Our aftercare services are aimed towards reintegration of the client into society and to prevent his future involvement in crime or anti-sicial activities. In this regard, our social workers do regular counseling of the client and family. Regular contact and follow-up with them is maintained through home-visits. Individual plans are finalized for both our male and female clients in regard to their future economical development.

The first strategy used is improvement of the skills already possessed by the client. VARHAD helps to strengthen his earning capacity by legal means.. If the client has had a regular job or work before his arrest then we try to reinstate him in his earlier job, for which our workers interact with the previous employer if any and counsel him for the same. This has proved helpful as the client already has the experience and skill required for the job.

The youth group is interested in learning new skills. They have not had any fixed source of earning before their arrest. Some are referred for vocational training to other organizations or training institutes. There are also cases where the client has learnt some vocational skill already earlier or while in prison. A few male clients have been sent for the driving course, and after some monetary help and guidance they have been able to acquire driving license for 4 wheelers. For clients aspiring to set up some business of their own on a small scale, help is extended through provision of hand-carts for selling vegetables, fruits or setting up of a stall for the same. Some clients have been given a stipend so as to help them initially gaining some experience in managing or handling of such small - scale business and later assisted in setting up the same. Our aftercare services have benefitted many released prisoners in gaining a source of income and restoring stability in their lives.

There are prisoners coming from other States in search of employment, and are arrested for petty offences or as preventive action. They do not have any relatives or local cantacts in Amravati. After there release, there are high chances of re-arrest since they don't have any financial resources. Thus, we intervene in such cases and make arrangements to send back these clients to their respective States. Temporary shelter is provided until arrangements are made for their travel back home. In one such case, we had called the father of the client to take him to his native place. The arrangements are made thus to make sure that the client reaches his home safely. On reaching home, the clients call up and inform us about themselves.

Raju is 19 years old boy from Utter Pradesh. When he interacts with our social worker in the prison he was literally crying all the time. He was booked u/s 122 of B.P. Act for more than two months. This is the first time he was out of home. He was looking for employment out of his village. He joined a group of vendor who sell glass item to other state. Then he was brought to Amravati via Nagpur for a period of few months. They had decided a fixed amount as a salary to Raju.

He used to cook food for the group and accompany them for their sell. He was not aware about their other activity. Then one day his employers were arrested on a charge of theft. As he was not directly involved in the offence he was booked under section 122 of BP Act. His employer managed to get bail and release from the prison. They did not care about him and he was languishing in the prison without support. He was totally new to the area and no contact at all to the family.

The social worker requested the court to transfer the case to the prison court to expedite the proceeding. Then he was release from the prison court after pledging guilty. We had made arrangement for his stay for a day and tried out to send him back to his family. Then arrangement to drop him at a railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. The volunteer drop him in a railway, which directly goes to his native place. He was asked to inform us once he reaches his native place. After reaching his native place he called us and informed us about his safe journey along with his father. Now he decide to live at his native place and earn livelihood instead of migration to other state or city.

Provision of aftercare services to our clients had demonstrated the need of work with the police. The previous criminal record is one of the main obstacles in the reformation of the clients. Our workers counsel the client since their first interaction in prison. Financial and other resources are invested for his release and aftercare services. But a sudden action by the police only due to his previous criminal record washes away all our efforts. Thus, we try to interact with the concerned police in cases where more number of cases is registered against the client. Police is not easily ready to cooperate in the cases of theft or robbery earlier filed against the client.

We have clients who have many cases u/s. 324, 326 etc. of IPC pending against them. Some police officers have been found to be quite cooperative depending on the individual cases. De-addiction from alcohol and restriction on bad company are our two major components while working with habitual offenders. There are some of our clients who are recognized even by the police as reformed.

There is a need of in-depth work with police and sensitization on the issue of reformation and rehabilitation, particularly of habitual offenders. In future, we would like to strengthen our work in this regard. One of the reasons for our considerable less interaction with the police could be due to low number of habitual offenders as our clients in our aftercare program.

1) Santosh was a sweeper employed in the Amravati Municipal Corporation. He was terminated from his job instead of being suspended due to his arrest under sections of the MOCCA. While in prison, we helped him in regard to his case in court and finally, his case was discharged. We would also help in replying to the letters he would receive from the Municipal Corporation. Our workers had also gone and met the concerned Medical Officers of the Medical Department, Amravati Municipal Corporation. After continuous follow-up with the officers and the Municipal Commissioner, his termination order was changed to suspension orders, whereby he started getting half of his salary. Due to his arrest, loss of job, his family life was also simultaneously affected. His wife left him along with their son not willing to keep any contact with him. On his release from the prison, he had to be helped out initially through a supply of rations, and other daily necessities. Gradually, we also counseled the wife who finally returned back home. Santosh had to report to the office everyday as per the suspension orders. Due to our intervention and request of the Medical officer, the Commissioner appointed a Committee to verify all the details and facts of the case. The final result of all the efforts was that Santosh was reinstated back into his job.

On 29th September 2003 the Collector Mrs.Manisha Varma who was then posted in Amravati inaugurated our Rehabilitation Center. The aim in starting this Center was to provide immediate temporary shelter for women released from prison. This center also caters as emergency shelter for family of prisoners coming from far away places to meet their relatives in the prison. They come to VARHAD as we are providing the client legal and other assistance. It is not possible for them to return on the same day to their village after the visit due to the long distance (about 250-350 kms.). Many a times, the necessary transportation is not available after a certain time of the day. So provision for emergency lodging and boarding is made available to such extremely deserving cases.

The center provides vocational training to releases prisoners as well as the adjoining community women. The Center is situated in an area where majority of domestic violence cases are registered. So along with the vocational training , awareness programmes are also conducted in the Center especially in regard to family laws, rights of women, procedures to be followed in regard to cases of domestic violence. The focus in this regard is more on approaching an NGO for counseling before lodging a complaint in the police station, or filing a case in the court. Thus, we have handled many cases, which are either referred or approached directly, through counseling and such women come to the Center for vocational training. This also helps the women released from prison to integrate themselves positively with the women coming from the community. In further developing confidence and moulding the personality of the women, various programmes are organized like debates, dances, competitions of rangoli, drawing, recipes, etc.