Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that legal assistance cells would be set up at gram panchayat level to improve access to the justice delivery system to the poor and underprivileged in the state.
These centers would be named as 'Madhu Babu Legal Aid Centre,' the Chief Minister declared. The name was based on the great luminary Madhusudan Das as 'Madhu babu Ayeen Sahayata Kendra.'
In a statement, Patnaik said, "The intended benefits must reach the poor and the needy. The BJD, in its election manifesto, had declared to open legal assistance cell in each gram panchayat to improve access to the justice delivery system to the poor and the underprivileged. We will set up legal assistance cells to provide an enabling environment for the legal empowerment of our people."
He also said that he will provide access to legal assistance, which the chief minister also declared three-fold hike in the Lawyers' Welfare Fund.
"The advocates' welfare fund plays an important role in supporting advocates in time of needs. The state government will be providing a matching grant for Rs 1 crore towards this. I am happy to announce that we are proposing to increase this grant from Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore per annum. I am sure this will come in handy for the advocates in need of medical aid," Patnaik announced.
In addition to this, Patnaik also announced setting up of Law University in the state to improve the conditions of all law colleges in the state.
"My government is seriously contemplating establishment of Law University to strengthen the functioning of law colleges in the state. This will be a milestone in improving the quality of legal education in our state. Our government has taken several measures to improve the legal infrastructure and establishment of new courts. As all of you know one of the decisions of the last Cabinet was to establish the Law Commission. This will have a far-reaching impact on the enactment of new laws and fine-tuning of existing laws for the benefit of our people," he added.
Around 10,000 lawyers affiliated to nearly 160 associations were expected to participate in the conference; at least 7,000 lawyers participated in it.
