...... 46 CIVIL LIBERTIES Ministers/Administrators of all States/UTs in 1996 drawing their attention to the directions of the Supreme Court and requested them to ensure its strict enforcement. 4.92 This was followed by similar letters in Dec 1998 and Feb 2000. 4.93 The Custodial Justice Cell of the Commission has, during the period under review, obtained from all States/UTs, information on the number of mentally ill persons of the above categories held in jails. Following facts emerge from the compiled information: (i) The number of mentally ill prisoners of criminal category (Convicts and Undertrials) in jails in India was 1643 (1576 males and 67 females) (Information was received on different dates from different States/UTs and is therefore presents a general estimate). The available data gives a rate of 5 mentally ill prisoners per thousand of Prison population (as of 31-12-02). 18 States/UTs have reported higher incidence than this average. Manipur with 48 mentally ill prisoners per thousand of prison population is worst affected followed by Meghalaya (36), Andaman & Nicobar (31) and J&K (31). (ii) Non-criminal mentally ill prisoners numbering 76 (74 males and 2 females) have been reported only from West Bengal. They are under treatment in a separate Psychiatric Hospital functioning as part of the Presidency Correctional Home, Kolkata. It is worth mentioning that the number of persons of non-criminal category lodged in jails has been brought down from 212 to 76 in the State during the last two years as a result of the Commission’s intervention. 9) Prison Reforms 4.94 Mention was made in the annual report 2002-03 of the preparation of a draft Model Prison Manual by a Committee headed by the DG, Bureau of Police and Research Development (BPR&D). It has been learnt that the Manual was finalized and forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs in November 2003. Copies of the same have been forwarded by the BPR&D to all the States/Union Territories for its adoption. 10) Visits to Other Correctional Institutions/Protection Homes 4.95 The Commission has been overseeing the functioning of the Government Protective Home (Women), Agra following a remit from Supreme Court of India. During the period under report, Hon’ble Member Justice Sujata V. Manohar along with the Special Rapporteur, Shri Chaman Lal visited the Home. A number of shortcomings were noticed during the visit. In particular, Hon’ble Member remarked that “the work of Rescue Officer and the District Probation Officer is not entirely satisfactory. The Rescue Officer should be rotated every two or three years. Very little is being done either to arrest the traffickers or to rescue NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION