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Community lawyering in India

Community lawyering in India

A perusal of the characteristics, nature, scope, values, and strategy of community lawyering indicates that the social and political scenario in India is perfectly suited for community lawyering to flourish. The economic necessities of the different communities within India further call for the assistance of community lawyers. India is the world's largest democracy. A variety of constituencies are the constitutive elements of this democracy. The Indian constitution is based on socialist ideals and the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution endeavour to ensure social justice. The Preamble of the Constitution of India emphatically delineates socialistic ideals; the Directive Principles of State Policy recognize the socio-economic rights of citizens. Although not enforceable in a court of law in isolation, the Directives are "fundamental to the governance of the country" and every government (central as well as state governments) should incorporate such principles in governance.

The Constitution recognizes certain groups of people who were historically marginalized in mainstream society or are otherwise in need of assistance. The constitutional texture provides for distributive justice addressed to better the lives of these groups for the sake of social equilibrium. The various groups addressed by the constitution are scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women, and children, among others. Thus, the concept of community or group is historically ingrained in the law of the land. This is in recognition of the fact that group rights have been vital in the overall development of Indian society, apart from the focus on individual rights and privileges Although scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are the most recognizable communities within the country, there are a number of other impoverished communities in dire need of emancipation. Other impoverished or marginalized populations include socially backward and supressed community, laborers, agricultural laborers, women, in addition to communities of villagers, urban homeless poor, slum dwellers, linguistic and religious minorities the list can never be exhaustive. All these groups are in need of help to increase their visibility and political power vis-ji-vis the elites of society.

If one looks at the social construction of India, one could easily ascertain that community life is far more important and prevalent than individualistic living. Almost every individual has a sense of belongingness to a community and the idea of being a part of a community is cherished by each constitutive unit. Since the very early days of Indian history, village communities formed the administrative and government units of the village. Most of the executive and judicial functions were performed by (and are still being performed by) such village communities. Only very serious matters would go to higher authorities. Sometimes village communities would also legislate on certain matters. These village communities or "panchayats" continue to be the basic administrative units in Indian villages, albeit without much legislative or judicial power. Lawyers have been the strongest group in the development and progress of the socio-political struggle of the country. Individually and collectively, they have been the force behind India's biggest political and social victories.

OBJECTIVES:
1.TO CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE NEED OF LEGAL AID.
2.TO STUDY THE ROLE OF LEGAL SERVICE AUTHORITY, COURTS AND LAW SCHOOLS.
3.TO CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE LEGAL AID WORK IN THE COURT PROPERLY.
4.TO MAKE RECOMMENDATION.

METHODOLOGY:
The researcher have done the doctrinal and non-doctrinal both research procedure in article “Community lawyering in India”. That is the material is collected online and on field both.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF RESEARCH:
The scope and limitation of the research article is within India. And the data of cases showed in table is of India only of year 2015-2016.

OBJECTIVE NO.1:
1.1 LEGAL SERVICE AUTHORITY ACT:
The sections of the society as enlisted under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act (1987) are entitled for free legal services, they are:
(a) A member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;
(b) A victim of trafficking in human beings or beggar as referred to in Article 23 of the Constitution;
(c) A woman or a child;
(d) A mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;
(e) A person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster;
(f) An industrial workman;
(g) In custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of Section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956(104 of 1956); or in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause(j) of Section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (53 of 1986); or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of clause (g) of Section 2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987(14 of 1987)
(h) In receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Government, if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government, if the case is before the Supreme Court.

1.2 NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICE AUTHORITY RULES (1995):
Legal services under clause (h) of section 12, if the case is before the supreme court is entitled to any citizen of India whose annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs50,000/-(Rupees Fifty Thousand) shall be entitled to legal services under clause (h) of section 12 of the Act.

1.3 SUPREME COURT LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE RULES, (2000):
Legal services under clause (h) of section 12, if the case is before the supreme court is entitled to a person whose annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs1,25,000 (Rupees one lakh twenty-five thousand per annum.)

In a country of over 1.252 billion population.It is very difficult to provide equal opportunity of justice to everyone. The legal service authorities thus, are working on a very monumental task in providing access to justice to all the needy and aggrieved persons who are deprived of their rights.

Legal Aid implies giving free legal services to the poor and needy who cannot afford the services of a lawyer for the conduct of a case or a legal proceeding in any court, tribunal or before an authority.
Right to Legal Aid: It is the duty of the State to see that the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity for all its citizens. It must therefore arrange to provide free legal aid to those who cannot access justice due to economic and other disabilities.

