Lok Sabha Question No. 1420 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: World Legal Service Day
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Prataprao  Jadhav, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Sudheer Gupta, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Subrata Pathak, Ganesan Selvam, Sandhya Ray, Dhanush M Kumar, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Vijay Kumar Dubey, Rebati Tripura

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ******

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1420

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 27 th  NOVEMBER, 2019

World Legal Service Day

## 1420.   SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV :

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK:

SHRI SUBRAT PATHAK:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

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

- (a)  whether the Government observed World Legal Service Day, 2019 in the country recently;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  taken  to  achieve  the  aims  and objectives  of  the  event  along  with  the  details  of  programmes  organized  by  the Government to mark this occasion;
- (c)    whether the Government has made any efforts for providing legal aid to the poor and the people in urban and rural areas of the country and if so, the details of the legal  aid  clinics/legal  service  centres  functioning  in  different  parts  of  the  country including Tamil Nadu and Tripura;
- (d)  the norms and guidelines of the legal assistance system for providing free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society and steps taken to open new legal aid clinics especially in Tamil Nadu;
- (e) whether the Government has any mechanism to monitor and evaluate implementation of legal aid programme for the poor and if so, the details thereof;
- (f)   the funds allocated and spent for legal aid services in the last three years and the current  year  and  the  number  of  beneficiaries  who  received  the  help  from  the Government; and
- (g)  whether the Government is aware of the large number of persons lodged in various prisons in the country due to lack of access to legal aid and if so, the details thereof and the remedial steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS  &  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) Yes, Sir. (b)  9 th November,  2019  was  observed  as  National  Legal  Service  Day  by  all  legal services institutions throughout the country to commemorate the commencement of the Legal  Services  Authorities  Act.  The  National  Legal  Services  Authority  (NALSA)  also celebrated the Legal Service Day alongwith Commendation Ceremony of outstanding PLVs,  Panel  Lawyers,  DLSAs  and  SLSAs.  The  outstanding  PLVs,  Panel  Lawyers, DLSAs selected from the 36 SLSAs attended the said programme in New Delhi on 9 th November, 2019. (c)  The  legal  services  institutions  at  all  levels  constituted  under  the  Legal  Services Authorities Act, 1987 provide free legal services to the poor and marginalized sections of the society who are eligible to receive legal aid under Section 12 of the above Act. State-wise details of Legal Service Clinics, including that in Tamil Nadu and Tripura, are at Annexure A. (d)  The  criteria/norms  for  providing  free  legal  services  to  the  poor  and  marginalized person of the society has been specified in Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. (e)  The Monitoring and Mentoring Committees have been established at all levels for close monitoring of the court based legal services rendered. In addition, All India Meets of  State  Legal  Services  Authorities  and  the  Regional  Meets  of  State  Legal  Services Authorities which are convened from time to time also evaluate the progress of the legal aid programmes implemented in the country. The Central Authority chaired by Hon'ble Chief  Justice  of  India  also  reviews  the  performance  of  the  legal  services  institutions from time to time.
- (f)  The  details  of  funds  allocated  to  NALSA,  funds  utilized  by  NALSA  and  number  of persons benefitted during the last three years and the current year are as under:

(Rs. In Crore)

| Year                      |   Funds released by Government | Funds utilized by NALSA   | Number of persons benefitted through legal services   |
|---------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 2016-17                   |                          63.37 | 113.03*                   | 5,56,689                                              |
| 2017-18                   |                         100    | 116.43*                   | 8,22,856                                              |
| 2018-19                   |                         150    | 155.55*                   | 14,75,577                                             |
| 2019-20 (till 20.11.2019) |                         140    | 132.66                    | 4,10,989                                              |

(g) As per latest published data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for the year 2017,  as  against  the  total  capacity  of  3,91,574  prisoners,  4,50,696  prisoners  were lodged in Jails in the country showing an occupancy rate of 115.1%.

To address the issue of overcrowding in prison, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued various advisories to States & UTs on steps to be taken by them for providing free legal aid to undertrials and for setting up Lok Adalats / Special courts in prisons for expediting the review of cases of undertrials. MHA has also circulated the Model Prison Manual 2016 to all States & UTs, which has a chapter on 'Legal Aid' which provides for facilities which may be provided to undertrials viz. legal defence, interview with lawyers, signing of Vakalatnama, application to Courts for legal aid at Government cost etc.

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) provides free legal service to all under trial prisoners through its legal service clinics running in jails all over India. NALSA has prepared guidelines in the form of 'Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Undertrial Trial Review Committees'. The SOP has been circulated by MHA to all States & UTs on 18.02.2019.

## Annexure as referred to in reply to Part (a)&(b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1420 for answerding on 27.11.2019 regarding World Legal Service Day

## Number of Legal Service Clinics in the country (as on 30.06.2019)

| S. No.   | SLSAs             | Existing No. of Legal Services Clinics (excluding Jail Clinics)   | Existing No. of Legal Services Clinics as on 30.6.2019 in Jails   |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh    | 846                                                               | 84                                                                |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh | 17                                                                | 5                                                                 |
| 3.       | Assam             | 231                                                               | 27                                                                |
| 4.       | Bihar             | 557                                                               | 57                                                                |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh      | 464                                                               | 49                                                                |
| 6.       | Goa               | 65                                                                | 1                                                                 |
| 7.       | Gujarat           | 616                                                               | 49                                                                |
| 8.       | Haryana           | 500                                                               | 19                                                                |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh  | 250                                                               | 12                                                                |
| 10.      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 255                                                               | 15                                                                |
| 11.      | Jharkhand         | 750                                                               | 28                                                                |
| 12.      | Karnataka         | 849                                                               | 71                                                                |
| 13.      | Kerala            | 1,165                                                             | 53                                                                |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh    | 1265                                                              | 105                                                               |
| 15.      | Maharashtra       | 837                                                               | 54                                                                |
| 16.      | Manipur           | 129                                                               | 2                                                                 |
| 17.      | Meghalaya         | 245                                                               | 5                                                                 |
| 18.      | Mizoram           | 136                                                               | 9                                                                 |
| 19.      | Nagaland          | 121                                                               | 11                                                                |
| 20.      | Odisha            | 298                                                               | 86                                                                |
| 21.      | Punjab            | 598                                                               | 24                                                                |
| 22.      | Rajasthan         | 8526                                                              | 97                                                                |
| 23.      | Sikkim            | 30                                                                | 02 (State Central Prison, Rongyek& District Prison, Boomtar)      |
| 24.      | Telangana         | 384                                                               | 36                                                                |
| 25.      | Tamil Nadu        | 527                                                               | 128                                                               |
| 26.      | Tripura           | 482                                                               | 13                                                                |
| 27.      | Uttar Pradesh     | 602                                                               | 97                                                                |
| 28.      | Uttarakhand       | 267                                                               | 14                                                                |
| 29.      | West Bengal       | 1146                                                              | 133                                                               |
| 30.      | A&N Islands       | 25                                                                | 25                                                                |
| 31.      | Chandigarh UT     | 23                                                                | 01                                                                |
| 32.      | D&N Haveli UT     | 21                                                                | 1                                                                 |
| 33.      | Daman &Diu        | 9                                                                 | 1                                                                 |
| 34.      | Delhi             | 52                                                                | 17                                                                |
| 35.      | Lakshadweep       | Nil                                                               | NIL                                                               |
| 36.      | Puducherry        | 9                                                                 | 4                                                                 |
|          | Total             |                                                                   | 1335                                                              |
|          |                   | 22,297                                                            |                                                                   |