The job hunt is still on for four of the six open jail inmates.
Housed in the semi-open jail, Sanjay Arora, Pramod, Mohammad Aashim and Narender Pooran have rooms to themselves and are free to move around in the complex. The catch is that an open jail inmate is not allowed to take up a job that entails driving, or any other job that does not have a fixed location and contact point.
Sources inside Tihar say that open jails in the Capital need to be more relaxed than those in other States. Efforts are reportedly being made to this end.
‘I am looking to get married’
Money matters
For Sanjay Arora (42), the money he earned inside the jail is not enough to support his physically-challenged mother, who lives alone. In jail since 2001, Sanjay is illiterate and doesn’t possess any technical skills either.
Sanjay Arora | Photo Credit: Shubhomoy Sikdar
When out on parole, he ferries passengers in an e-rickshaw that he borrows from his sister’s family. This gets him ₹700 each day, an amount much more than what any menial job, which is what he usually does in jail, would bring him. Sanjay was convicted for a murder, which he says happened after sudden provocation. A jail official, meanwhile, added that there were rape charges against him too.
A second chance at life
Like Sanjay, Pramod (40) claims to be reformed and wants to take up a job as a driver. The son of a DTC driver, he was a self-confessed goonda during his younger days, which is when he committed the murder.
Hoping for the best
Compared to Sanjay, Pramod is likely to be employed sooner as he is considered a good hand by the Tihar Jail outlet management. Like Vijay, he may soon be given an outlet to handle at the Saket courts. While he is happy about this, he says he would want to drive.
Pramod | Photo Credit: Shubhomoy Sikdar
At 40, Pramod is well past the marriageable age as per his family. But though he wants to get married, matches are not easy to find for a man who has spent “18 years and four months” in prison and is looking to complete a life sentence.
“I hadn’t expected to get a job either. One has to be hopeful,” he says.
Then there is Mohammad Aashim (40), who has served 17 years of his 20-year sentence. He was a gym instructor who had won local body building championships before he murdered his brother in 2000. As many as 16 years later, the gym is still there and Aashim is regular when it comes to his exercise regime.
Going with the flow
His challenge, however, is the commute from Tihar Jail to Okhla, which is where the gym is. Until that is resolved, he says he is happy as a waiter at Tihar’s restaurant.
Mohammad Aashim | Photo Credit: Shubhomoy Sikdar
Once out of jail, he plans to focus on his family and wife Nazma, who he married in 2011 while out on parole.
Making all efforts
Director General (Prisons) Sudhir Yadav said the jobs aid rehabilitation and ease the inmates back into society. “Some of them committed murders in the spur of the moment and have served long sentences. Our efforts are to ensure that they are accepted in the society like others and not stigmatised. If they are remorseful and have conducted themselves well, they deserve to be accepted,” said Mr. Yadav.
Facing the past
The police officer’s contention about stigma resonates when Narender Pooran (47) recounts his story. In Tihar since 2002, he swears that he is innocent in the murder case he was convicted in.
Set to get a job at a Mother Dairy outlet, Narender hopes to start working in a few weeks.
Narender Pooran | Photo Credit: Shubhomoy Sikdar
“All these years, my children, who have been living in the village with my parents since my wife died, have never come to Delhi. If I get this job, I will be able to call them to my workplace. My family told me that the children don’t know about the case. Each time I go home on parole, I find them a little more grown up. They will begin to ask questions as they grow older,” he says.