Even in the procedural law of our country the provisions of legal aid has been laid down in sec, 304 of criminal procedure code which states that If the accused does not have sufficient means to engage a lawyer, the court must provide one for the defence of the accused at the expense of the state.

In various case laws the court has acknowledged the need and importance of legal aid.

OBJECTIVE NO.2:
2.0 HOW TO APPLY FOR LEGAL SERVICES:
A person in need of free legal services can approach the concerned authority or committee through an application which could either be made by sending in written form, or by filling up the forms prepared by the said authorities stating in brief the reason for seeking legal aid or can be made orally in which case an officer of the concerned legal services authority or a paralegal volunteer can assist the person.
A person can also apply online for getting Legal Aid to any Legal Services Institution in the country by filling up the Legal Aid Application foravailable online at NALSA’s website by going on the ‘Online Application’ Link on the Home Page, along with uploading necessary documents.
Various SLSAs/DLSAs/SCLSC/HCLSCs/TLSCs also have application forms available on their websites.

2.1 PROCEDURE AFTER APPLICATION:
Legal aid is provided to the entitled persons through legal services authorities existing from the National to Taluka levels including the NALSA, State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services Committees, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and High Court Legal Services Committees. If, however, an application or request for legal aid is received by NALSA, NALSA forwards the same to the concerned authority.
Once the application is submitted with the proper authority, it would be perused by the concerned Legal Services Institution as to what action is needed upon the same. The information about the next step on the application would then be sent to the parties concerned.
The action taken on an application received would vary from providing counselling/advice to the parties, providing a lawyer to represent them in the court, etc.

2.2 LEGAL AWARENESS PROGRAMMES:
NALSA along with other Legal Services Institutions undertakes various awareness activities in order to make people aware of their rights and about the role, activities and functioning of the legal services institutions. A variety of tools are used in order to achieve this objective like conducting seminars, lectures; distribution of pamphlets; participation in Doordarshan programmes, broadcasting jingles, live phone-in programmes etc; floating mobile multi-utility vans for spreading awareness through public interactions; nukkad nataks; short documentaries; cultural programmes by school children on legal issues; various competitions like painting, essay writing, debates and declamation etc. on legal issues. Specific issues are taken up for legal literacy programmes varying from place to place depending upon the needs of a locality and its people. Internship programmes are organised for law students to promote the role and importance of legal services activities. Legal Aid Clinics are also being run in law colleges to further the attainment of objectives of Legal Services. Various legal literacy programmes are organized at school and college levels.

NUMBER OF LEGAL LITERACY AWARENESS CAMPS - 2012-2016

Duration Number of Legal Literacy Camps Held
April 2012 - March 2013 64,625
April 2013 - March 2014 60,904
April 2014 - March 2015 1,10,5801,10,400
April 2015 - March 2016 3,46,509
Total

2.3 THE ROLE OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN LEGAL SERVICES:
The Central Authority shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
(a) Lay down policies and principles for making legal services available under the provisions of this Act.
(b) Frame the most effective and economical schemes for the purpose of making legal services available under the provisions of this Act.
(c) Utilise the funds at its disposal and make appropriate allocations of funds to the State Authorities and District Authorities.
(d) Take necessary steps by way of social justice litigation with regard to consumer protection, environmental protection or any other matter of special concern to the weaker sections of the society and for this purpose, give training to social workers in legal skills.
(e) Organise legal aid camps, especially in rural areas, slums or labour colonies with the dual purpose of educating the weaker sections of the society as to their rights as well as encouraging the settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat.
(f) Encourage the settlement of disputes by way of negotiations, arbitration and conciliation.
(g) Undertake and promote research in the field of legal services with special reference to the need for such services among the poor.
(h) To do all things necessary for the purpose of ensuring commitment to the fundamental duties of citizens under Part IVA of the Constitution.
(i) Monitor and evaluate implementation of the legal aid programmes at periodic intervals and provide for independent evaluation of programmes and schemes implemented in whole or in part by funds provided under this Act.
(j) Provide grants-in-aid for specific schemes to various voluntary social service institutions and the State and District Authorities, from out of the amounts placed at its disposal for the implementation of legal services schemes under the provisions of this Act.
(k) Develop, in consultation with the Bar Council of India, programmes for clinical legal education and promote guidance and supervise the establishment and working of legal services clinics in universities, law colleges and other institutions.
(l) Take appropriate measures for spreading legal literacy and legal awareness amongst the people and, in particular, to educate weaker sections of the society about the rights, benefits and privileges guaranteed by social welfare legislations and other enactments as well as administrative programmes and measures.
(m) Make special efforts to enlist the support of voluntary social welfare institutions working at the grass-root level, particularly among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, women and rural and urban labour; and
(n) Coordinate and monitor the functioning of State Authorities, District Authorities, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committees, Taluk Legal Services Committees and voluntary social service institutions and other legal services organisations and given general directions for the proper implementation of the Legal Services programmes.

