Aiming at extension of legal aid to marginalised, poor and vulnerable communities, the law ministry on Sunday launched a new legal aid program- ‘Tele-Law’ covering nearly 500 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the program has now been launched as a pilot project to check the attractions among the people before launching it nationally.
The government is also planning to increase the numbers of centres by the next month to cover as many as 1,800 panchayats across 10 states, reported Hindustan Times.
The operations under the ‘Tele-Law’ scheme will be checked and analysed by both the law and IT ministries, each of which is headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad.
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“Tele-Law will fulfil our commitment to ensure access to justice and empowerment of the poor. The Common Services Centres and Paralegal Volunteers will offer easy legal advice to litigants in rural India, making them digitally and financially inclusive, Hindustan Times quoted Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The lawyers who are being selected to be in the legal team are mostly selected by the National Legal Services Authority, a central government body. Added to this the project is also planning to recruit female volunteers from the village areas.
“Tele Law” will also connect law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and NGOs working on legal aid and the team will be placed in the capitals from where they will communicate with the villagers through video calls reported Hindustan Times.
