Barack Obama once said, “We believe that when people make mistakes, they deserve the opportunity to remake their lives”. A person may end up in a jail by his criminal act done on the spurt of the moment. But he rightfully deserves another chance to add another chapter in his life with completely changed mindset. 62-year-old retired Jail Superintendent Rajendra Gaikwad, had spent nearly three decades in reformation, welfare and rehabilitation of prison inmates during his service in undivided Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Recognising his outstanding contribution in ameliorating the lives of the prisoners, he had been awarded and eulogised by Governor and Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, and had also been felicitated by Jail Department on numerous occasions. During his 28 years long journey in Jail Department, he had served in Central Jails at Khandwa (MP), Raigarh, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur, Raipur and Bilaspur. He has the distinction of becoming the first Jail Superintendent of central India to be awarded by Sword of Honour by Government of Uttar Pradesh. Also, foreign media houses like BBC London had visited to cover his efforts in rehabilitation of jail inmates.

Rajendra, an alumnus of Criminology and Forensic Science department of universally acclaimed Sagar University, said, “Look, I believe in the philosophy that a person is not a criminal by birth. It is often seen that hostile circumstances compel a person to commit a crime. In consonance with the spirit of Welfare State, I had earnestly endeavored to make reforms and change the attitudes and behaviors of the prisoners. Education, skill development and cultural activities had been very potent tools for their reformation, welfare and rehabilitation, which is the ultimate objective of prison administration.”

Before getting selected as Jail Superintendent in 1994 through MPPSC examination, Rajendra had worked as a school teacher and then as an accountant in Apex Bank at Bhopal. Further mentioning the corrective measures and initiatives undertaken by him for the welfare of offenders confined in jails, he said, “I had been instrumental in opening IGNOU study centers in all the central Jails of Chhattisgarh. For imparting primary education to college education through distance learning mode to the convicts in Jails, I had left no stone unturned. Interestingly, more than 200 prisoners of Raipur and Ambikapur central Jails are learning Sanskrit. I feel immense pride to say that literacy rate amongst the inmates had gone up significantly wherever I had served. During my service, nearly 1200 prisoners in Jagdalpur got trained in various different trades under Skill Development Programme of the Government, which in turn had made them self-reliant.”

As per the policy of jail department, a prisoner who comes under the category of Skilled-Labour and Unskilled- Labour has been entitled for a daily remuneration of Rs 75 and Rs 60 respectively for his work during his punishment period. And it had been instructed that a prisoner mandatorily has to give a certain percentage from his monthly income to the victim’s family for the welfare of the latter. There had been various bottlenecks because of which the victim’s family had been deprived of that amount. Displaying his smart managerial acumen, Rajendra Gaikwad had coordinated magnificently with District Administration, which had helped the victim’s family to get that stipulated money. In yet another benevolent initiative, he had opened in Bilaspur central Jail campus a creche called muktaakash for abandoned prisoner’s children less than 6 years of age, and thus had arranged for their shelter, education and food. Exhibiting magnanimity, he had shifted the deserted children of the victims in hostels of the city and provided them education. “Why should children suffer because of the misdeed and misfortune of their parents!! These children need to be rehabilitated,” he opined. Besides being a dutiful Jail officer, he has also been a litterateur par excellence and had been a recipient of prestigious Chhattisgarh Hindi Granth Academy and Urdu Granth Academy awards. He has been the writer of 5 books which has been published by renowned publishers of India and has been inaugurated by celebrated personalities like Hindi-movie songwriter and poet Gopaldas Neeraj. His literary contributions have been books like Ankahe Kisse, Mera Aakash, Khula Aakash, Muktaakash and Parivartak. “Literature has been my passion for 25 years. Other than writing books, I have a YouTube channel in which I post thoughts related to philosophy of life and social welfare”, Rajendra said, who has also been associated with an NGO called Aadarsh Samaj Svapn Saakaar Sanstha for providing free legal aid to the needy and impoverished. Rajendra Gaikwad followed the Gandhian principle which said that- Hate the crime not the criminal.