We began work in the prison with the objective to work with both under - trial and convict prisoners. Our workers visit the prison at least twice a week whereby after interaction with the prisoners new cases are taken up, a reporting is done to those whose home-visits have been conducted, information about the legal position of their cases, about their children, families, etc. Counseling is done in regard to cases where the workers consider the need for the same. Our main work focus is with regard to convicts in the form of help to their children, processing of their furlough, parole applications, legal aid for appeal in high Court, follow-up with their personal lawyers.

We are working with convict male and female prisoners. The activities with this group are based on two major objectives. The first is to assist the prisoners with their legal rights and procedure. And the second is to improve their life within the prison by conducting various activities. The second objective is achieved by organizing long-term and short-term programmes in the prison on a mass level. Various recreational and educational activities are organized by VARHAD. We also support and assist the prison administration to organize activities and programmes to achieve the above activities.

VARHAD supports convicted prisoners to avail of the various prison facilities. As per the Maharashtra Prison Manual, convict prisoners are entitled for release on parole and furlough. Prisoners are allowed to spend some time with their family while serving the sentence. They are allowed a leave for 15 days as furlough at specific time during their sentence. The leave is inclusive of the sentence period. The Regional Deputy Inspector General (Prisons ) is the sanctioning authority to release prisoners on furlough. The sanctioning authorities may extend furlough for another 15 days. A prisoner is released on furlough after entering into a bond with surety. The sanctioning authority also considers a report from the police about the surety, chances of the prisoner absconding and probability to commit any offence.

Our workers interact with the police, prison and other authorities for release order on furlough. There are prisoners who have not been able to avail of this facility for years. They do not have required surety and family support for the release order. We have observed that the prisoners have lost contact with their families due to poverty and illiteracy. After conviction, they are transferred to the Central Prison, which is far away from their native place. Therefore their family members if any, can not afford regular visits to the prison because of poor financial conditions. Due to illiteracy, the convicts are also unaware of any prison facilities like parole and furlough. Our role proves very important in such cases. Through home visits we develop contact with the prisoners' families and sensitize them to stand surety for parole or furlough. The workers regularly guide the relatives and concerned surety regarding procedure for the same.

The workers also visit offices of the sanctioning authority and police department to expedite proceeding of the documents in the concerned cases. We enquire on a case-by-case basis and in general to speed up the proceedings. This strategy helps in sensitizing the concerned officials on the issue. After getting sanction from the sanctioning authority, surety has to be submitted. We have observed that many of the sureties do not ha ve any financial solvency, which stands as a hurdle. Our workers interact with concerned Executive Magistrate to reduce the surety amount and find out other alternatives. Thus, our workers play an important role in release of prisoners on parole or furlough in many cases.

The convicted prisoners can also be released on parole during their sentence. Release on parole is for specific period and the sanctioning authority may extend the period. The prisoner can be released on parole for a period of one month or more. There must be some specific reason for his release such as some serious illness, marriage, etc. in the direct family. Procedure for release on parole is similar to that of furlough except for the sanctioning authority. The Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) is the sanctioning authority for release on parole.

The workers also help out for the release of prisoners on death parole. Death parole is a release of the prisoner on parole in case of death of any family member in the direct family (Blood relation). The Superintendent of the concerned prison is the sanctioning authority for release on death parole. The role of social workers is very important in most of these case. As the required documents and procedure for release on death parole must be completed within 10 days from the death of the family member. Authentic death certificate from the concerned self-government body, report from concerned police station certifying that the person dead is a member in the direct family of the prisoner.

Many family members are not aware about the facility and therefore do not inform the prisoner immediately. The prisoner comes to know about the death of his family members after some days. There have been such cases where we had hardly a day or two to complete the required formality and procedure. We have helped in releasing many prisoners on death parole at the eleventh hour. Therefore, we have adopted a strategy that whenever home visits are paid to relatives of prisoners for any reason then we make them aware of various facilities available to prisoners like furlough, parole, and death parole. This assists them in taking appropriate action in time in case of an emergency. There have been cases where prisoners were able to perform the last rights of their near and dear ones in time because of our timely intervention and support.

