HYDERABAD: In an ambitious bid to make the State crime-free, the Telangana Prisons Department will be providing rehabilitation measures like jobs, loans and medical aid to many repeat offenders. However, the outreach does not seem to have struck a chord as many have rejected the rehabilitation offer.

The department has identified 958 ‘habitual offenders’ to initiate the exercise. Of the 958, some are under trial prisoners, while many are ex-prisoners who are integrated into society.

The department was able to contact 734 of them, mostly property offenders — out of which four have asked for a loan, 65 have asked for jobs, and one has sought medical help. As many as 137 are still in judicial custody.

As of now, 31 teams of prison officials have visited the homes of the ex-prisoners and they would later decide sustainability measures of each family based on their needs.

However, the initiative also seems to have caused a rude shock for the prisons department as a majority of them have sought no help.

“A lot of them have not asked help. It is a dangerous sign as we do not know if they are really into some job or resorting to offences again. We will investigate further on this,” said VK Singh, director general of Prisons and Correctional Services Department.

Another startling revelation that the Prisons Department stumbled upon while carrying out the exercise was that 207 ex- prisoners had provided fake addresses in a bid to remain untraceable. 

“These prisoners have submitted fake addresses and that is a serious problem,” said Singh.The Prisons Department has written to the police to trace the location of the 207 ex-inmates.

Ex-prisoners submit fake addresses

A startling revelation was that 207 former prisoners had provided fake addresses so as to remain untraceable.  Meanwhile, the Telangana Prisons Department has written to the police to trace the location of the 207 ex-inmates.