1. International Reseach Journal,November,2010 ISSN-0975-3486 RNI: RAJBIL 2009/300097 VOL-I *ISSUE 14
46 RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
Research Paper -Law
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567
November, 2010
SevenhundredyearsoldclarioncallofMagnaCarta-
“To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or
delay the right to justice” very pertinently embodies
theprincipleoflegalaid.LegalAidimpliesgivingfree
legal services to the poor and needy who cannot
afford the services of a lawyer for the conduct of a
case or a legal proceeding in any court, tribunal or
beforeanauthority.Theessenceofjusticeliesonthe
principle of equality hence Art. 39A of the
ConstitutionofIndiaprovidesthatStateshallsecure
thattheoperationofthelegalsystempromotesjustice
onabasisofequalopportunity,andshallinparticular,
provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or
schemes or in any other way, to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to
anycitizenbyreasonofeconomicorotherdisability.
It is unfortunate that some sections of society are
deprivedofthebenefitsofJudiciaryatparwithothers,
due to lack of education and ignorance of proper
channel to get justice. Every Legal system consider
thatitisnecessarytoprovidefreelegalaidtopersons
otherwiseunabletoaffordlegalrepresentationunder
such situation Legal aid services play a pivotal role
in bridging the gap between needy and the
institutional judicial system. Every government
institution has its own limitations. It has to work
within the framework of scare monitory resources;
manpower and rigid set of rules, which could not be
mouldedaccordingtolocalneeds.NonGovernment
Organizations(NGO)caneffectivelymakeupforthe
above drawbacks.
NGO organizes many programmes, functions
and plays crucial roles which assist the community
in overall development. NGO is an organization in
first place. It has got organized manpower with
dedicatedmotive.Theyworkforsocialcause,asitis
expectedinthemovementoflegalaid.Theyhavegot
ready infrastructure for mass outreach; which
ultimately helps in reduction of the investment cost.
Asthelocalsformtheorganizationtheyhaveabetter
idea of the rampant problems. The effective
implementation of such services can be done only if
the public mind set is well versed. The root causes of
failuretoutilizejudicialmachineryneedtobesorted
out and addressed for e.g. the Adivasis i.e. tribals
mostly tries to solve their disputed matters by fight
or otherwise. In such a situation providing
information about judicial system does a little help,
the main objective here should be to earn their faith
injudicialsystemandmotivatethemtoapproachthe
judicialsystem.Suchmodificationsneedtobemade
on top priority basis. NGOs have knowledge of such
beliefsanddisbeliefsandtherefore,canchangetheir
approach to suit local needs.
NGO with especially having their own legal
institutes is in much better place to carry out such
activities.Suchinstitutecanliterallygodoortodoor
to spread the legal awareness. The working force
they have is well acquainted with the legal language
as well as local dialects. They can very effectively
communicatewiththeneedypeopleandcanconvince
them.OrganizingLegalaidcampsinremoteareasis
difficultjobduetolackofinterestofcommonmanin
the subject. People need motivation to attend such
camps. This job requires a high level of spirit, which
canbeachievediftheworkforceisitselfapartofthe
populationserved.HenceNGOswithlocalworkforce
can very effectively deliver this function. The
Government is rightly providing legal aid to the
Adivasis whenever they demand it. The NGOs are
also taking positive steps for the same. The main
problem is that the Adivasis for whom it is made
available, the majority of them are unaware of such
concept of free legal aid. While those Adivasis to
whomtherighttofreelegalaidiscommunicatedthey
can’t understand its importance. The ground reality
is that,Adivasis gets direct benefit of the schemes of
Governmentlike,toprovideloan,houses,equipments,
domestic animals, and vehicles etc. for their
development. Naturally they get attracted towards
such schemes, which resulted into their common
understanding that whoever approaches to them for
their development will provide them some direct
benefits.Thisunderstandingbecomesanobstaclein
spreading the information of right to free legal aid
among the Adivasis, as providing free legal aid
information by conducting the legal aid camps does
not give them any direct benefit. In fact the right to
ROLE OF NGO’S IN LEGALAID
* Dr.N.D.Chaudhari
*LLM(NET)Ph.D H.O.D.NTVSCollegeofLawNandurbar,Maharashtra

2. International Reseach Journal,November,2010 ISSN-0975-3486 RNI: RAJBIL 2009/300097 VOL-I *ISSUE 14
47RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
freelegalaidismoreimportantforthemthanabove-
mentioned direct beneficial schemes. In such
situation role of NGOs becomes crucial.
It is expected from the NGO’s that the Legal Aid
programmes have to be organized in the areas where
itisacutelyrequired.Particularlytheareaswherethe
tribal people resides and who are far away from the
developments. While conducting Legal Aid
programmes,itstime&placeisrequiredtobedeclared
through the local newspapers and the message is
also required to be communicated to the villagers in
advance. The Sarpanch, members of panchayats,
villageofficersaretobecontactedfirstlyandinvited
in the camps. Keeping the view in mind that the only
oral communication about law is not sufficient, a
booklet is to be prepared containing the information
of basic rights and essential provisions of law in
simpleandlocallanguage.Thesebookletshavetobe
distributed among the persons attaining the legal aid
programme.Ateam of volunteers has to be prepared
who will guide the tribal regarding how to fill up
various forms and access their forest land rights.
Afterguidingthepeopleabouttheimportanceoflaw,
the legal aid programme has to be keeping open for
the question answer session. Those people who are
having legal problem can be guided at the same time
or can be suggested to approach the Legal Services
Authority for further assistance.