The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has opened Legal Services Clinic at Government Law College here to improve clinical legal skills of the students and inculcate an attitude among them to provide effective legal services to the poor and marginalised people.
Principal District Judge A. Kayalvizhi declared open the clinic at the college in Perunkulam near here on Wednesday in the presence of P.R. Ramakrishnan, Chairman (District judge), Permanent Lok Adalat, DLSA; V. Ramalingam, Senior civil judge and secretary, DLSA; and N. Ramapiran Ranjit Singh, Principal.
In her address, Ms. Kayalvizhi said the main objective of opening the clinic was to provide legal assistance and guidance to the poor and downtrodden who could not afford to engage lawyers or move courts to assert their rights and redress their grievances.
Like primary health centres which catered to the patients in villages, this clinic should provide legal assistance to the needy, she said.
Students, in the role of ‘para legal volunteers,’ could provide valuable guidance to the poor who had legal issues by either referring them to the mediation centre or for legal remedy in consultation with the DLSA, she said.
Mr. Ramakrishnan called upon the students to spread legal awareness among the public by organising awareness camps, seminars, debates, legal counselling sessions and street plays. He also asked the students to provide a people-friendly environment at the clinic.
Mr. Ramalingam said the clinic would be run by the students under the supervision of a senior faculty member in cooperation with the DLSA.
The clinic had been opened to help students to understand the problems faced by the people and enlighten them about their rights and provide remedies under law.
District Bar Association president A. Ravichandra Ramavanni, secretary A R Nambu Nayagam, Assistant Professor E. Murugesan and guest lecturer and advocate S. Jainy Francina were present.