18

11

2

31

18

3

3

24

10

7

-

17

22

12

4

38

9

8

-

17

1

-

-

1

8

6

2

16

6

2

1

9

3

1

-

4

11

8

2

21

3

7

-

10

Laxmi aged about 55 years is serving a life sentence in the prison since the past 13 years. Her husband had an extra-marital affair with a girl in the village, of which she was unaware for a long time. Later on, on coming to know about this affair, there would be constant quarrels between Laxmi and the girl. One day, after one such quarrel with Laxmi over filling of water at the public tap the girl committed suicide by burning herself. And in her dying declaration she named Laxmi and her husband as being responsible for her death. So on the basis of this dying declaration, Laxmi and her husband were arrested. The court later passed an order of life imprisonment for Laxmi, while her husband was acquitted from the charge.

After her conviction she was brought to Amravati Central Prison. In the beginning, her husband had been in touch with her through letters, which gradually reduced. Two years back when she first interacted with our social worker she had no contact with family and for years no one had come to see her or inquire about her. She was never released on parole and furlough. And she had lost all hopes of being released on parole and furlough.

After interacting with her on a regular basis the worker could get some address of her nearby relative. On enquiring with the relatives concerned through frequent home-visits, we found that no one was ready to take any responsibility of Laxmi. Through these visits, we also came to know about one relative residing at Shegaon in Buldhana district. Then our worker regularly paid visits to this relative trying to convince them to stand surety for Laxmi in case of her release on furlough. After frequent interaction with them the relatives was ready to give surety.

Then our social worker began the procedure of collecting documents required for Laxmi to be released on furlough. Then at the end moment the relatives backed out from giving surety for her furlough. Our worker again tried hard and finally convinced the relatives and was able to acquire her release order from the concerned Tehsil.

Finally, Laxmi was released on furlough and she was able to enjoy this limited period of freedom after nearly 13 years of having been in prison. After her release, she was received respectfully at our VARHAD reha bilitation Center. Our worker reached her up to her relative's house at Shegaon after spending a night at our Center. She got to know about the death of her husband during her stay with the relatives. After spending 15 days of her furlough period outside the prison, she returned back to serve her remaining sentence. And presently, she is awaiting orders for her final release from the prison.

VARHAD is also working with the male and female under-trial population in the prison. These under trial could be categorized in three categories according to our intervention. The first group is of those arrested under various sections of preventive action and other minor offences. The second group is of those who are arrested for offences and whose cases are pending in the lower courts. And the third category is of those whose cases are serious in nature and pending for trial in the Sessions courts. These three categories could be further categorized according to the background of the prisoners.

After an interaction with the prisoner inside the prison, a home - visit to the family and the respective police station is made to verify as well as to gather more information about the case, family, etc. Then an assessment is made of the cases on the basis of their classification as per the section under which arrested, type of court in which the case is presently being processed. Side by side, it is checked out if the family is willing to accept the offender back if released on bail or personal bond. If not, then counseling of the family is done, in regard to acceptance of the client back into the family, with the provision of help for legal aid, etc.

A large number of under-trials are arrested under chapter cases. They are booked under various sections of Criminal Procedure Code as preventive action. Some are arrested under sections of the Bombay Police Act on the grounds of law and order. Some of them are arrested because of their previous criminal background. And some are first timers who are arrested loitering around at night or found at the bus stands, railway station etc. The second group is not involved in any criminal activity, but has been arrested due to their drinking habits or bad company. Many are arrested due to disputes in the family. These are mostly young boys aged between 21-25 years who have a disturbed family background due to which they get into bad company through their long hours of absence from home. These are boys addicted to alcohol or drugs and are habitual of constantly being arrested under the same sections. This is similar with the group of youth aged 25-35 years who have been arrested under 'chapter cases' for domestic violence or other family disturbance cases.

