"I Slept and dreamt that life is joy;
 I woke up and saw that life is service;
 I served and understood that service is joy”

These were the words of the great Nobel Laureate Rabinder Nath Tagore for the youth of this country.

Six decades have passed since independence but shockingly we observe that the situation is still the same. The rulers have changed but not there reign: the reign of hunger, poverty, misery and pain. Our society still requires its great leaders to save itself from its evils.

In this scenario of social turmoil, the Government of India has taken a major step for the upliftment of the socially downtrodden sections of the society, by means of providing free "Legal Aid".

The term Legal Aid basically means giving to persons of limited means; gratis or for nominal fees, Legal Aid and legal assistance in courts, in both civil and criminal matters.

The primary objective of giving Legal Aid is to make it impossible for any man, woman or child to be denied equal protection of law, simply because he or she is ignorant or poor.

Article 8-A of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by competent national tribunals for the acts violating the fundamental rights granted by the Constitution or the Law.”

This proves that in order to ensure equal justice as enshrined in the Constitution of India, legal aid to the poor is of utmost importance.

The two most important decisions in regard to legal aid have been discussed as under :

1- Lok Adalats : Lok Adalats were one of the most significant landmarks in the history of judicial administration which brought justice to the doorsteps of the common man, particularly in the rural and remote areas; with its main objective being amicable settlement of disputes between parties by mutual consent. Section-19 provides for the organization of Lok Adalats and states that every state authority or Supreme Court Legal Service Committee, may organize Lok Adalats at regular intervals at any place for exercising such jurisdiction.

2- Legal Aid Programs : In accordance with the directives from the Central Government, many states enacted their own legal aid legislations. Madhya Pradesh introduced the comprehensive legal aid scheme under the Legal Aid and Assistance Act, 1976. The scheme was initially introduced only in few districts which were exclusively inhabited by Advasis or aboriginal tribes.

Similarly, The Tamid Nadu Committee was also established. In Karnataka and Bihar, the Karnataka Legal Board Act, 1987 and the Bihar Legal Act, 1988 have been enacted.

To conclude, we can say that this step of the government, accompanied by the establishment of the Lok Adalats, have been by far the most significant step in the judicial history of India. It has also been proved to be a boon for the downtrodden sections of the society.

Contributed by :
Samrat Dutta - B.A. LL.B I Sem