Lok Sabha Question No. 335 (STARRED), answered on 2017-08-09
Subject: Common Service Centres
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: POONAM  MAHAJAN, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 335.

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 9 th AUGUST, 2017.

## Common Service Centres

## 335. SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN: PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  Government has launched an initiative to use Information Technology in order to streamline legal aid in rural areas of the country and if so, the details thereof including plans, if any, to attract legal aid clinics, lawyers and NGOs towards  using  Common  Service  Centres  (CSCs)  to  provide  assistance  to  rural citizens;
- (b)  whether the  Government plans to provide infrastructure and hardware such as internet  connections,  video cameras,  etc.  to  support  tele-conferencing  from  CSCs and reduce financial burden on rural citizens and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government will also utilise the CSCs and online platform to provide court lawyers for those persons in rural areas who may be embroiled in court cases and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the number of States linked with CSCs during the first phase of legal assistance to common people along with the time by which the remaining States are likely to be linked with such CSCs; and
- (e) the details of CSCs functioning in rural areas of the country, State-wise, and the response of rural people towards these CSCs along with the impact of these centres on lower judiciary?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE & ELELCTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 335 DUE FOR ANSWER ON AUGUST 9th, 2017

The Government has launched a 'Tele Law' scheme on pilot basis, in select districts of  UP,  Bihar,  North  East  and  Jammu  and  Kashmir.  The  aim  is to  enable greater  access  to legal advice especially to people living in villages through the use of information technology. Poor  and  marginalised  persons  like  SC/ST,  women,  senior  citizens,  victims  of  natural calamities,  industrial  workers,  persons  with  disabilities,  persons  with  low  incomes  etc.  as mentioned in section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act 1987 are eligible for legal advice under the scheme. The scheme is operationalized through the Ministry of Electronics & IT's Common Services Centres (CSCs), with special  focus  on  those located  at  gram  panchayat level. Lawyers have been engaged by the State Legal Services Authorities and the CSCs to provide legal advice to people through existing video conferencing facilities available at the CSCs.  Para  Legal  Volunteers  and  Village  Level  Entrepreneurs  (VLEs)  have  been  trained  to efficiently implement the scheme. In the first phase 500 CSCs each in UP and Bihar and 800 CSCs  in  eight  states  of  North  East  and  Jammu  and  Kashmir  have  been  selected  for implementing this scheme as a pilot scheme. All these CSCs are adequately equipped with facilities like infrastructure and hardware such as internet connections, video cameras etc. to support teleconferencing and video conferencing.  The details of State-wise CSCs is given at Annexure-I. The Tele Law scheme is meant to supplement the existing legal aid services provided by Legal Services Authorities present at various levels across the Country who provide panel lawyers to eligible litigants free of cost. Since the scheme is launched in mid-April, 2017, as a pilot scheme, it is premature to expand in other States. As far as inclusion of legal aid clinics, NGOs and lawyers are concerned, as stated above in the scheme of things, no modification in the scheme is required as of now. It  is  too  early  to

conduct  a  study  by  the  Ministry  to  measure  the  impact  as  the scheme has just been launched. However, the response of the rural people to the scheme is found very encouraging as nearly 1100 people have registered under the scheme for legal advice.  The State-wise break-up is given at Annexure-II.

ANNEXURE -I Total No. of CSCs Functional at Gram Panchayat  level as on 30.07.2017

|   S. No. | State             |   No. of CSCs |
|----------|-------------------|---------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    |          3119 |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh |            44 |
|        3 | Assam             |          1559 |
|        4 | Bihar             |         11960 |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh      |          7940 |
|        6 | Goa               |            30 |
|        7 | Gujarat           |         13885 |
|        8 | Haryana           |          4923 |
|        9 | Himachal Pradesh  |          1952 |
|       10 | Jammu & Kashmir   |           900 |
|       11 | Jharkhand         |          5295 |
|       12 | Karnataka         |          2333 |
|       13 | Kerala            |          1111 |
|       14 | Madhya Pradesh    |         11873 |
|       15 | Maharashtra       |         17788 |
|       16 | Manipur           |           207 |
|       17 | Meghalaya         |            74 |
|       18 | Mizoram           |           176 |
|       19 | Nagaland          |           138 |
|       20 | Odisha            |          5599 |
|       21 | Punjab            |          3464 |
|       22 | Rajasthan         |         14878 |
|       23 | Sikkim            |            23 |
|       24 | Tamil Nadu        |          4646 |

| S. No.   | State                | No. of CSCs   |
|----------|----------------------|---------------|
| 25       | Telangana            | 2855          |
| 26       | Tripura              | 322           |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh        | 35804         |
| 28       | Uttarakhand          | 3853          |
| 29       | West Bengal          | 6330          |
|          | State Total          | 163081        |
|          | Union Territory      |               |
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar    | 20            |
| 2        | Chandigarh           | 21            |
| 3        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 9             |
| 4        | Daman and Diu        | 1             |
| 5        | Delhi                | 0             |
| 6        | Lakshadweep          | 2             |
| 7        | Puducherry           | 92            |
|          | UT Total             | 145           |
|          | GRAND TOTAL          | 163226        |

STATE-WISE CASES REGISTERED IN TELE LAW PORTAL SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE

| Sr No.   | Name of State   |   No. of cases registered |
|----------|-----------------|---------------------------|
| 1        | Assam           |                       179 |
| 2        | Bihar           |                        14 |
| 3        | J&K             |                       801 |
| 4        | Manipur         |                        15 |
| 5        | Meghalaya       |                         1 |
| 6        | Mizoram         |                         2 |
| 7        | Nagaland        |                         3 |
| 8        | Sikkim          |                         1 |
| 9        | Tripura         |                         1 |
| 10       | UP              |                        83 |
|          | Total           |                      1100 |