Prayas
Prayas works toward the rehabilitation and reintegration of populations affected by the criminal justice system, including prisoners, children of incarcerated women, children in conflict with the law, children in need of care and protection, and women rescued from commercial sexual exploitation.
Through a holistic and rights-based approach, Prayas provides legal aid, counseling, educational assistance, vocational training, emergency support during crises, and long-term social work interventions. Its programs are designed to help vulnerable individuals rebuild their lives with dignity, access opportunities for growth, and successfully reintegrate into society.
Since 2023, TAP has provided ongoing financial support to Prayas through its Psychosocial Care pillar, helping strengthen programs that deliver counseling, rehabilitation, and long-term social support to vulnerable populations.
“ Rehabilitation, not retribution. We meet people where the system has left them — and stay with them through release, livelihood, and the years that follow. ”
Three units. One model.
Prayas runs three units, each holding a different population the criminal-justice system has placed out of view. The methods overlap: case picking, counseling, legal aid, family support, vocational placement, and an aftercare relationship that doesn’t end at release.
From 1,050 undertrials to 78 bails granted.
In partnership with the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and the Taluka Legal Services Committee (TLSC), Prayas Fellows file bail applications, modifications, and represent undertrials who would otherwise sit in custody for months. The funnel below traces a single reporting cycle.
Filling the Psychosocial pillar.
In November 2022, Arpita Desai brought Prayas to the TAP forum with a careful, almost apologetic, note: “It falls more in the realm of social rather than psychosocial. But there are huge psychological dimensions as well.” She was right on both counts. The board approved the grant in June 2023.
The connection arrived through Thyagarajan Palani — the same coordinator who introduced TAP to LLF at Tata Memorial. His organization Vinimay Trust had been helped by Prayas when two of its boys were caught in conflict with law. Prayas pays it forward.
- Nov 24, 2022Arpita Desai introduces Prayas to TAP — recognising that TAP’s Psychosocial pillar had no project yet, and that Thyagarajan Palani (TAP’s LLF coordinator) had been quietly recommending Prayas as an option.
- May 2023Prayas submits a budget proposal to TAP for the Children-in-Conflict-with-Law and Male Youth units.
- Jun 14, 2023TAP board approves the grant.
- Aug 26, 2023Funds sent through Indian Rupees + foreign-currency channels (FCRA compliant).
- Sep 14, 2023Receipt confirmed by TISS-Prayas. Quarterly reporting cycle begins.
- 2024–2025Eight quarterly reports filed. Newsletter shared. Director Dr. Vijay Raghavan continues to lead the program.
- Oct–Dec 2025Latest reporting period — a new area opens: Work with the children of mothers in protective institutions and shelter homes.
A new area opens — children of mothers in protective institutions.
In the Oct–Dec 2025 quarter, Prayas reported on a fourth area of work alongside the existing three units: support for children whose mothers are currently — or were formerly — in protective institutions or shelter homes. The work is quieter than bail-application drives, and longer.
Social workers counsel mothers and children, visit schools, assist with college admissions, open bank and post-office accounts, follow up on the Bal Sangopan Yojana, and identify hostel facilities. Government schemes are slow; the work is patient.
The institutional ecosystem.
Prayas’ work depends on long-term, named relationships with the state’s legal-aid machinery and its parent institute.
A small donation funds a bail application, a school fee, a phone call home.
US donors give to TAP Charity Inc. (EIN 87-2830776) — tax-deductible. Funds are committed to TISS-Prayas through its FCRA-compliant channels and reconciled in quarterly reports that document interventions, outcomes, and challenges.