Home minister RR Patil on Sunday inaugurated the country’s first open prison for women on the premises of the Yerawada central prison. It has come up on an area of 17 acres.
Patil said the women inmates had some rights unlike their male counterparts but for some reason, it was not given to them since Independence.
The participants at the event included local MLAs Bappusaheb Pathare, Vilas Lande; MLC Mohan Joshi; principal secretary (home) Medha Gadgil; city police commissioner Satyapal Singh; inspector general of police (prisons) Uddhav Kamble; deputy inspector-generals of police Shoba Ohatker and Rajnish Seth.
The government had decided to have the open prison after Joshi raised the issue during the winter session in December 2009.
The women inmates will be allowed to grow vegetables and fruits on the farm. Incidentally, the state has four open prisons for male inmates.
The women prisoners, who will work between 8 am and 4 pm every day in the open jail, stand to gain remission or a reduced jail sentence. It means that they can be released early if they maintain good conduct. At the same time they will learn skills needed to earn after conclusion of their jail terms. There are 295 women prisoners of whom 205 had been convicted.
Patil said: “Jails should not just be four high-wall prisons, but also rehabilitation centres. State bothers about offenders (first time offenders or those who are not criminals) and has sympathy for them,” he maintained.
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