Inauguration Of Project Goonj: A New Chapter In Accessible Justice For Delhi's Remote Areas

The Project aimed to identify, engage, and uplift remote and underdeveloped villages in Delhi through a comprehensive strategy focused on legal empowerment, healthcare, education, and awareness. By integrating legal, health, and educational services, the project fostered an all-comprehensive development, ultimately promoting justice and equality in these communities. The event was also organized so that people can avail multifarious services provided by different Departments/Organizations at the Camp.

The Chief guest of the Program was Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge, Supreme Court of India & Executive Chairman, NALSA. The event was also graced by Justice Manmohan, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi & Executive Chairman, DSLSA and Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, Judge, High Court of Delhi, Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Judge, High Court of Delhi, Justice C. Hari Shankar, Judge, High Court of Delhi, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, Judge, High Court of Delhi and Justice Girish Kathpalia, Judge, High Court of Delhi. The event began with the Inauguration of Legal Services Information Board of DSLSA and the Legal Services Clinic at Panchayat Ghar of the village by the Dignitaries. They then then proceeded to the Sarvodaya Vidyalaya where the Mobile Legal Services Clinic (Van) was flagged off. The Mobile Legal Services Clinic (Van) shall be effective in imparting legal assistance to those people who are usually hesitant to visit DLSA office due to distance or due to their busy schedules. It will also provide legal services to persons with disabilities at their doorsteps.

A 'Mega Legal Services Camp' was also organized in co-ordination with various Govt. Departments such as Department of Women & Child Development, Department of Social Welfare, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Health and Family Welfare Department, Labour department, Government of NCT of Delhi, Unique Identification Authority of India, District Magistrate, IHBAS, Delhi Police, Tihar Jail etc. who provided their services/apprised the visitors about various welfare schemes carried out by their respective departments.

Following services/assistance among others were provided to the beneficiaries under one roof:

• Enrolment/Updation of Aadhaar Card,
• Enrolment/Updation of Voter ID,
• Issuance of Birth/Death Certificate,
• Issuance of Caste Certificate,
• Registration of Girl Child for Ladli Scheme,
• Registration for Various Govt. Pension Schemes,
• Registration for Shram Card, Senior Citizen Card etc.
• Admission of children from SC/ST Community

The dignitaries visited all the stalls to see the functioning and services being provided and also interacted with the beneficiaries.

Thereafter, the inauguration ceremony of the project 'Goonj' began. A video was also played by DSLSA showcasing the activities and objectives of this project. Living aids and physical devices like Walking sticks, Elbow crutches, Walkers/Crutches, Tripod sticks, Hearing Aids, Wheelchair etc. Aids and assistive/supported devices designed to improve the quality of life in terms of mobility and communication for disabled persons were provided to those senior citizens who are categorised under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

The event was also attended by Sh. Kanwal Jeet Arora, Ld. Registrar General, High Court of Delhi; Sh. P. K. Jain, Ld. Registrar (Vigilance), High Court of Delhi; Sh. Bharat Parashar, Ld. Principal Secretary (Law), Govt. of NCT of Delhi; Ld. Principal District & Sessions Judges; Ms. Santosh Snehi Mann, Ld. Member Secretary, NALSA; Sh. Prem Kumar Barthwal, Ld. Member Secretary, DSLSA; Sh. Naveen Gupta, Ld. Special Secretary, DSLSA, Ms. Shreya Arora Mehta, Ld. Officer on Special Duty-I, NALSA, Ms. Harshita Mishra, Ld. Officer on Special Duty-II, NALSA, Sh. Mridul Gupta, Ld. Additional Secretary, DSLSA, Sh. Abhinav Pandey, Ld. Secretary (Litigation), DSLSA, Ld. Secretaries of DLSAs.

A report of Project “Prahari: An awareness initiative for legal services at police stations” was also released. Plantation of Saplings was also done by the Dignitaries. Around 1700 persons from Jaunti Village and surrounding areas attended the Mega Services Camp to avail multifarious services provided by a total of 19 departments/organization and the total number of beneficiaries were recorded to be 1648.

State Conference for Delhi – Interaction with Chairpersons and Secretaries DLSAs

Delhi State Legal Services Authority under the aegis of National Legal Services Authority organized the State Conference for Delhi – Interaction with Chairpersons and Secretaries DLSAs at Sarvodya Vidyalaya, Jaunti Village.

The State Conference was chaired by Justice Khanna, Justice Manmohan, and Justice Suresh Kumar Kait. 

In a first ever, this conference was conducted in the School Auditorium of a Village, namely Jaunti, as a landmark step to increase the outreach of legal services authorities in remote and underdeveloped areas. Various legal services issues were highlighted by the Justice Sanjiv Khanna, via a Powerpoint presentation, followed by interaction with the Chairpersons and Secretaries of District Legal Services Authorities.

The conference featured a rich agenda with numerous topics discussed in depth for improvement in delivering and monitoring of legal services and concluded as a grand success, thereby opening new avenues in the field of free and competent legal services.

Visit to Tihar Jail No. 4

Delhi State Legal Services Authority also organized a visit to Jail No. 4, Central Jail, Tihar Complex on 10.08.2024. Justice Khanna, along with Vinai Kumar Saxena, the Lt. Governor of Delhi, Justice Manmohan, and Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, visited ward No. 5 in the said Jail where they had an interactive session with the Jail Para Legal Volunteers.

Thereafter, they visited Tihar School of Art as well as Counselling Cell functional at ward no 13. A visit was also made to Jute Centre, Paper Craft Unit, LED Unit operational at Jail no 4.

Throughout the visit, the dignitaries interacted with the inmates to understand their legal issues as well as to ensure maximum access to and utilization of free legal services by them.

To oversee the activities of Legal Services Clinics functional in jails, dignitaries also visited Legal Services Clinic of New Delhi District Legal Services Authority at Jail no 4. During the visit, functioning of Video-conferencing room and E-Kiosk were also observed by the esteemed guests. Justice Khanna also delivered a special message regarding the importance and availability of free legal services to all the inmates through the FM Radio.