Varsities told to set up cells to spread legal literacy

‘Reach out to those in remote areas in need of legal aid’

Ravindranath Shanbhag delivering special lecture on Human Rights at Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College in Kalaburagi on Sunday.

Ravindranath Shanbhag, president of the Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi, has said that law colleges and universities must set up legal aid cells in each district to spread legal literacy and provide legal aid to people in remote areas and to reach out to those who are in need of it.

Delivering a lecture, “The Role and Importance of District Human Rights Court” on the second day of a workshop organised by Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College in Kalaburagi on Sunday, Dr. Shanbhag criticised the practice of charging exorbitant fees by advocates, which, according to him, denied legal remedy to those unable to splurge money. He said that this must be seen as a form of human rights violation. Thus, legal aid cells would provide access to people deprived of justice due to social and economic reasons, he added.

Referring to the case of senior citizens in the State, Dr. Shanbhag expressed unhappiness that the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, which was passed eight years ago, had failed to make any impact as the governments have not implemented it effectively nor have they given adequate publicity to the Act.

Though the government has set up senior citizens helplines in all the districts and earmarked an annual ₹ 6 lakh for the maintenance of these helplines, Dr. Shanbhag said that the helpline in Kalaburagi is not functioning at all.

Foundation’s work

Narrating the plight of those who have become victims of an inflexible system and bureaucratic corruption, Dr. Shanbhag said that two Dalit women who worked at the Teachers Training Institute in Udupi were paid just ₹ 15 monthly for four decades and how the Human Rights Protection Foundation took the matter to the Supreme Court.

In another case, the foundation supported a police personnel to get his accident compensation of ₹ 17 lakh through the department and a government job for his wife.

Even in this case the lawyer representing the policeman charged ₹ 1.7 lakh for doing nothing, he added.

Dr. Shanbhag said that the foundation has played a vital role in seeking justice and better facilities for 5,600 children suffering from health ailments due to the use of endosulfan in the coastal districts in the recent past.

Lingaraj Konin, principal of the Law College, spoke.

Sessions judges, advocates, police personnel, and members of Child Welfare Committee were present.