Tele-Law has touched a new milestone with 9 lakh beneficiaries having received legal advice from 4 lakh CSCs (Common Service Centres), said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday during a meeting he held on Tele-Law. The government of India established Common Service Centre in 2017.

He also said that the department of justice is planning to provide legal advice to over 1 crore people via paralegal volunteers, CSC operators and panel of lawyers.

Embarking on the 'Digital India Vision' of the Government of India, Department of Justice has been harnessing “emerging” and “indigenous” digital platforms to accelerate and make access to justice a reality for all. In meeting this objective, Tele-Law programme was launched in 2017 to address cases at pre–litigation stage. Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone /instant calling facilities available at the vast network of Common Service Centres at the Panchayat level are used to connect the indigent, down-trodden, vulnerable, unreached groups and communities with the Panel Lawyers for seeking timely and valuable legal advice.

Specially designed to facilitate early detection, intervention and prevention of the legal problems, the Tele-Law service is proactively outreached to groups and communities through a cadre of frontline volunteers provided by NALSA and CSC- e Gov. It has been additionally equipped with a mobile application to pre-register and schedule appointment of the applicants during their field activity. Dedicated pool of lawyers has been empanelled to provide continued legal advice and consultation to the beneficiaries.

Under Digital India initiative, the union minister on June 25 launched ‘itat e-dwar', the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on June 25, 2021.

The portal will enable the online filing of appeals, applications and documents by various parties.

The Minister explained that the Digital India initiative seeks to bridge the gap between people and achieving digital inclusion and empowering an ordinary Indian with the power of technology and a framework for transforming India.