This article has been written by Nivrati Gupta, from Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. This article discusses the recent scheme TELE-LAW brought by the ministry to facilitate the delivery of legal services to the desired crowd. 

Introduction

This initiative is a partner of National Legal Services Authority and CSC- E-Governance Service Limited for the mainstreaming of legal assistance to marginalized communities through the Common Service Centers. This ‘Tele Law’ initiative aims to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through an expert panel of lawyers stationed at the State Legal Services Authorities. The project would connect lawyers with clients through the para-legal volunteers stationed at cscs run by village level video conferencing facilities. This initiative would also play a crucial role in empowering 1000 female para legal volunteers that would be provided in UP and Bihar by NALSA. However, the government of India would provide the volunteers for paralegal work and the panel lawyers in partnership with CSCs in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir states. Legal assistance services for the marginalized at the panchayat level would be provided in this scheme through real-time video conference/telephone/chat. Earlier, due to geographical challenges and/or lack of infrastructure, these marginalised people remained unacknowledged. 

The scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) and the Union Law Ministry. Under it, the portal ‘Tele-Law’ was launched which is available at panchayat level through the Common Service Center (CSC) network. The portal will connect citizens from rural areas with the help of para-legal volunteers (PLVs) to access legal consultation. It will allow people to seek legal advice through video conferencing from lawyers.

Tele Law scheme 

The Department of Justice has collaborated with NALSA and Common Services Center e-Governance Service India Limited through the Common Services Center to provide mainstream legal aid to marginalized communities. Tele-Law means the utilization of information and communications technology to provide legal information and advice. This e-interaction will be via the video-conferencing systems available at the Common Services Center between lawyers and citizens. The Tele-Law idea is to promote the provision of legal advice through a panel of lawyers stationed at the Common Services Center and the State Legal Services Authorities. The project is initiated by para-legal volunteers to connect citizens with lawyers through video conference facilities by various Paralegals who will be volunteering by being stationed at about 1800 rural panchayats.

Evaluation of India’s Tele-Law scheme

This National Council of Applied Economic Research study evaluates the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India’s Tele-Law Scheme which connects rural citizens with urban attorneys using ICT. The study offers a range of important insights into the scheme’s operation and effect, and proposes a collection of recommendations, particularly with regard to the scheme’s potential national implementation. For each Gram Panchayat, the Central Government is creating a CSC, making a national rollout theoretically feasible. The question asked in this study is how best to customize Tele-Law’s technological and professional resources to make them more available to the vulnerable in a meaningful way.

The study highlights the need at the local level for solid, last-mile outreach and education regarding the scheme. It points out the need to increase the number of empanelled lawyers, particularly as demand rises. The study recommends solid, continuous monitoring and evaluation for the Tele-Law System so that problems and limitations in this creative system can be resolved quickly on both the human and technological fronts.

Implementing the process of Tele law scheme

1. Paralegal Volunteer 
2. Citizen 
3. CSC Center 
4. Registration of case followed by schedule appointment for a consultation then the payment of the receipt. 
5. Citizens arrive at a specific date and time for consultation 
6. Teleconsultation by expert 
7. Case- closed 

List of states covering this scheme 

S.No	States	No. of CSCs
1	Assam	450
2	Arunachal Pradesh	28
3	Bihar	500
4	Jammu & Kashmir	151
5	Meghalaya	43
6	Manipur	19
7	Mizoram	13
8	Nagaland	48
9	Sikkim	11
10	Tripura	40
11	Uttar Pradesh	501
	Total	1805

Citizen eligible for Tele Law service

Categories of marginalized persons (Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987)

The various categories include: 

• Women, 
• Children below 18 years of age,
• Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe with compulsory caste certificate,
• Victims of human trafficking (Self- Declaration /Copy of Police FIR /Affidavit),
• mentally ill and differently-abled people with Disability Certificate,
• Victims of natural disaster or ethnic violence, 
• workers in the unorganized sector with required Wob Card / MGNREGA Card,
• People with low-income groups (income as specified by state) necessary BPL Card /Income Certificate,
• People who are under trials or in custody having Any relevant Case documen,
• For any other person not being mentioned in the above list a fee of Rs 30 with necessary Aadhaar or PAN card. 

