TELE-LAW SERVICEMainstreaming Legal Aid through Common Services Centers (CSCs)

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)Government of India

Department of

Justice

Tele-law will fulfill our commitment to ensure

access to justice & empowerment of the poor. The Common

Services Centers and Para Legal Volunteers will

offer easy legal advice to litigants in rural India making them digitally

and financially inclusive.

Hon’ Minister

SHri ravi SHankar PraSad

Hon’ Minister

SHri ravi SHankar PraSad

Message

I am happy to be associated with the Tele-law initiative that provides access to legal aid and justice for citizens living in rural areas, particularly from marginalized communities.

The initiative comes as a major technological advancement in the domain of law. Through the online system specifically created for the service, citizens can have access to legal aid from any part of the country through the network of CSCs. The service is expected to foster social and digital inclusion among the citizens in rural areas.

The service will also boost employment avenues in villages as people will be trained as Para Legal Volunteers (PLV) and deployed at CSCs to engage with the community and create awareness on legal issues and further enable access to legal aid.

Moreover, 1000 women Para Legal Volunteers will be trained and deployed in CSCs of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the pilot phase. This would promote women’s participation in the programme and also empower them.

I hope the CSCs, PLVs and panel of lawyers would work together in making Tele-law programme a success and enable access to justice for the vulnerable and marginalized sections of our society!

(ravi Shankar Prasad)

Common SERVICES CEnTERS REVoLuTIonIzIng RuRAL EnTREpREnEuRShIp

The Common Services Centers (CSCs) are an integral part of the Government’s flagship ‘Digital India Programme’ and provide the last mile access to various e-governance services through digital connectivity.

A pan-India network, CSCs offer access to e-services, delivering essential gov-ernment and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial inclusion services, health care and agriculture services, apart from a host of B2C ser-vices. CSCs have also been trying to bridge the gaps in digital literacy and skills of rural citizens through a range of literacy initiatives focused on digital, finan-cial and legal literacy and e-learning and skill development courses.

CSCs contribute to Government’s mandate of a digitally, socially and financially inclusive society by improving access to governance and services in rural and remote areas. The growing bouquet of services offered through partnerships with Government departments and private entities have transformed CSCs into hubs of economic activity, encouraging rural entrepreneurship and empowering communities in rural areas.

Under the CSC 2.0 scheme initiated by the Ministry of Electronics & IT in 2015, at least one CSC is to be rolled out in each and every 2.5

lakh Gram Panchayats across the country.

The Common Services Centers (CSCs) are an integral part of the Government’s flagship ‘digital india Programme’ and provide the last mile access to various e-governance services through digital connectivity.

VILLAgE LEVEL EnTREpREnEuR (VLE)

The CSC operator, also known as Village Level Entre-preneur (VLE), is the key stakeholder. The essence of CSC scheme is that it is managed and operated by a local person whose acceptability is higher with-in the community she/he serves. The success of the Scheme depends largely on his ability, zeal and pas-sion for setting up a sustainable social enterprise within the existing constraints of rural India.

CSC E-goVERnAnCE SERVICES IndIA LImITEd

CSC e-Governance Services India Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle set up by the Ministry of Electronics & IT to oversee implementation of the CSC scheme. CSC SPV provides a centralized collaborative frame-work for delivery of services through CSCs, besides ensuring sustainability of the Scheme.

dEpARTmEnT of JuSTICE

Department of Justice, under the Ministry of Law & Justice, oversees policy measures for judicial reforms and legal aid to poor and access to justice, implements important schemes for development of subordinate judiciary and computerization of courts through e-Court project. Other functions include service matters related to the Chief Justice of India, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

TELE-LAW SERVICE – A unIquE InITIATIVE ThRough CSC

Ministry of Electronics & IT has partnered with the Department of Justice, under Min-istry of Law & Justice to provide citizens living in rural areas, particularly the mar-ginalized communities, access to tele-legal consultations through the network of CSCs.

hoW TELE-LAW WoRkS

guIdIng pRInCIpLE of TELE-LAW

Under the Tele-law service, citizens can access legal advice through Para-Legal Volunteers (PLV) stationed at CSCs, who would connect them to a panel of lawyers through video conferencing facility.

