The following Authorities/Institutions are established to provide free legal aid to poor and weaker sections of the society including those belonging to SC/ST:-
- National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) at National level
- Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) at Supreme Court level
- 38 High Court Legal Services Committees (HCLSCs) at High Court level
- 37 State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) at State level
- 703 District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) at District level
- 2390 Taluk Legal Services Committees (TLSCs) at Taluk level
In order to make people aware of their entitlements, legal awareness programmes are organised across the country by Legal Service Authorities on various laws and schemes relating to children, labourers, victims of disaster, SC and ST, persons with disabilities etc. In addition, Legal Services Authorities have also prepared booklets and pamphlets in easy language on various laws which are distributed amongst the people. More than 4.30 lakh legal awareness programmes were organised during the year 2023-24 which were attended by 4.49 crore persons.
State/UT-wise details of number of persons benefited through free Legal Services provided by the Legal Services Institutions during the last three financial years i.e. 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and the current financial year 2024-25 (upto May, 2024) is at Annexure – A.
Funds under Grant-in-Aid are allocated and released to NALSA by the Government on yearly basis. During the last 3 years i.e. 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, grants-in-aid of Rs. 145 crore, Rs. 190 crore and Rs. 400 crore respectively were allocated/ released by the Government to NALSA. For the current year i.e. 2024-25, grants-in-aid of Rs. 200 crore have been allocated to NALSA out of which Rs. 83 crore have been released so far by the Government. The details of funds allocated by NALSA to Legal Services Authorities for organizing legal aid programmes during last three years and the current year is at Annexure – B.
In order to monitor the performance of the legal services authorities, NALSA receives monthly activity reports from all the SLSAs highlighting all the activities carried out in a particular month. Thereafter, a final activity report on monthly basis is sent by NALSA to the Government which is reviewed and compiled. Apart from monthly activity reports, NALSA also receives Annual Reports from all the SLSAs and prepares its own Annual Report, which is laid before both Houses of the Parliament.
Periodical reviews on different issues are also carried out by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice to assess the working of Legal Aid under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Further, All India Meets and Regional Meets are frequently organized by NALSA to monitor the performance of Legal Services Authorities. In addition, regular meetings are also held between the representatives of NALSA and Department of Justice on various important matters.
| Annexure-A | |||||
| Statement showing the details of number of persons benefited through free Legal Services provided by the Legal Services Institutions under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 during the last three years and the current year. | |||||
| S. No. | SLSAs | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 (upto May 2024) |
| 1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 79 | 134 | 220 | 17 |
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 6371 | 9473 | 8265 | 1214 |
| 3 | Arunachal Pradesh | 2657 | 5559 | 5696 | 1068 |
| 4 | Assam | 110254 | 38335 | 63749 | 11763 |
| 5 | Bihar | 1689158 | 209809 | 151413 | 14474 |
| 6 | Chandigarh | 1781 | 2653 | 2822 | 616 |
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | 42394 | 44106 | 62164 | 11537 |
| 8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 27 | 28 | 55 | 7 |
| 9 | Daman and Diu | 17 | 24 | 34 | 12 |
| 10 | Delhi | 79055 | 96433 | 121882 | 14031 |
| 11 | Goa | 1101 | 2041 | 1558 | 292 |
| 12 | Gujarat | 21953 | 32422 | 40569 | 7144 |
| 13 | Haryana | 23260 | 43098 | 76863 | 11109 |
| 14 | Himachal Pradesh | 4806 | 5998 | 7346 | 1105 |
| 15 | Jammu and Kashmir | 8870 | 7992 | 11396 | 2141 |
| 16 | Jharkhand | 649481 | 145217 | 269303 | 31855 |
| 17 | Karnataka | 32794 | 45663 | 53406 | 8546 |
| 18 | Kerala | 16895 | 23418 | 36498 | 2915 |
| 19 | Ladakh | 2408 | 711 | 505 | 65 |
| 20 | Lakshadweep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Madhya Pradesh | 3343800 | 191921 | 225510 | 42159 |
