Yesterday was World Human Rights day. A little about our rights...

Access to Justice and Fair Treatment

The victim of a crime sets the criminal justice mechanism in motion, by giving information to the police which is expected to reduce it to writing. The victim as an informant is entitled to a copy of the FIR “forthwith, free of cost”. 

Where the officer in charge of a police station refuses to act upon such information, the victim can write to the Superintendent of the Police who is then expected to direct investigation into the complaint. Failing these mechanisms, the victim can give a complaint to a Magistrate, who will in turn examine the complainant on oath and enquire into the case herself or direct investigation by the police before taking cognizance.The victim thereafter does not participate in the investigation except by being called to confirm the identity of the accused or the material objects, if any, recovered during the course of investigation.

Source- Forthcoming in National Human Rights Commission Journal (2004) 

S. Muralidhan

Another News story about the work we do

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20090709/kids-jail-inmates-prisoners-fate/ai_n39593014/

Our President speaks to TOI

Check our president Ravindra Vaidya's pertinent views in one of the latest stories on the inhuman state of prisons, in the Times of Indiahttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Panel-raps-cops-after-hawker-complains-of-hellish-lock-up/articleshow/6675297.cms

Noteworthy Achievements till date...

Noteworthy Achievements – In a nutshell

Some of VARHAD’s noteworthy triumphs, besides the ones mentioned above, include:

1) Education: The achievement of permission from the Municipal Corporation for teachers from the VARHAD team to formally educate prisoners from scratch and hold State Board Exams inside the prison until the 4th grade, for all categories of prisoners.

2) Rehabilitation: It is a proud achievement, that every reform and rehabilitation case handled by VARHAD has been a success.

Two outstanding COP (Children of Prisoners)  who completed their studies, thanks to our initiatives, have been placed with the IPS (Indian Police Services) and the Indian armed forces.

3) Policy level interpretation :

Last but most significant is the policy level change we have caused at a macro level. While providing benefits to children of prisoners, the state government was reluctant to consider these children as “needy of care and protection.” After considerable lobbying and advocacy for the cause of including the (COPs) Children of Prisoners as beneficiaries of government schemes, did the Government accept their inclusion.

At the moment, this policy change has happened within the state. We are now working at taking it to the national level.

4) Legal Aid ( PAROLE and FURLOUGH) - Until now 277 cases of Parole and 100 cases of Furlough in the region of Amravati have been enabled by the organisation.  Amravati central prison is the only prison in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra from where largest number of prisoners are being released on Parole and Furlough.

5) Research Work: Our research teams were approached by International organizations such as the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative to create a report titled “Condition of Sub Jails in the state of Maharashtra. This has been successfully published.

It is a huge achievement that as a result of the above published report, a writ petition was filed by CHRI in the Bombay High court.

So effective were the findings, that the court has appointed a committee to look into this matter and asked for our suggestions on the reforms proposed.

6) Media Successes: Our Youth Centre, or VYC has also produced a documentary – Rahuti based on the ‘Life of the Pardhi community,’ which has been featured at the National level!

7) Personality Development of Prisoners: VARHAD conducts classical music classes in prison for all categories of prisoners. The organization has motivated ABGM (Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyapeeth) to conduct classical music examinations for prisoners inside the prison premises itself!...

Male prisoners trained in Classical Music (training organized by VARHAD for prison inmates)  performing a classical music piece, at a Cultural Program held within prison

 To the pleasant surprise of all the members of VARHAD’s team most of the prisoners who displayed interest in music, trained until the Sangeet VISHARAD level (which is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in Indian Classical Music ). This remarkable achievement makes the teachers of ABGM, the students themselves,  and all of us at VARHAD, very proud!

WE WORK WITH...

OUR TG - TARGET GROUP                 

There are three types of criminals:

I)               CRIMINALS BY PROFESSION OR HABITUAL OFFENDERS

a) VARHAD focuses on the reform of this group of offenders, as it is imperative for the unhindered progress of civil society. The organisation leaves no stone unturned to ensure that these criminals do not continue in the world of crime, post release from custody.

This involves the humungous task of training these individuals to earn their livelihood and lead a decent life in society.

b) It also involves legal representation and solving of money matters, as most of the times, habitual crimes are related to money.

II)              NON-CRIMINALS OR  FIRST TIME OFFENDERS.

          In most cases, these are victims of circumstance and those who are not tried by law.

a) For such groups, VARHAD focuses on reducing the impact of imprisonment, by involving them in various activities. It attempts to make the prison environment a positive experience via various literacy and cultural activities held within the prison itself.

b) VARHAD also pushes for the reduction of the time spent in prison for such prisoners, to prevent further criminalization.

(There are national statistics to prove that 72%, or 3/4^th of the prison population all over India are ‘under-trial.’  This, as per Indian law, renders them innocent until proven guilty)

a)     More importantly, VARHAD enables the under-trial prisoner to interact and support their families. This reduces the negative impact of imprisonment.

III)                COMPLETELY INNOCENT  PRISONERS

 These are victims of a faulty law enforcement system, where the innocent are accused and charged for crimes they have not committed.

Our History

History

Mr. Ravindra Vaidya, founded Varhad in 2001, armed with the belief that rehabilitation is more effective than imprisonment, for changing the personality of a criminal.

An alumnus of (TISS) Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Ravindra has specialized in Criminology and Correctional Administration.

Prior to forming Varhad, his experience of working for PRAYAS (Social Work in Criminal Justice- a project of Tata institute of Social Sciences), drove him to

embrace the extraordinary belief, that crime is a sickness, which needs to be cured.

VARHAD began operations in Amravati, Maharashtra (India) with just two part-time workers.

Using the basement and first floor of his own house as an office and employing his personal funds (prior to corporate social funding), Ravindra and his team started work by supporting cases in the Amravati Central Prison, where innocent prisoners were languishing behind bars, for lack of knowledge of the CJS.

Within 3 years, with the support of philanthropic institutions such as the Sir DorabjeE Tata Trust, and a host of well wishers and volunteers, the team gradually expanded to 21 full-time paid Social workers, trainers, teachers and administrative staff & volunteers.

ABOUT VARHAD. WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO...

ABOUT US (page 1)

Voluntary Action for Rehabilitation and Development (VARHAD) is an organization working towards crime prevention, reformation in custody and reintegration of prisoners and their families into society. We currently operate within the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, which includes two central prisons and four district prisons.

VARHAD positions itself as a helping hand for socially marginalized groups, who are lured or pushed into the world of crime. Our work projects us as one of the most prominent Indian organizations, working towards crime prevention.

(subtitle) What we Do

At the onset, our focus was only on rehabilitation of released prisoners. Lately we have included many more initiatives, which include care for prisoners in custody and reintegration of convicts and their families into civil society.

VARHAD has a committed staff and huge corpus of dedicated volunteers who work within and outside the system. Our constant interaction with the police and judiciary in campaigning for convicts, has established us as a well-meaning, professional organization, working towards an urgent worthy cause. .