TRAnSpAREnCy CommITmEnT ACCounTAbILITy

5. Citizens arrives at specific data and time for consultation

4. Registration of Case+ schedule appointment for consultation + payment receipt

3. CSC Centre

2. Citizen

1. Para Legal Volunteer

8. Case closed

7. Receipt by lawyer

6. Tele-consultation by expert

ThE pRoCESS of TELE-LAW

SERVICES

Who CAn AVAIL TELE-LAW SERVICE • Marginalised communities like SC/ ST/ OBC,

persons with disabilities• Women• Senior citizens• Industrial workers• Victims of trafficking and commercial and

sexual exploitation• Victims of acid attack• Victims of drug abuse• Victims of disaster, ethnic violence, caste

atrocity, earthquake or industrial disaster• Persons in custody• Persons with low income

CSCS CoVEREd undER TELE-LAW SERVICE

no States no. of CSCs1 Assam 4502 Arunachal Pradesh 293 Bihar 5004 Jammu & Kashmir 1505 Meghalaya 426 Manipur 197 Mizoram 128 Nagaland 489 Sikkim 1010 Tripura 4011 Uttar Pradesh 500

Total 1800

TELE-LAW pILoT In uTTAR pRAdESh & bIhAR In the pilot phase, ‘Tele-law’ service is being launched across 500 CSCs each in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and 800 CSCs in Jammu & Kashmir and the north-eastern States to identify the challenges and undertake necessary measures to improve the outcomes before the Scheme is scaled up and rolled out across the country in a phased manner.

Tele-law service falls under the Access to Justice Project for Marginalized Persons, being implemented by the Department of Justice and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). CSC SPV had earlier partnered with the Department under the Access to Justice Project to provide legal literacy through the network of CSCs in three districts of Jharkhand and 11 districts of Rajas-than. Under the programme, select VLEs in both the States were trained on social justice legislations such as Fundamental Rights, Right to Information, citizen rights vis-à-vis policing, gender laws, child rights and labour laws to further train and empower the community on their rights and duties.

• VLE will provide space for PLV to sit at CSC

• Prepare a list of citizens availing services

• Upload details of aggrieved persons on the CSC portal

• Upload action taken by the applicant/or benefit to the applicant after receiving legal advice

• Provide technical support to the entire programme in the all nine States

• Design an Online Monitoring Application to monitor the programme

• Preferably woman to be deployed at the CSC

• Facilitate tele-consultation with the lawyer through video conferencing at CSC

• Keep a track on progress of applicant’s case/ grievance and maintain its record

• Submit records maintained every week to CSC SPV / DLSA (District Legal Services Authority)

• District Facilitation Centres to be set up at CSCs to reduce pendency of 10-year-old cases

• CSCs to have access to Nyaya Mitras in 27 districts of north-eastern states and Jammu &Kashmir

kEy ELEmEnTS of TELE-LAW modEL

VLE

CSC

pLV

nyAyA mITRAS

OUTREACH AND DISSEMINATION OF TELE-LAW MODEL

IDENTIFICATION OF CITIzENS/ CASES FOR LEGAL ADVICE

CONNECTING THEM TO LAWyERS FOR LEGAL ADVICE

TRACK PROGRESS OF CASE/ FOLLOW UP WITH LAWyERS

RoLES & RESponSIbILITy of pLV

The scheme promotes women’s empowerment by encouraging them to get trained as pLVs. Eighteen hundred citizens, preferably women are being engaged as pLVs in CSCs of uttar pradesh and bihar.

pARA LEgAL VoLunTEER

Para Legal Volunteer (PLV) is the first point of contact between rural citizens and lawyers providing legal aid through CSC. They are not lawyers, but have basic understanding of legal process. They hear the grievances of citizens and offer appropriate support/suggestion for legal aid. They also help the citizens understand legal issues and advice given by lawyers. A trained PLV is available in a CSC for minimum ten days in a month under the Scheme.

STAgE

1

STAgE

2

STAgE

3

STAgE

4

STaTES nUMBEr OF dFCs

Uttar Pradesh 70

Bihar 30

Gujarat 30

Maharashtra 20

Rajasthan 20

Odisha 20

West Bengal 10

Assam 17

STaTES nUMBEr OF dFCs

Arunachal Pradesh 01

Meghalaya 01

Mizoram 01

Tripura 01

Nagaland 01

Manipur 01

Sikkim 01

Jammu & Kashmir 03

Nyaya Mitras are Facilitation Centres set up at CSCs across districts to reduce pendency of 10-year-old cases. Nyaya Mitra will serve under Ministry of Electronics & IT and will be headed by a retired judicial/ executive officer with legal background.

Nyaya Mitra will be set up across 227 districts, including 27 districts of north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.

nyAyA mITRA

• Actively identify cases pending for over ten years• Provide assistance to litigants in speedy disposal of their cases• Provide access to justice by connecting litigants with legal authorities, CSC Tele-law service,

government agencies and civil society organizations• Refer applicants from marginalized communities to Lok Adalats for dispute resolution• Facilitate legal aid to under trial prisoners

RoLE of nyAyA mITRA

for updates, visit:

Portal: http://www.tele-law.in/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Tele-Law-1360705710662263/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tele_Law

For more information, please contact:CSC e-Governance Services India LimitedElectronics Niketan, 3rd Floor,6, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003Tel: +91-11-24301349Web: www.csc.gov.in

department of JusticeMinistry of Law and JusticeJaisalmer House, 26, MansinghRoad, New Delhi-110011.

Department of

Justice