Tele Law: empowerment initiative 

Tele-law is a program that uses the facilities for video conferencing and telephone services to associate attorneys with litigants who need legal advice. The program seeks to reach out to the vulnerable, particularly the poor and oppressed. The service is delivered through service centers or CSCs located at gram panchayat. 

The Common Service Center (CSC) is one of the mission projects administered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Digital India Programme. In India, there are approximately 3.19 lakh CSCs. The Common Service Centers are in the Gram Panchayats region. Tele Law service allows any person to seek legal advice without wasting valuable time and money. The program is free for those who are entitled to free legal assistance as specified in Section 12 of the  Legal Services Authority Act 1987. A nominal fee of INR 30 Rs is charged for all others. 

Tele law service has been available in selected 1800 Common Service Centers in 11 states since 2017: Bihar (500), Uttar Pradesh (500), eight North-East states (Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim) and Jammu and Kashmir (800). Currently, Tele-law service is available in 28060 CSCs across 28 states in 115 Aspirational Districts. CSCs are shops/kiosks that deliver online various government services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country, such as public utilities, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, educational, and agricultural services.

One can access/download and Print IEC material. 

• Poster/Flyer/Brochure in 22 languages
• E- Tutorial on the usage of Mobile Application
• User Manual on the use of DASHBOARD by PLV, VLE, Panel Lawyer
• E- Tutorial on the use of DASHBOARD by PLV, VLE, Panel Lawyer
• Presentations on Role and Responsibilities on PLV, VLE and Panel Lawyer, Legal Aid Seeker.

Tele-law service charges are free for persons eligible for free legal advice as referred to in Section 12, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 while persons belonging to the groups referred to in Section 12  The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 have to pay Rs. 30 for the use of the Tele-Law Service. 

• This will provide a clear understanding of their case by Para Legal Volunteer.
• A 20-minute consultation with legal specialists via VCF / chat or telephone.
• Appointment be rescheduled by the Panel Lawyer.
• One does not need to pay for the rescheduled appointment.
• Get a maximum of 3 chances for the consultation.

Village level entrepreneur 

VLE is a Village Level Entrepreneur running the Common Service Center in one area and providing Tele Law service through its centre. One may also directly approach the Village Level Entrepreneur by going to the Common Service Center and inquiring about the service. The Village Level Entrepreneur will include the Para Legal Volunteers’ name and contact details attached to his CSC or put you in touch with the one who will give you details of the advantages of legal advice under the Tele-Law Service. He or She will brief you on the advantages of legal advice under the Tele-Law Service, Register as a Tele-Law Service applicant by uploading your details in the Tele-Law portal information form. He or She must also upload and check the documents you furnish. Generate an online appointment to connect you to a Panel Lawyer via a Video Conferencing Facility / Chat and/or telephone available in your Common Service Center. Automatic SMS will be generated and sent to you on your registered mobile number with details of your appointment date and time.

Para-legal volunteer

PLV is a para-legal volunteer deployed to promote Tele-law services in your region by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) or Common Service Center e-Governance Services India Ltd. A para-legal volunteer is attached to the selected Common Service Center in your village under the Tele-law program. A para-legal volunteer is not an attorney but has basic understanding and knowledge of legal processes and legislation. Functions of a para-legal volunteer include the following: 

• Providing citizens in community gatherings and public places with information about the Tele Law Service.
• Identifying citizens in rural and remote areas in need of legal advice and understanding the nature of the legal issue faced by the citizen. 
• Facilitating the registration of cases at the Common Service Center. Ensure that persons who have access to free legal service must have the correct documentation. 
• Requesting documentation such as Adhaar to fill out the registration form.
• Encouraging pre-appointment with panel lawyers. 
• Link people to panel lawyers via the Common Service Center video conferencing facility.
• A para-legal volunteer may be part of the consultation with the applicant’s consent.

Legal advice seeker or beneficiary is any person who comes to the Common Service Center to seek legal advice. She/he has to come to a consultation with the Common Service Center.