2.4 ROLE OF STATE AUTHORITY IN LEGAL SERVICES:
(1) It shall be the duty of the State Authority to give effect to the policy and directions of the Central Authority.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the functions referred to in sub-section (1), the State Authority shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
(a) Give legal service to persons who satisfy the criteria laid down under this Act.
(b) Conduct Lok Adalats, including Lok Adalats for High Court cases.
(c) Undertake preventive and strategic legal aid programmes; and
(d) Perform such other functions as the State Authority may, in consultation with the Central Authority, fix by regulations.

2.5 ROLE OF DISTRICT AUTHORITY IN LEGAL SERVICES:
(1) It shall be the duty of every District Authority to perform such of the functions of the State Authority in the District as may be delegated to it from time to time by the State Authority.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the functions referred to in sub-section (1) the District Authority may perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
(a) Co-ordinate the activities of the Taluk Legal Services Committee and other legal services in the District.
(b) Organise Lok Adalats within the Districts; and
(c) Perform such other functions as the State Authority may fix by regulations.

2.6 ROLE OF TALUKA IN LEGAL SERVICES:
The Taluk Legal Services Committee may perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
(a) Co-ordinate the activities of legal services in the taluk.
(b) Organise Lok Adalats within the taluk and
(c) Perform such other functions as the District Authority may assign to it.

2.7 ROLE OF SUPREME COURT LEGAL SERVICE COMMITTEE:
(1) The Central Authority shall constitute a Committee to be called the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the Central Authority.
(2) The Committee shall consist of -
(a) A sitting judge of the Supreme Court who shall be the Chairman; and
(b) Such number of other members possessing such experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the Central Government to be nominated by the Chief Justice of India.
(3) The Chief Justice of India shall appoint a person to be the Secretary to the Committee, possessing such experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
(4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of the Members and Secretary of the Committee shall be such as may be determined by regulations made by the Central Authority.
(5) The Committee may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribed by the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, for the efficient discharge of its functions.
(6) The officers and other employees of the Committee shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

PAY SCALES UNDER RULES 5 & 6
SUPREME COURT LEGAL SERVICE COMMITTEE

Sr.no. Designation Scale of pay No. of posts
I Officers
1. Secretary Rs.14300-18300 1
2. Legal Service Counsel-cum-Consultant Rs.12000-16500 1
3. Superintendent Rs.6500-10500 1
Total 3
II Establishment
1. Assistant Rs.5500-9000 2
2. Upper Division Clerk Rs.4000-6000 2
3. Upper Division Clerk-cum-Accounts Rs.4000-6000 1
4. Junior Stenographer Rs.4000-6000 1
5. Lower Division Clerk Rs.3050-4590 4
6. Daftry Rs.2610-3540 1
7. Peon Rs.2550-3200 3
8. Farash Rs.2550-3200 1
Total 15
Grand Total of Officers and Staff 18

 



2.8 HIGH COURT LEGAL SERVICE COMMITTEE:
(1) The State Authority shall constitute a Committee to be called the High Court Legal Services Committee for every High Court, for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the State Authority.
(2) The Committee shall consist of:
(a) A sitting Judge of the High Court who shall be the Chairman; and
(b) Such number of other Members possessing such experience and qualifications as may be determined by regulations made by the State Authority, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of the High Court.
(3) The Chief Justice of the High Court shall appoint a Secretary to the Committee possessing such experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the State Government.
(4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of the Members and Secretary of the Committee shall be such as may be determined by the regulations, made by the State Authority.
(5) The Committee may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court for the efficient discharge of its functions.
(6) The officers and other employees of the Committee shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

2.9 DISTRICT LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITIES:
(1) The State Government shall in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, constitute a body to be called the District Legal Services Authority for every District in the State to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on, or assigned to the District Authority under this Act.

