Preeta devoted her entire life in reforming the prison inmates as she believed that most of them had a good person hidden inside them.

Preeta Bhargava has just retired as DIG-Prisons. She was the first ever woman in India to go for Jail Service when she joined the service. She has spent all her life trying to reform those who are discarded by society by branding them criminals. She is also an artist and is learning how to paint.

Preeta was born in Jaipur. Then she was sent to Dholpur to her parental home. Her grandfather and father were farmers. When she was growing up, during 1970-75, Dholpur was considered a dacoit infested area. She recalls how difficult life was growing up in a village. She was asked to sit at home after studying till 11th.

She did B.A. privately and also M.A. from Rajasthan University as a non-collegiate student. She saw the workers working in their fields of which several were people who had come out of jail. From the beginning she felt an urge to do something for them and for society. She got associated with spiritualism and also started writing poems.

Later, after she came to Udaipur to do B.Ed. her life changed. She applied for RAS and got selected for jail service which she had given as her first option. From her family to society, everyone was appalled at the thought of a young girl doing Jail Service. But, she was bent upon doing it. She believed that most of the crime that happens in society is circumstantial and most of the prison inmates had a streak of goodness inside them. She wanted to become like a  mother to them and reform them. She believes societal conditions are responsible for most of the crimes. And, as society is behind the crime, it shall also take upon itself the responsibility of reforming the criminals.

Although, she agrees that the world inside a jail is very tough. The jail inmates are edgy and unpredictable. You have to be always alert as anyone may behave erratically. She tried to convince the inmates that as they were separated from their families, she was like their parents. She coaxed them to listen to her and leave the jail after completing their sentence with a positive attitude. She thinks only five percent of the jail inmates are very violent and die hard criminals. The rest 95 percent are those who committed the crimes driven by circumstances and who can be reformed and brought into the mainstream of society.

Preeta says the life of a girl was very tough when she was a child due to society’s perceptions and beliefs. She was the sixth among 11 siblings. But, she says that with determination a girl can achieve what she wants.