| 22 | Maharashtra | 22595 | 36663 | 53756 | 8244 |
| 23 | Manipur | 22651 | 26929 | 62635 | 5932 |
| 24 | Meghalaya | 2346 | 2769 | 2371 | 300 |
| 25 | Mizoram | 3201 | 5038 | 4801 | 780 |
| 26 | Nagaland | 7750 | 7390 | 4603 | 708 |
| 27 | Odisha | 8849 | 11880 | 19289 | 3107 |
| 28 | Puducherry | 884 | 788 | 621 | 145 |
| 29 | Punjab | 36404 | 56448 | 60361 | 11356 |
| 30 | Rajasthan | 13833 | 13472 | 20290 | 3376 |
| 31 | Sikkim | 986 | 1127 | 1074 | 136 |
| 32 | Tamil Nadu | 38181 | 49570 | 45180 | 7196 |
| 33 | Telangana | 6712 | 12615 | 13193 | 1006 |
| 34 | Tripura | 2671 | 5055 | 9964 | 1758 |
| 35 | Uttar Pradesh | 132629 | 24890 | 29079 | 2010 |
| 36 | Uttarakhand | 3775 | 5386 | 21339 | 4300 |
| 37 | West Bengal | 29015 | 49714 | 62354 | 12600 |
| Total | 6369643 | 1214769 | 1550164 | 225025 | |
|
Annexure-B |
||||||||||||
| Statement showing the amount of funds allocated (in Rupees) to Legal Services Authorities for organising legal aid programmes during the last three years and current year. | ||||||||||||
| S.No. | Name of Legal Services Authorities | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 (upto 18.07.2024) | |||||||
| 1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | – | 15,00,000 | 8,43,500 | 24,00,000 | |||||||
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 5,00,00,000 | 4,65,00,000 | 9,16,00,000 | 86,00,000 | |||||||
| 3 | Arunachal Pradesh | 1,40,00,000 | 5,00,00,000 | 9,75,00,000 | 1,25,00,000 | |||||||
| 4 | Assam | 6,40,00,000 | 7,40,00,000 | 20,00,00,000 | 2,40,00,000 | |||||||
| 5 | Bihar | 7,60,00,000 | 9,25,00,000 | 12,50,00,000 | 3,06,00,000 | |||||||
| 6 | Chandigarh | 55,00,000 | 60,00,000 | 1,42,26,000 | – | |||||||
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | 5,25,00,000 | 6,65,00,000 | 17,00,00,000 | 2,20,00,000 | |||||||
| 8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | – | 10,00,000 | 2,50,000 | – | |||||||
| 9 | Daman and Diu | – | – | 17,50,000 | 3,50,000 | |||||||
| 10 | Delhi | 9,30,00,000 | 12,25,00,000 | 15,00,00,000 | 6,00,00,000 | |||||||
| 11 | Goa | 15,00,000 | 45,00,000 | 1,42,00,000 | 43,00,000 | |||||||
| 12 | Gujarat | 5,75,00,000 | 8,80,00,000 | 18,50,00,000 | 3,10,00,000 | |||||||
| 13 | Haryana | 6,50,00,000 | 7,60,00,000 | 13,25,00,000 | 1,43,00,000 | |||||||
| 14 | Himachal Pradesh | 2,45,00,000 | 3,90,00,000 | 8,50,00,000 | 4,50,00,000 | |||||||
| 15 | Jammu and Kashmir | 4,65,00,000 | 6,60,00,000 | 9,50,00,000 | 2,35,00,000 | |||||||
| 16 | Jharkhand | 7,35,00,000 | 7,00,00,000 | 16,50,00,000 | 2,65,00,000 | |||||||
| 17 | Karnataka | 7,50,00,000 | 9,20,00,000 | 17,50,00,000 | 2,90,00,000 | |||||||
| 18 | Kerala | 9,90,00,000 | 8,00,00,000 | 19,75,00,000 | 2,00,00,000 | |||||||
| 19 | Ladakh | 65,00,000 | 45,00,000 | 1,18,65,000 | 50,00,000 | |||||||
| 20 | Lakshadweep | – | 5,00,000 | 2,75,000 | – | |||||||
| 21 | Madhya Pradesh | 5,00,00,000 | 7,40,00,000 | 26,50,00,000 | 4,00,00,000 | |||||||
| 22 | Maharashtra | 8,25,00,000 | 9,60,00,000 | 26,50,00,000 | 5,40,00,000 | |||||||
| 23 | Manipur | 1,05,00,000 | 1,90,00,000 | 6,23,30,730 | 1,12,00,000 | |||||||
| 24 | Meghalaya | 50,00,000 | 2,60,00,000 | 2,46,35,500 | 16,00,000 | |||||||
| 25 | Mizoram | 1,15,00,000 | 2,15,00,000 | 4,28,00,000 | 1,38,00,000 | |||||||
| 26 | Nagaland | 1,15,00,000 | 2,75,00,000 | 2,20,00,000 | 42,00,000 | |||||||
| 27 | Odisha | 4,25,00,000 | 7,60,00,000 | 9,32,00,000 | 2,60,00,000 | |||||||
| 28 | Puducherry | 20,00,000 | 92,00,000 | 70,10,000 | 23,00,000 | |||||||
| 29 | Punjab | 6,40,00,000 | 6,16,00,000 | 18,25,00,000 | 2,75,00,000 | |||||||
| 30 | Rajasthan | 7,00,00,000 | 8,40,00,000 | 15,25,00,000 | 1,80,00,000 | |||||||
| 31 | Sikkim | 65,00,000 | 1,65,00,000 | 1,55,00,000 | 34,00,000 | |||||||
| 32 | Tamil Nadu | 6,00,00,000 | 8,10,00,000 | 18,00,00,000 | 4,15,00,000 | |||||||
| 33 | Telangana | 4,10,00,000 | 5,05,00,000 | 14,00,00,000 | 2,20,00,000 | |||||||
| 34 | Tripura | 2,65,00,000 | 3,40,00,000 | 6,50,00,000 | 55,00,000 | |||||||
| 35 | Uttar Pradesh | 6,00,00,000 | 11,80,00,000 | 29,50,00,000 | 5,50,00,000 | |||||||
| 36 | Uttarakhand | 2,55,00,000 | 3,55,00,000 | 4,25,00,000 | 1,26,00,000 | |||||||
| 37 | West Bengal | 7,00,00,000 | 8,80,00,000 | 16,25,00,000 | 3,35,00,000 | |||||||
| 38 | Supreme Court Legal Services Committee | 1,00,00,000 | 90,00,000 | 1,00,00,000 | 1,00,00,000 | |||||||
| 39 | Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC) | – | 1,25,00,000 | 50,00,000 | 50,00,000 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 1,45,30,00,000 | 1,92,08,00,000 | 3,94,49,85,730 | 74,61,50,000 | ||||||||
Comments are closed.