Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority Conducts Mega Legal Outreach Camps Across All 51 Districts

The initiative was carried out under the leadership of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Patron-in-Chief of MPSLSA, and under the guidance of Justice Vivek Rusia, Administrative Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh and Executive Chairman of the Authority.

The campaign aimed to sensitize the general public—particularly marginalized and weaker sections—about their legal rights, statutory entitlements, and the availability of free legal services. It also focused on raising awareness regarding schemes of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and various state welfare programmes, including those concerning unorganized workers, victims of trafficking, women and children, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. Promotion of mediation and community mediation as effective tools for amicable dispute resolution also formed a key component of the initiative.

The camps were conducted in accordance with the NALSA Legal Services Camp Module, adopting a delivery-based approach to ensure not only awareness but also direct linkage of beneficiaries with welfare schemes and legal remedies. The programme saw coordinated participation from multiple state departments, including Labour, Revenue, Women and Child Development, Social Justice, Nagar Palika, Health, Education, Rural Development, and Police, ensuring a convergent and holistic outreach.

Dedicated stalls were set up at camp venues to facilitate dissemination of information, on-the-spot registration, and access to benefits under various schemes. Legal advice and assistance were provided by panel lawyers, while para legal volunteers played a significant role in outreach, mobilisation, documentation, and beneficiary support. Suitable cases were also identified and referred for resolution through mediation and Lok Adalat mechanisms.

The campaign recorded substantial outreach, covering all districts and reaching a total of 4,69,275 beneficiaries. This included 20,071 women, 2,426 children, 4,030 senior citizens, 1,365 persons with disabilities (Divyangjan), 1,612 unorganized workers, and 4,39,771 individuals under other categories. A total of 9,047 persons were provided legal advice.

The camps were held at various locations such as district courts, jails, old age homes, gram panchayats, schools, hospitals, shelter homes, and community halls, with special outreach to vulnerable groups including women, children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, unorganized workers, jail inmates, and residents of old age homes. Several districts also organised health check-up camps, blood donation drives, legal literacy sessions, and awareness programmes on ADR and mediation.

In District Jabalpur, the Legal Aid Camp was attended by Justice Vivek Rusia, who emphasised that such initiatives are crucial for ensuring access to justice at the grassroots level through inter-departmental collaboration. The programme was also attended by Krishnamurthy Mishra, Principal District and Sessions Judge and Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, Jabalpur; Raghvendra Singh, Collector, Jabalpur; Ramprakash Ahirwar, Commissioner, Nagar Nigam, Jabalpur; and Manish Mishra, President, District Bar Association, Jabalpur.

Other dignitaries present included Suman Srivastava, Member Secretary, MPSLSA; Arvind Srivastava, Additional Secretary; Aniruddha Jain, Deputy Secretary; and Shakti Verma, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Jabalpur.

The successful execution of the statewide campaign underscores the Authority's commitment to ensuring inclusive access to justice and strengthening last-mile delivery of legal services across Madhya Pradesh.