(2) A District Authority shall consist of:
(a) The District Judge who shall be its Chairman; and
(b) Such number of other Members, possessing such experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the State Government, to be nominated by that Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(3) The State Authority shall, in consultation with the Chairman of the District Authority appoint a person belonging to the State Judicial Service not lower in rank than that of a Subordinate Judge or Civil Judge posted at the seat of the District Judiciary as Secretary of the District Authority to exercise such powers and perform such duties under the Chairman of that Committee as maybe assigned to him by such Chairman.

(4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of Members and Secretary of the District Authority shall be such as may be determined by regulations made by the State Authority in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(5) The District Authority may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court for the efficient discharge of its functions.

(6) The officers and other employees of the District Authority shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(7) The administrative expenses of every District Authority, including the salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the Secretary, officers and other employees of the District Authority shall be defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of the State.

(8) All orders and decisions of the District Authority shall be authenticated by the Secretary or by any other officer of the District Authority duly authorised by the Chairman of that Authority.

(9) No Act or proceeding of a District Authority shall be invalid merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the District Authority.

2.10 TALUKA LEGAL SERVICE COMMITTEE:
(1) The State Authority may constitute a Committee, to be called the Taluk Legal Services Committee, for each Taluk or Mandal or for group of Taluks or Mandals.

(2) The Committee shall consist of -
(a) The Senior Civil Judge operating within the jurisdiction of the Committee who shall be the ex-officio Chairman and
(b) Such number of other Members, possessing such experience and qualifications, as may be prescribed by the State Government, to be nominated by that Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(3) The committee may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court for the efficient discharge of its functions.

(4) The officers and other employees of the Committee shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(5) The administrative expenses of the Committee shall be defrayed out of the District Legal Aid Fund by the District Authority.

2.11 ROLE OF LAW SCHOOLS IN LEGAL SERVICES:
The principle of rule of law and the philosophy of the Indian constitution in what is described as its basic structure mandates that every citizen should have reasonable access to justice. Yet this constitutional guarantee is a luxury for many facing problems of poverty, economic deprivation and want of education. A project therefore, was inaugurated to determine and propose the role that law schools could play in mitigating the prevailing injustices, official apathy and raising the competence bar of the budding professionals and also upgrading the general level of legal awareness of the community.

The legal profession is expected to play a dynamic role in the administration of justice. Law Schools being the recruiting grounds for the legal profession, there is a need to inject new spirit into the content of legal education to make lawyers and legal professionals socially relevant and professionally competent to secure the constitutional mandate of access to justice.

However, the question of improving legal education by involving law students in the delivery of legal services, particularly to indigent and weaker sections in society, did not occur to or find favour with educational reformers for a long time. Similar failure appears to have been shown by the Legal Aid Authorities, who failed to recognize the potential of using legal educational institutions and students to reach the benefits of law to the poor, thereby aiding social justice and progress.

With the Bar Council of India (BCI) in 1997 making Legal Aid a compulsory practical paper to be taught in the Law Colleges all over India, Legal Aid to the poor got a new lease of life.
For example: There is a legal aid clinic in AJEENKYA DY PATIL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW in Pune which helps to the poor people for legal problems at free of cost and the students of the university are adopted in villages in small group in the guidance of the professors and lecturers. Student also provide legal awareness camps among the village people. Senior students who have enrolled as lawyers also solve problems in district courts at free of cost. Even though more than a decade has passed since the formal introduction of Legal Aid in Law School curricula in India, there is no comprehensive study examining the functioning of Law School based Legal Aid in India.

2.12 OBSTACLE TO LEGAL AID CLINICS IN LAW SCHOOLS:
1. Lack of financial support.
2. Restriction on faculty to practice.
3. Absence of academic credit for students.
4. Legal aid not being part of the work load for faculty.
5. Lack of involvement of the bar.
6. Lack of infrastructural facilities.
7. Lack of involvement of judiciary.
8. Restriction on students.
9. Lack of trained faculty.

Above are indeed the areas in which the Government of India and other regulatory authorities like the Bar council of India, State governments and the affiliating university needs to focus their attention in order to ensure that not only that the quality of legal education maintained but also the nation's concern of access to justice is fulfilled.