Social workers do regular counseling of the prisoners during their stay in the prison. Home-visits are made to find out details about the case and opinion of people about the client. If there is any chance of reformation then the workers mobilize resources through the family for his release. There are cases who are seem to be innocent and to prevent further criminalization of such first-time offenders while in prison, we try to get him out at the earliest. After paying visits the workers interact with the Special Executive Magistrate (ACP) and Executive Magistrate and presents the case and requests before the concerned court for release of the prisoner on personal bond. Power of the court is vested with Assistant commissioner of Police in jurisdiction of the Police Commissionerate. The same power is vested with Executive Magistrate (Tahsildar) at the taluka of the rural division. It has been observed that there is a more positive response from the courts of Executive Magistrates than from the courts of ACP. We also provide aftercare services to the released undertrials in terms of counseling, training and guidance.

48

59

107

33

52

85

15

7

22

In regard to handling of cases, we need to pay home-visits to the families of prisoners. These visits are aimed at gathering information regarding the socio-economic and psycho-social position of the family. We have observed that there are many prisoners whose relatives do not come to visit them in the prison. As informed earlier, in this prison there are prisoners from five districts of the region. Because of poverty and illiteracy, family members do not pay visits to the prisoners. We have come across cases where the family has not paid a single visit to the prison after the prisoner's transfer to the Central Prison. In some cases, the families do not maintain any contact with prisoners even through letters. Besides these, there are other reasons also such as fear of police, disputes within family, and misunderstanding with regard to the prisoners.

Thus, we feel the need to work towards improving the family contacts and relationship of the prisoners with their families. After our workers' visits to the families, relations have been renewed and further strengthened in some cases, where the family had not kept in contact after the prisoners' conviction. The families also agree to give surety for parole and furlough after our home visits and counseling on part of our workers.

Poverty and the traveling distance from their homes to the prison is one of the main reasons for a family to maintain contact with the prisoners. A solution for this was through sensitizing the family during home-visits and through letters. Another is this year, we have begun to give financial support to the families of poor and needy prisoners to help them visit and meet the prisoners. Our workers assess the provision of such financial support during their visits to the families. The family also informed about the traveling route and the procedure of meeting the prisoner in the prison. Depending on the distance involved, Rs. 50-250/- per person for a visit is given. The longest distance from Amravati for any family is about 350 kilometers. This practice has helped in developing family contacts of many prisoners as well as in improving the emotional level of the prisoners.

Ramrao aged 45 years is serving life sentence in the prison since last years. He was imprisoned in Yeotmal district prison as an undertrial before conviction. The family was in touch with him when he was in that prison. The case was decided at Session Court in Yeotmal district and convicted for life for murder of a man in his village. Then he was brought to Amravati prison for serving the sentence.

Now the prison is more than 250 kilometers from the village. There is his wife and 2 sons in the family. They had their own land of 4 acres, which he sold to a landlord to pay fees for advocates for the trial in session court. His wife is a landless labor and one son attends school in 4th standard in the village. Older son aged 14 years drop our from school and support the mother. The client requested for educational support to his children. Social Worker paid home visit to find out educational background of the children and future action. During home visits it was found out that the family did not had any contact with the client in prison since last 3 years.

The family could not pay a single visit to the prison since last 3 years because of extreme poverty. Our workers gave them money to arrange their visit to the prison. Worker had also extended support to the school going son for educational needs. And also tried to counsel the drop out child for continuation of his education. The monetary help and guidance help the family to establish contact and direct meeting in the prison. Due to that the client could seen his children and wife personally in prison. Due to that the client could see his children and wife personally in the prison visit after three years. We have commitment to make arrangement for their traveling expenses after every four months.

254

79

333

284

35

319

127

8

135

36

3

39

19

11

30

59

7

66

29

4

33

14

2

16

Type

Male

Female

Total

254

79

333

284

35

319

538

114

652

127

8

135

36

3

39

19

11

30

59

7

66

29

4

33

14

2

16