The government’s decision to shift the Attakulangara Women’s Prison and Correctional Institution here to the old women’s block of the Poojappura Central Prison and Correctional Institution has raised deep concerns, especially for the welfare of women inmates.
The Attakulangara Women’s Prison is one of only three institutions to house women offenders and women prisoners in the state and one of the 31 exclusive women’s prisons in India. Currently, there are about 95 inmates in the prison, of which about 30 are serving sentences, the rest are remand prisoners.
Overcrowding problem
However, the state cabinet recently took a decision to shift the Attakulangara Jail to the Poojappura Central Jail, allegedly to address overcrowding in the jail. The government order in this regard mentions that the number of prisoners in Attakulangara is currently below its capacity and that it will be converted into a temporary special jail capable of housing up to 300 prisoners. However, it is pointed out that the actual capacity of the women’s jail is 115. So even as the women inmates are shifted to Poojappura, the facility is created for only 20 more women inmates.
Inmates and prison officials are concerned about the lack of facilities in Poojappura. They point out that the block for old women has only 18 cells, which cannot accommodate even half of the female inmates of Attakulangara.
A question of equipment
It is emphasized that successive administrations have invested a lot of time and money in developing the Attakulangara prison as a space where the different needs of female prisoners can be met. Among the prisoners are pregnant women, women with children, women with chronic health problems and women with mental problems. The impact of being locked up in a block that has no facilities for their physical or mental well-being causes inmates anxiety. Prisoners fear that their education and recreation will also suffer.
Prisoners are provided with vocational training and work in the tailoring department of the prison, in the canteen, in the kitchen or growing mushrooms or vegetables. This will keep them engaged and provide them with an income, some of which they can send home to their families. Many prisoners are also worried about the possible loss of income.
There are fears that the move to Poojappura will disrupt ongoing rehabilitation efforts and cause logistical difficulties for women inmates and their families.
DGP’s reply
Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services Balram Kumar Upadhyay told The Hindu that the prison department understands their concerns. The relocation was a temporary measure until a central jail was set up between Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram. The Poojappura jail, he pointed out, was operating at 200% capacity, mainly due to the increase in NDPS and POCSO cases. Attakulangara prison could hold about 300 persons. Once the prisons at Mavelikara and Kottarakara were ready, some female prisoners could also be transferred there.
He made it clear that the block for women prisoners at Poojappura will get a makeover before the relocation. To make women prisoners feel comfortable, cells with ventilation and proper sanitary facilities would be provided. Here, too, tailoring and catering units would be expanded so that women could continue to earn wages.
Published – 16 Oct 2025 20:36 IST