OBJECTIVE NO.3
3.1 REGULAR LOK ADALAT:
Types of regular Lok adalat:

Continuous Lok adalat:
A Lok Adalat bench sits continuously for a set number of days to facilitate settlements by deferring unsettled matters to the next date and encouraging parties to reflect on the terms of the mutually accepted settlement before actual settlement.

Daily Lok adalat:
This type of Lok Adalat is organised on daily basis.

Mobile Lok adalat:
These are organised by taking the Lok Adalat set up in a Multi-utility van to different areas for resolving petty cases and also spreading legal awareness in the area.

Mega Lok adalat:
This is organised in the State on a single day in all courts of the State.

MACT CASES SETTLED & COMPENSATION PAID IN MACT CASES
FROM APRIL 2015 TO MARCH 2016

No. of Lok Adalats Held No. of MACT Cases Settled No. of Cases Settled (including MACT Cases) Compensation Paid in MACT Cases (in Rs.)
1,67,586 1,28,217 1,52,99,214 27,15,53,48,516

3.2 NATIONAL LOK ADALAT:
National Level Lok Adalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day Lok Adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. From February 2015, National Lok Adalats are being held on a specific subject matter every month.

TOTAL DISPOSAL IN NATIONAL LOK ADALAT
FROM APRIL 2015 TO AUGUST 2016

Dated Subject Matter No. of Cases Taken up No. of Cases Disposed Total Settlement Amount (In Rs.)
11.04.2015 Labour and Family Matters 9,28,349 5,31,872 3,66,04,33,969
09.05.2015 &
13.06.2015
MACT and Insurance Claims 4,71,928
 
3,18,724 951,55,85,479
11.07.2015 Electricity/Water/Telephone/Public Utility Disputes 14,97,780 8,68,254 553,60,26,639
08.08.2015 Banking Matters and Matters u/s 138 NI Act 12,01,893 3,53,167 1499,42,64,948
12.09.2015 Compoundable Criminal Matters 8,97,462 5,71,741 41,61,20,50,250
10.10.2015 Traffic/Petty Matters/Municipal Matters 21,24,529 16,36,610 3,47,82,89,137
12.12.2015 All Matters (General) 1,73,43,148 1,35,69,441 69,97,68,40,467
13.02.2016 Banking Matters &Matters u/s 138 NI Act 13,52,752 3,63,565 12,67,42,34,151
12.03.2016 Civil and Revenue Matters 18,49,342 14,25,819 6,83,37,85,929
09.04.2016 Labour and Family matters 12,65,321 8,01,552 4,58,70,29,808
14.05.2016 MACT & Insurance Claims 1,52,090 1,11,828 1,85,14,90,278
11.06.2016 Banking Matters &Matters u/s 138 NI Act 2,55,302 1,10,673 4,72,59,04,285
09.07.2016 Electricity/ Water/ Telephone and Public Utility Dispute etc. 11,87,099 6,22,062 2,82,45,14,077
13.08.2016 Banking Matters &Matters u/s 138 NI Act 13,11,182 3,71,166 10,28,35,08,951
Total 3,18,38,177 2,16,56,474 1,92,55,39,58,368

3.3 PERMANENT LOK ADALAT:
The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat, organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on all the parties. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties. The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements, speedy settlement of dispute etc.

DISPOSAL IN PERMANENT LOK ADALATS
FROM APRIL 2015 TO MARCH 2016

No. of PLAs established No.  of PLAs functioning (as on 31.01.2016) No. of sittings No. of cases disposed of Total settlement amount   Rs.
292 239 17,117 1,03,559 23,87,00,291

OBJECTIVE NO.4:

4.1 OBSTACLE TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE:
At present the legal movement in India is unorganised and diffused there is a lack of co-ordination in it the ideal of equal access and availability of legal justice has reached almost breakdown point. There is a wide gap between goals set and met one law firm recently commented in a survey “we no longer do PRO BONO work, we are too busy trying to survive” lawyers don’t engage themselves in pro bono activities because of various reasons there is a lack of financial resources. The legal education imported earlier did not provide social education therefore they do not understand or accept their obligation to do so, also the members of the profession do not regularly do not regularly come in to contact with the members of the community. Illiteracy is also a major problem to legal aid. Now it is common knowledge that 70% of the people living in rural areas are illiterate and even more then that are not aware of the rights conferred upon them by law absence of legal awareness which leads to exploitation and deprivation of rights and benefits of the poor.

