State tops in providing legal help in country, finds report

Ranchi: Jharkhand has topped the list of states and union territories in providing legal help to people, according to India Justice Report (IJR) 2022, which has been prepared by TATA Trust. However, in policing category, the state slipped to 11th position from 6th in 2020.
Notably, the IJR releases the ranking of states on basis of four pillars of justice delivery police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid. In judiciary category, the state’s position improved from ninth to seventh and in prisons category, it moved to 14th place from previous 15.
The study stated that Jharkhand achieved the top rank among the large and mid-sized states having a population of one crore and above. The state was ranked 14th in the IJR 2019 and fourth in IJR 2020.
The report further stated that Jharkhand was the only state in country, which disposed of more than 50% of the cases brought before the National Lok Adalats (NLA), held quarterly in the state. The overall disposal of cases in Jharkhand under the NLA and the State Legal Services Authority’s Lok adalats was 79%, which was next to Maharashtra (93%).
It added that Jharkhand is among the states that can boast of full-time secretaries in all of its district legal services authority units. The state was able to spend 100% fund allocated to it by the National Legal Service Authority during the financial year 2021-22.
Jharkhand State Legal Service Authority (JHALSA) authorities said directions are being issued to DLSA secretaries based on newspapers reports to provide financial and legal aid to victims of accidents and other incidents immediately. An official, unwilling to be named, said, “We have also implemented innovative ideas like holding special lok adalats on Negotiable Instruments Act and Motor Accident Act. Further, experts from different fields including medical, police and business are appointed as mediators for resolving disputes.”