The Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 constituted under Article 39A of the Indian Constitution, provides free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society including beneficiaries covered under Section 12 of the Act to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunities. For this purpose, the legal services institutions have been setup from the Taluk Court level to the Supreme Court. 9.75 lakhs persons have been provided with free legal services during April, 2022 to January, 2023 and more than 5.53 crore cases (pending in courts and disputes at pre-litigation stage) have been settled through Lok Adalats April, 2022 to February, 2023.A sum of Rs.200 crores in the Budget Estimates during the financial year 2023-24 has been allocated to NALSA.
In addition, Department of Justice initiated a scheme titled Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA) to provide for easy, accessible and affordable delivery of legal services. Its key initiatives include Tele-Law: Reaching the Unreached that aims to strengthen pre-litigation advice and consultation to all citizens at the Gram Panchayat level and Nyaya Bandhu (Pro Bono Legal Services) that aims to enable a pan India Pro Bono dispensation framework for delivery of legal services. Tele-Law seeks to connect the beneficiary with the Lawyer via tele/ conferencing facilities available at the Common Service Centers and through Tele-Law Citizens Mobile Application. As on 28th February, 2023, Tele-Law services is available across 1 lakh Gram Panchayats in 755 districts across 36 States and UTs and has rendered legal advice to 33,54,545 beneficiaries, which includes women, children,Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe etc. The Nyaya Bandhu platform enables seamless connect on the Nyaya Bandhu Application (available on Android/ iOS) between the interested Pro Bono Advocates and registered beneficiaries entitled for free legal aid under section 12 of Legal Services Authorities Act,1987. As on 28th February, 2023, there are 5954 Pro Bono advocates and 69 law schools have constituted Pro Bono Clubs to facilitate the culture of Pro bono among law students. Panel Lawyers of NALSA has been onboarded to provide Tele-Law Services and to provide Pro Bono Legal services at the district level. A total budget of Rs 40 Crore in the Budget Estimates for the Financial Year 2023-2024 has been allocated under DISHA.
The Ministry of Finance makes the final allocations under BE/RE. The allocation for Department of Justice has increased from 33.05% in the FY 2022-2023 to 34.16% in the FY 2023-2024.Details of the BE/RE for the Financial Year 2022 -2023 and 2023 -2024 is placed at Annexure A.
ANNEXURE- ‘A’
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Details of allocation made to Department of Justice and Ministry of Law and Justice
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Statement containing the information of B.E allocation year-wise.
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B.E-2022-2023
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%
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B.E 2023-2024
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%
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Department of Justice
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1121.80
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33.05
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1358.31
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34.16
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Total Ministry of Law and Justice
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3393.48
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3875.43
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This information was given by the Union Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
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SS/RKM