Itanagar, Jun 7: Supreme Court Judge cum Executive Chairman, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) Justice N. V. Ramana on June 4 last released the ‘Handbook of Formats: Ensuring Effective Legal Services’ during a webinar which was participated by the Executive Chairpersons of various State Legal Services Authorities, Chairpersons of High Court Legal Services Committees, Member Secretaries of all State Legal Services Authorities and Chairpersons & Secretaries of District Legal Services.
Member Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) Jaweplu Chai attended the webinar along with Member Secretary NALSA Ashok Kumar Jain, its Former Member Secretary Alok Agarwal and Director Sunil Chauhan.
Justice Ramana opined that the handbook is the first crucial step towards standardizing and bringing uniformity in the use of formats which will act as an effective tool for management of human resources and prove as a small but significant step in realizing justice for all. Emphasising on the need to provide doorstep remedies during the lockdown, he expressed concern over the spike in cases of domestic violence and child abuse and massive reverse migration. “During such times, when victims cannot reach us, it is imperative for us to reach them. Acknowledging the urgency of the situation we have established One Stop Centres (OSCs) and persistent efforts have been taken to provide legal assistance through teleservices of female advocates in every district. In other matters, petitions have been filed under Domestic Violence Act,” Justice Ramana said. He also underlined the active role played by the Legal Services Authorities across the country to ensure decongestion of prisons during the pandemic. Informing that as per directions of the Supreme Court, SLSAs have actively assisted the High Powered Committee to identify and complete necessary formalities for release of prisoners during the pandemic, he added that as many as 58,797 under-trial prisoners and 20,972 convicts on parole etc. have been released with assistance from the Legal Services Institutions and legal representation has been provided to 9,558 persons at the remand stage. Legal aid and assistance have been provided in 1,559 domestic violence cases to women, 16,391 convicts, 1882 labourers and 310 tenants amongst others and the Toll Free National Legal Helpline 15100 continues to remain fully functional.

NALSA Member Secretary Ashok Kumar Jain stated that the handbook will be a guide for panel lawyers and Para Legal Volunteers on their role in future days. A brief overview of the handbook was provided by Programme Head, Prison Reforms at Commonwealth Human Right Initiative (CHRI) Madhurima Dhanuka.
The handbook, prepared in collaboration with CHRI is an attempt to improve the quality of legal services institutions across the country. It contains formats that will enhance data collection, enabling NALSA to analyse trends and patterns and identification of issues at the micro level.
Meanwhile, Member Secretary, APSLSA Jaweplu Chai participated in a video conference from the NIC, DC Complex in capital on June 5 which was organised by the Department of Justice (DoJ), Delhi on implementation and review of the progress of ‘Access to Justice North East and Jammu & Kashmir (A2J NEJK)’ Project under Ministry of Law and Justice, GoI.
Joint Secretary N.K. Gayagi and Director Shailesh Shrivasatava of the Dept. of Justice (A2J) along with their Project Management Team (PMT) were present as review members.
As an implementing agency, APSLSA has taken up two projects with support from the Dept. of Justice under A2J NE&JK Project namely Establishment of Legal Aid Clinics and Training of Gaon Buras and Buris of Arunachal Pradesh. Since commencement of the project, APSLSA has opened 10 Legal Aid Clinics in the districts of Pangin, Changlang, Namsai, Longding, Hawai, Koloriang, Likabali, Raga, Palin and Anini and had trained 484 GBs from 22 districts of the state. Chai shared the progress of the project, its success stories, challenges and upcoming action plans. 
Along with APSLSA, representatives of Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) present at the meeting shared the progress of their project on 'Publication of IEC Materials on Legal Issues in Arunachal Pradesh'.
Heads and representatives of the stakeholders of the A2J NEJK Project from Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir also participated in the video conference. APSLSA PRs 

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List