4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS:
The legal aid movement has to go to the grass root level and help to discover, identify and solve the problems and difficulties of poor. The participation not only of the practicing lawyers but also of the courts, the law teachers, senior law students, trained social workers public at is also needed. It should also include activities like spreading legal awareness and educating people on their basic rights with the help of NGO’s. Promote more informal paralegal services in places where basic access to justice opportunities and infrastructures are absent. Promote a pro bono service culture. Offer comparative models of legal aid to government in reforming the movement. Support the development of demonstration legal aid/public defender offices in co-operation with government. Publicity measures like hoardings, production of short films regarding legal aid, skits in CD form and distribute copies to people. Printing of publicity materials like posters, pamphlets, booklets and distributing the required quantity of such material to all state legal service authorities in requisite number, advertisement in newspaper and television.

Legal Aid Clinics, unlike other initiatives, require modest financial investment to start with. They can be quickly assimilated into most Law Colleges as there is a mandatory requirement of BCI that each College shall have one Clinic in the College. A venture of this sort in bringing about access to justice requires the Law Colleges as well as the regulatory authorities including the Government of India, need to reframe and adopt a system of collaborative venture and sharing of responsibilities. The lawyers appointed by the state legal services to provide legal aid should be paid adequately by the government. This will encourage lawyers and it would also improve the quality of legal aid provided. The high court can set up a pool of lawyers specifically for providing legal aid and pay them monthly salary as given to a judicial officer. It can hold examinations and interview for selection of those lawyers. This will ensure that only well qualified lawyers selected in the pool. Thus, the lawyers won’t have to worry in providing legal aids as they are paid a monthly income by the states but it will also help in improving the quality. The authorities could provide internships to students studying law or humanities and assign them tasks regarding legal awareness. Alternative dispute resolution should be encouraged, the inter-disciplinary work of various legal authorities should be monitored carefully thus, maintain coherence.

4.3 CONCLUSION:
Legal aid means free legal service for the promotion of the welfare of the people. In India many efforts have been made in this direction for example: Introduction of Lok adalat. The lawyers who support poor peoples for legal proceedings should get more payments and incentives from government so that there would be no corruption and it should be mandatory in India for every senior lawyer to take atleast two cases as free of cost each year so that it would be for the welfare of society and our country people would even get awareness of their basic rights.

End-Notes
# http://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1065&context=globe. Visited at (7.54pm) date: 30/01/2017 Saturday
# Section 12 of legal service authority act (1987) page no.82 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Rule in (1995) of national legal service authority page no.171 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Rules in (2000) 0f supreme court legal services committee page no.205 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/visited at (1:00am)
# Article 39A page no. 1418 of Indian constitutional law by M.P Jain 7thedition published by LexisNexis.
# The Constitutional duty to provide legal aid arises from the time the accused is produced before the Magistrate for the first time and continues whenever he is produced for remand. (Khatri II vs. State of Bihar, (1981) 1SCC (Cri) 228: 1981 Cri. LJ 470.
# By on field research of Mrs Saumya Sharma(B.B.A LL.B LL.M) From Abhay Nevagi and Associates
# By on field research of Mrs Saumya Sharma(B.B.A LL.B LL.M) From Abhay Nevagi and Associates
# By on field research of Mrs Saumya Sharma(B.B.A LL.B LL.M) From Abhay Nevagi and Associates
# http://nalsa.gov.in/Visited at (11.34 am) date: 09/02/2017 Thursday
# Section 4 of legal service authority act (1987) page no.67-69 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 7 of legal service authority act (1987) page no.76-77 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 10 of legal service authority act (1987) page no.80 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 11B of legal service authority act (1987) page no.82 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 3A of legal service authority act (1987) page no.66-67 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# http://nalsa.gov.in/visited at (3.00 pm) date: 09/02/2017 Thursday
# Section 8A of legal service authority act (1987) page no.78-79 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 9 of legal service authority act (1987) page no.79 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Section 11A of legal service authority act (1987) page no.81 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# Survey of student from shankarrao chavan law college pune
# http://nalsa.gov.in/ visited at (2.10 pm) date: 01/02/2017 Monday
# http://nalsa.gov.in/visited at (5.10 pm) date: 09/02/2017 Thursday
# http://nalsa.gov.in/visited at (8.39 pm) date: 10/02/2017 Friday
# Section 22B page no.152 of book law relating to lok adalats and legal aid by S.K. Sarkar. Publishing company (orient)
# http://nalsa.gov.in/visited at (11.00 pm) date: 10/02/2017 Friday

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