(GIST OF YOJANA) Tele-Law: Mainstreaming Legal Aid

[December-2020]

Tele-Law primarily aims to address issues at the pre-litigative stage. It digitally connects marginalised and poor people with a Panel Lawyer, a practising advocate selected by Department of Justice and CSC-e Governance Services or registered on the Panel of Slate/District Legal Services Authority, to seek legal advice and consultation through the use of video conferencing and telephone service available at the Common Services Centers situated at the Gram Panchayat level.
Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone/instant calling facilities available at the vast network of Common Service Centres at the Panchayat level are used to connect the indigent, down-trodden, vulnerable, unreached groups and communities with the Panel Lawyers for seeking timely and valuable legal advice.
Especially designed to facilitate early detection, intervention and prevention of the legal problems, the Tele-Law service is proactively outreached to groups and communities through a cadre of frontline volunteers provided by NALSA and CSC-eGov.
These grassroot soldiers have been additionally equipped with a mobile application to pre-register and schedule appointment of the applicants during their field activity. Dedicated pool of lawyers has been empanelled to provide continued legal advice and consultation to the beneficiaries.

Tele-Law: Key Features:

The programme benefits people entitled to free legal aid under Section 12 of Legal Services Authorities, Act, 1987 that include women, children, members of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes etc. to seek legal advice free of cost. Others can avail services at Rs. 30/- per consultation.
To ensure its seamless penetration in far-flung and remote areas, a Tele-Law mobile application has been developed to enable pre-registration of cases by PLVs.
Tele-Law web portal providing key information about the programme is available in 22 languages. Tele-Law Dashboard has been developed to capture real time data on cases registered and advice enabled.
E-Tutorial on use of Tele-Law mobile application has been uploaded on Tele-Law portal.