Rajarshi Shahu Legal Aid Clinic, Barshi

Rajarshi Shahu Legal Aid Clinic Aims & Objective

Rajarshi Shahu Law College, Barshi was established in 1972. The establishment of RS Legal Aid Clinic, Barshi, seeks to impart Clinical Legal Education and free social-legal services/assistance to the needy and poor people of the community who have difficulty in accessing justice ( mainly desperate, marginalized poor rural villagers & socially & economically backward section of society). It is necessary to expose law students to the practical & professional aspects of the legal field.

RS Legal Aid Clinic, Barshi fulfilling both the purpose of effective approaches to the legal education and rendering services with commitment.

LAC has not only contributed to producing law graduates with hands- on experience but also served as a means for the Institution to achieve its mission as a service to the community.

The faculty actively participates and promotes the activities at the Centre with the help of students. The Legal Aid Clinic’s activities have proved instrumental in imparting legal education to students and to create legal awareness & legal aid to needy peoples.

Services
The RS Legal Aid Clinic aims at providing free legal aid to society

Legal Literacy Programs
The Indian community is generally illiterate in the matters of information about law. If we desire to create a just social order legal awareness is indispensable. has been conducting literacy programs in its neighborhood for the last four decades.

Legal Literacy programs are conducted with the help of social organizations, social workers, Gram Panchayats, village Sarpanch, School Managements, Mahila Mandals, etc. The target group is villages, farmers, slum dwellers, women, school children, social workers, school teachers, laborers etc. The programs are generally need based and information about law which will be most relevant to a target group is given to them. Their queries are answered and they are requested to contact the Centre for advice/support if they need it.

Lectures, discussions, posters, literacy material, street-plays are used as methods of communication. Pamphlets of DLSA are distributed & explained through Door To Door Campaign, Women Self Help Group & various social organizations and create awareness among society.Street-play is the most effective manner of communication. It is a living experience of law and is well appreciated by all. The camps consisted of student and teacher’s presentations on relevant issues like Domestic Violence, Dowry Prohibition, Child Sexual Abuse, Writing will, etc. The sessions are made interactive and reactive to the needs of villagers. The experience proved to be enriching for the students and the attending villagers.

The Legal Aid Centre runs its clinic at RS Law College. Legal grievances of a wide variety like domestic violence, divorce, dowry prohibition, cruelty, land acquisition, etc. are addressed here. The Clinic is run by students, advocates and teachers. The Clients are those who cannot afford legal fees. The same is settled free of cost at the Clinic.

Use of ADR Clinic tries to settle the matter amicably or compromise/ negotiations/ conciliations, if possible.

Legal Advice Advice in legal matters is given to all who approach the Centre, i.e. how to make a will, how to file RTI, how to approach Consumer Forum, etc.

Lok Adalats Lok Adalats under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 have been introduced to reduce the burden on judiciary by taking initiative involving small causes and smaller crimes cases like insurance, motor vehicles, labor and industrial disputes, etc. Through the Legal Aid Centre, students of the college are given an opportunity to participate in Lok Adalats held at the Barshi Court. They are also able to actively take part in the proceedings of the Lok Adalats by way of reading cases and observing the sessions.

Para -Legal activities The Legal Aid Centre undertakes, “Train the Trainers Program”. Grass-root level social workers, students etc. are given training in substantive as well as procedural laws.

The Legal Aid Clinic through RS Law College also participates in other activities for widening its students’ practical knowledge.

Education 1.It is needed to marry theory & practice for law students to benefit from adequate legal training. LAC helps to mold future legal practitioners( Legal Advisers, Judges etc ) proficient enough & with hand-on experience to deal with the real challenges of legal practitioners and also real situations in society.

Research- One of the objects of the Centre is to make students learn how the law operates and the limitations of law and legal system. This is done by Door to Door Campaign & other legal awareness programmes & ask to visit RS Clinic , Barshi if any legal aid is required.

Pamphlets: The center also prepares the legal literacy material on various issues of law. It is generally in Marathi/ English and also in the form of posters. Our literacy topics cover a wide ambit of social laws and aim at educating people regarding their basic and fundamental rights. Some of the topics are:

Legal Aid activities are conducted by the Centre on a regular basis. The camps are divided as follows

Students of the Legal Aid Centre visit schools, colleges, other social organizations around Barshi & at their native place to take sessions on legal literacy for them. Language is no barrier as sessions are taken in English, Hindi and Marathi.

School-Topics covered range from child abuse, right to education, drugs and narcotics awareness, social media and cyber crime, etc.

Colleges-domestic violence, dowry prohibition, drugs and alcohol awareness, child abuse, cyber crime, intellectual property rights, etc.

Villages- dowry prohibition, domestic violence, land laws of Maharashtra, laws regarding sex determination of a baby, Right to Information, etc. These camps are held in regional languages like Marathi and Hindi.

Door to Door Campaign-It is conducted with the dual purpose of spreading legal literacy and students interact with people & try to satisfy their queries. & ask to visit legal aid clinics for any legal grievances.

Women Self Help Group- It is conducted with the dual purpose of spreading legal literacy and students interact with women & try to satisfy their queries. Women Self Help Group & ask to visit legal aid clinics for any legal grievances

Rajarshi Shahu Legal Aid Clinic, Rajarshi Shahu Law College Barshi,Dist. Solapur Maharashtra Ph. 02184 224832

E-mail:- rslawbarshi@gmail.com