Team Goemkarponn
MORMUGAO: The V.M. Salgaocar College of Law (VMSCL), Goa, in collaboration with the National Commission for Women (NCW), successfully held the Western Region Consultative Workshop on “Laws Realigned to Women in Prisons” on January 11, 2025.
At the outset, Dr. Shaber Ali, Principal of VMSCL, welcomed the gathering and expressed pride that the college was selected as one of the seven regional venues by NCW for this significant Consultative program.
Dr. Ali highlighted the college’s ability to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including Judges, Police officials, Prison officers, Public prosecutors, Advocates, NGO representatives, Activists, and academicians, all of whom served as expert panellists representing the Western Region. The discussions and deliberations among these experts were focused on reviewing and realigning legal frameworks concerning women in prisons. The outcome of these discussions will be compiled into a report, which will be submitted to the NCW in New Delhi for further deliberations and potential policy enhancements.
The Member Secretary of Goa State Legal Services, Judge Shabnam Shaikh, discussed and highlighted the current situation in Goa Jails and the legal aid mechanism and stressed the importance of laws and their implementation.
The Chief guest for the said workshop was Dr Varun Kapoor, Special DGP, Madhya Pradesh, who clearly mentioned that as per records of 2024, out of 573220 jail inmates, almost 4.1 % are women of which 17064 women inmates have their kids staying with them. He also analysed that there are problems of overcrowding, and traumatic experiences which should be changed through reforms.
Mr Manmohan Varma, Law Officer at the National Commission for Women (NCW) in New Delhi in his address highlighted the need for improving the condition of Women’s Prisons, specially to review the existing consultation where he opined various challenges of Women prisoners will be discussed. He emphasized that each year, the Commission focuses on a specific issue affecting women, and for this year, the theme revolves around the laws concerning women in prisons. He further mentioned that this event marks the second program organized at the college, underscoring the importance of continued awareness and discussion around women’s legal rights and protections.
Vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Sonal Sardessai, Asst. Professor, VMSCL. The inaugural programme was compared by Ms. Prapti and Ms. Mahima Naik.
