| Mr. Ravindra B. Vaidya is the founder president of VARHAD and is an alumnus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Soon after graduating from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, he has founded VARHAD with like-minded individuals from Amravati.His visionary initiative to prevent the crime from the societythrough education and employment opportunity among the youth has been phenomenal. Mr. Vaidya has been impactful in touching lives of many underprivileged youths by facilitating effective support mechanisms of education and gainful employment opportunities and numerous youths have been up-lifted through these initiatives. Mr. Vaidya has been influential to bring about substantial change in the field of prisoner’s rights, pro-prisoner’s policies, reintegration and rehabilitation of prisoners and reformation of the hard-core criminals in the society.Over the last two decades, Mr. Vaidya has been at the forefront of VARHAD’s intervention in the field of Criminal Justice System and striving to enable access to justice for the poor and marginalized population. Mr. Vaidya has been recognized and honoured by several leading organizations in the county for his ground-breaking initiatives. |
| Dr. Ravindra D. Kolhe is the vice-president of VARHAD. He is known as “India’s one Rupee Doctor” as he charges only one Rupee for consultation. Dr. Kolhe was a well-read man and he was inspired by the books of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. He wanted to use his knowledge of medicines for a greater cause and that’s when he came across the book, ‘Where There Is No Doctor’ by David Werner. He then decided to work in a place that is far away from any medical facility and he chose a remote village called Bairagarh, a small village in Melghat, Maharashtra where the people had to walk for 40 kilometres for medical facilities. Dr. Kolhe not only worked in the field of medicine but also done numerous ground-breaking works which ensured basic facilities like road connectivity, electricity and drinking water in many of the remote villages of Maharashtra. The Government of India recognized his act of self-sacrifice and awarded him with the fourth civilian award (Padma Shri) in the year 2019. |
| Mr. Dhananand Nagdive is one of the founding members of VARHAD. He has been spearheading VARHAD’s advocacy effort. Over the last two decades, he has been contributory in leading from the forefront to convince the state to promptly formulate pro-prisoner policies as well as inclusion of family of the prisoners especially Children of Prisoners (CoP) in various Government welfare scheme as needy beneficiaries. Mr. Nagdive has been instrumental inlinking various Government welfare schemes like Sanjay Gandhi NiradharYojna (where the prisoners’ wife gets Rs. 1000 every month), Shravan Bal Yojna (the elderly parents of the prisoner get Rs.1000 every month), BPL ration card for the families of prisoners and Balsangopan scheme with the prisoners’ families. His intervention increased the amount from Rs. 1000 to Rs.25000 for the self-employment of released prisoners under the Mukta BandiYojna and he ensured the remission benefit to the prisoners which is entitled on the account of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Jayanti.His contribution in facilitating the ‘Galabhet programme’ which enabled the prisoners to meet their family members without any barrier created a benchmark not only in Amravati Prison but in every centralprison of Maharashtra. Over the years Mr. Nagdivehas been successful in enabling the maximum benefits of open prison in non-open prisons. His ideas of intervention were meant for the Amravati prison. However, thismade a difference in every central prison of Maharashtra. |
| Mr. Jayakant Singh is the Executive Director as well as the treasurer of VARHAD. He oversees the overall programme planning and intervention including resource mobilization of the organization. Mr. Singh is a public health expert and holds amaster’s degree in Social Work with the specialization of Health and Development; Social Policy and Planning from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He also holds another master’s degree and an M.Phil. degree in Population Sciences from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Mr. Singh is associated with VARHAD since 2010 and he has been contributory towards the growth of VARHAD.Presently he is a SeniorDoctoral Fellow at the School of Health System Studies in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and nearing his submission. |
| Mrs. Pushpa G. Rangari, is one of the founding members of VARHAD and she has been a pillar of strength and played a fundamental role in the growth of VARHAD. Mrs. Rnagariis a banker by profession at the Amravati District Central Cooperative Bank. Mrs. Rnagari is associated with VARHAD since its inception. |
| Mr. Pravin Khandpasole is one of the board members as well as an erstwhile employee of VARHAD. Mr. Khandpasole has rich experiences in the field of Legal Aid, parole and furlough. Over the years Mr. Khandpasole was able to gain wide range of experiences in different areas and subsequently he became one of the co-founders of an organization called DISHA which works for the well-being of the victims of various crimes. |
| Dr. Vijay V. Motghare is one of the board members of VARHAD. He is a physician by profession and has15 years of practice experience. At present, he is practicing in a hospital which is run by Amravati Municipal Corporation in the city of Amravati. |
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