in the course of its visits to jails, that mentally disabled persons were still being held in them, it would recommend the payment of compensation to those so detained and to their families. In consequence of that letter, many prisoners and others with mental disabilities, who were being held in prisons, have now been transferred to institutions where they can be given psychiatric help. In this connection, the Commission strongly recommends that Rule 82(1) of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners be followed. This requires that "Persons who are found to be insane shall not be detained in prisons and arrangements shall be made to remove them to mental institutions as soon as possible." Further, Rule 82(4) requires that "the medical or psychiatric service of the penal institutions shall provide for the psychiatric treatment of all other prisoners who are in need of such treatment." The Commission endorses the recommendations made earlier by the Mulla Committee which stated that if a convict undergoing impris~nmentbecame mentally ill, he should be accommodated in the psychiatric wing if such wing exists in the prison hospital, or he should be sent to the nearest mental hospital for treatment. Further, if the prisoner fails to recover from mental illness even after completing half of the maximum term of conviction, his case should be considered by the State Government for release from prison. 3.50 The Commission continued to give special attention to the condition of women who were held in jail, many of whom informed Members of the Commission or its officers of their plight. In the Nari Bandi Niketan of Uttar Pradesh, for instance, a number of women prisoners told the Director General (Investigation) that they feared that their husbands would no longer accept them after their release from prison. Others complained that they rarely heard from their families or children. In the view of the Commission, there is great need for frequent opportunities for women prisoners to meet or unite with their families. The Commission also feels it essential to stress that certain key recommendations of the National Expert Committee on Women Prisoners, which met under the Chairmanship of Shri Justice V.R. Krishna lyer in 1986-87, should be followed up with greater diligence. These include the following: " All custodial premises far women prisoners should have a private and secure environment. Qualified lady doctors and nurses should be attached on a visiting basis to every prison for women and custodial centre for women inmates. The scale of diet for women prisoners should, be in strict accordance with medical norms; special extra diets should be provided if medically prescribed.