Lok Sabha Question No. 1400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Gram Nyayalayas
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Sudheer Gupta, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Bidyut Baran Mahato

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1400

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021

## Gram Nyayalayas

## 1400. SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

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

- (a)    whether  the  Government  has  set  up  Gram  Nyayalayas  across  the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (b)    whether  the  villages  are  facing  difficulties  in  getting  justice  from subordinate/High courts as they are far away from their place of residence;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along  with  the steps  taken  by  the Government to set up more Gram Nyayalayas in villages;
- (d)  whether the Government proposes to provide additional funds to the States to set up these Nyayalayas;
- (e)   if so, the details of the States which have sought more funds; and
- (f)    the  other  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide speedy justice in rural areas?

## A N S W E R

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

(a)  to (f) : In terms of Section 3 (1) of the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, the

State Governments are responsible for establishing Gram Nyayalayas in consultation with the respective High Courts.  Presently only 12 States have established Gram Nyayalayas. The Central Government has been requesting States  and  High  Courts  for  establishment  of  Gram  Nyayalayas  in  the respective  States. As  per  the  information  made    available  by    the  various State  Governments / High Courts there are 402 Gram Nyayalayas notified, out of which 225 are operational. The State-wise details are given as follows:

| State          |   Gram Nyayalayas Notified |   Gram Nyayalayas Functional |
|----------------|----------------------------|------------------------------|
| Madhya Pradesh |                         89 |                           89 |
| Rajasthan      |                         45 |                           45 |
| Karnataka      |                          2 |                            2 |
| Odisha         |                         22 |                           16 |
| Maharashtra    |                         39 |                           24 |
| Jharkhand      |                          6 |                            1 |
| Goa            |                          2 |                            0 |
| Punjab         |                          9 |                            2 |
| Haryana        |                          3 |                            2 |
| Uttar Pradesh  |                        113 |                           14 |
| Kerala         |                         30 |                           30 |
| Andhra Pradesh |                         42 |                            0 |
| Total          |                        402 |                          225 |

The  Gram  Nyayalayas  Act,  2008  has  been  enacted  vide  notification dated  7 th January,  2009  for  establishment  of  Gram  Nyayalayas  at  the  grass roots  level  for  the  purposes  of  providing  access  to  justice  to  the  citizens  at their  doorsteps.  The  Gram  Nyayalayas  Act  provides  for  establishment  of Gram  Nyayalayas  for  every  Panchayat  at  intermediate  level  or  a  group  of contiguous Panchayats at intermediate level in a district or where there is no Panchayat at intermediate level in any State, for a group of contiguous group Panchayats. However, the Act does not make setting up of Gram Nyayalayas mandatory. The issues affecting the implementation of the Gram Nyayalayas scheme were discussed in the Conference of Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief  Ministers  of  the  States  on  7 th April,  2013.  It  was  decided  in  the Conference  that  the  State  Governments  and  High  Courts  should  decide  the question of establishment of Gram Nyayalayas wherever feasible, taking into account their local problems with focus on covering those Talukas under the Gram Nyayalaya scheme where regular courts have not been set up.

A  sum  of  Rs.  74.60  crore  has  been  released  so  far  by  the  Central Government  for  establishment  and  operationalization  of  Gram  Nyayalayas including  Rs.  6.00  crore  released  during  the  current  financial  year.  For  the next  financial  year,  a  sum  of  Rs.  8.00  crore  has  been  allocated  for  the establishment and operationalization of Gram  Nyayalayas. The Union Government provides central assistance for meeting the non-recurring expenditure  limited  to  Rs.18.00  (eighteen)  lakhs.  In  addition,  the  central assistance  to  the  States  for  meeting  the  recurring  expenditure  is  limited  to Rs.3.20 lakhs per completed year of operation of a Gram Nyayalaya and  is released to the States for the first three completed years of operation of the Gram Nyayalaya.

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