periods of time will be formulated by different ministries to ensure the policy prescriptions are adopted," a ministry official said.
The last policy, the National Policy for Empowerment of Women, was released in 2001. Another ministry official, who was part of the drafting process, said that while the 2001 policy focussed on the empowerment of women, the 2017 policy will work for equity, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which was adopted in 2015.
Number tally
As per the Prison Statistics 2015 of the National Crime Records Bureau, women prisoners in India account for 4.3 per cent of the total prison population.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "women prisoners")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}