Panel lawyer

A panel lawyer is an attorney chosen by the Department of Justice and CSC-e-Governance Services or registered with the State / District Legal Services Authority Body. A panel lawyer will show his/her availability on the Tele-Law Portal for a period of seven days (weekly) of his/her availability to give advice to make him/herself at the appointed date and time. Any change in the date/time of advice must be intimate with the village level entrepreneur or may be changed by Panel Lawyer Compulsory to fill out the feedback form before closing the case. The Para Legal Volunteers or Village Level Entrepreneur will assist you in getting an appointment with the Panel Lawyer.

During the time of registration, the para legal volunteers or Village Level Entrepreneur will suggest that you bring some essential documents. After you register your case with the CSC at the Tele-Law Service, an appointment with Panel Lawyer is fixed for the next day.

Tele Law mobile application

Tele-Law Mobile application is an application designed to allow legal advice cases to be pre-registered and to provide the beneficiary with an opportunity to request his/her preferred date and time for legal advice and consultation. A mobile application will be used by paralegal volunteers who are directly engaged in the Tele-law system. Paralegal Volunteers can download the Tele-law mobile application from their mobile number registered on the Tele-law dashboard, where they will receive a link to download the application via SMS. They can also download the app through Google Play Store.

Paralegal volunteers

• Pre-register recipient or legal aid seeker cases while conducting outreach and awareness-raising activities.
• Fill the pre-registration forms and save them even when there is no net connectivity.
• Upload the form when online. 

Beneficiary

• Seek legal advice by preferred date and time.
• Has the choice of three different dates and times.

Village Level Entrepreneur

• Village Level Entrepreneur get notification of Pre-registered cases on the Tele-Law dashboard II. 
• They can block the appointment for the beneficiary from the preferred date and time submitted in the pre-registration form.

Tele Law program expansion

Based on the broad response in the pilot states and the urgency for the common man to receive legal advice as the first step towards access to justice, Tele-Law is one of the Department of Justice ‘s key programs, which has also been flagged as part of the newly formed government of India’s 100-day program. Continuingly, it is now aimed at expanding the Tele-Law program to the 115 aspirational districts across 28 states assigned as pockets of underdevelopment. These 115 districts have been described as aspirational rather than backwards so that they are seen as territories of hope and opportunity rather than areas of hopelessness and distress. Education, health and nutrition, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, basic infrastructure and skills are measured on the aspirational districts program.

In order to fulfil the government’s commitment Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash, Sabka Vishwas the government’s commitment, there is a need to amalgamate “Sabka Nyaya” as the fourth pillar for empowerment and development in the country. The Department of Justice could act as a force multiplier in these aspirational districts on the desired outcomes in this regard. Working towards strengthening free legal aid in India, in cooperation with the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA), the State/District Legal Service Authority and CSC e-Governance Service Limited, the Tele-Law program would cover 28,060 CSCs in 115 aspirational districts across 28 states. To ensure that this service is used effectively 28060, Tele-Law Para legal volunteers from within the communities would be engaged to act as a bridge to connect the beneficiary to the Panel Lawyer.

Conclusion 

The scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) and the Union Law Ministry. Under it, the portal ‘Tele-Law’ was launched which is available at panchayat level through the Common Service Center (CSC) network. The portal will connect citizens from rural areas with the help of para-legal volunteers (PLVs) to access legal consultation. It will allow people to seek legal advice through video conferencing from lawyers. This scheme follows on from the Marginalized Persons Access to Justice Project being implemented by the Department of Justice and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Access to Justice Project partnered with CSC-E-governance Services India Limited to mainstream legal literacy through Jharkhand common service centres (10 CSCs in 3 districts) and then through 500 CSCs in 11 districts in Rajasthan. The program trained 500 VLEs in Rajasthan on social justice laws such as fundamental rights, the right to information, the rights of citizens to police, gender laws, children’s rights and labour laws.

References 

• https://www.tele-law.in/
• https://doj.gov.in/page/tele-law-scheme
• https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=165555

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