Report For the Village Adalat Outreach Program

On 12^th October 2022 a team comprising first year students from BA LLB (hons)and BBA LLB (hons) from USLLS, GGSIPU went to kakrola village, which lies within the proximity of 1.7 km from the main campus of the college for a village Adalat outreach program. The team was supervised by two senior law students accompanied by DR Zubair Ahmed khan and DR. Vandana Singh as an initiative by the ADR cell.

Aim: Aim of the program was to listen to the problems and provide legal aid to unprivileged people, spreading legal awareness about various schemes by the government they can benefit from, delivering on spot pro bono services, managing the methodological atrocities related to the mentioned schemes and to dwell in the intricacies of their life.

The team consisted of 20-25 members along with two seniors and two professors to guide them. They arrived at 12:00 PM in the village Kakrola and gathered adjacent to a Masjid located there. On arriving they were greeted with members of the village who provided them a room to keep all their belongings, chairs and water bottles were also arranged the team.

Everyone went to their pre designated team and divided the work, starting with a chorus that went like “aao aao saare aao humari baatein sunke jao” to attract the people and senior citizens in the village. For the sake of spreading awareness. Meanwhile the professors and seniors briefed the students about how to get the filing work done and approaching the people with professionalism.

The pro bono team settled in front of the masjid to be easily accessible and approachable if anyone required help. The legal awareness team approached the senior citizens and briefed them about the kind of schemes and legal aid that would be provided free of cost. After this the filing of different issues was done

A lot of people showed up with issues related to pan card, ration card, health ailments and even property disputes. They were redirected to the pro bono team and their contact details were compiled in a separate register to be forwarded to respective authorities and the DLSA .

An overall healthy attitude was maintained by the students even under stressful situations and the people belonging to the village were open and thankful for the team’s work.

Issues identified: The influx of people who needed help and supervision was exorbitant and through the program the team got acquainted with people having social, economic and system-oriented problems. A total of 42 entries with different issues were received withing a span of 90 minutes.

Major issues that were found in the programme can be divided as follows:

• Ration card: The highest number of issues were identified in this section, a lot of people were facing difficulties in registering the names of their family members on the ration card, some of these complaints had been pending for up to 4 years now, some were not even receiving ration despite having a ration card.
• Health card: Major population was not even aware about the Ayushman Bharat scheme and what benefits can a health card provide them, neither did they had it made.
• Pension: Many people were either not getting pension or their pension was pending for some time, some people could not avail the pension due to some errors on their Aadhar card only.

In conclusion the program turned out to be a fruitful event. The team was successful in spreading awareness among the senior citizens about their rights and the schemes that the central and state government has introduced for them. The elderly was informed about the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat) and our volunteers explained to them in detail about the benefits they would be entitled to if they had their health cards. It is indeed a matter of pride for the team to have helped many senior citizens in getting their health cards made on the spot.

It was also discovered through conversations with the elderlies that many of them are either not getting their pensions at all or are not getting the amount promised by the Delhi Government (Rs. 2500/month) and the volunteers helped them in filing for their pensions. On seeing the massive turnout at the Village Adalat, help was extended to all the residents, irrespective of their age. Many people were helped with their Ration cards and Aadhar cards.

All in all, it was a once in a lifetime experience for all the students to get such an exposure that too in their first year. Not only did the volunteers learn about the application and filing procedure of these important schemes/documents but they also learnt how to work on the ground and to work in a team. It was a rare exposure for the students to listen to heart wrenching stories of the people. However, the most important takeaway from the day were the blessings that the senior citizens bestowed upon our team members for offering a hand of help.

Testimonials from the team members

I felt that the experience at the village Adalat was amazing and quite an eye – opener for a first-year law student. To be very honest, I had not expected such a tremendous turnout at the event. But I was overwhelmed to see the number of people who showed interest in our project. It was a surprise to see the huge gap between the scheme on paper and its implementation on ground. I was moved by the problems faced by the senior citizens in our society despite the schemes present for them. Although it was quite tiring to conduct the event but the smile on their faces at the end of the day cured everything. I was touched by the sweet gesture of an uncle who called me his “beti” when his health card was successfully made. It was an altogether different experience for me to be a part of this programme and I hope to participate in more such events in the future.

Manasi Bharadwaj (legal awareness and pro bono team)

The experience was an amalgamation of many emotions. We did not only help people but also went through their life history and the problems they were facing.

Avantika Jain (legal awareness and pro bono team)

The experience was truly fulfilling, getting to know how people are subjected to very different circumstances and how enthusiastically they deal with the atrocities of daily life, the friendly nature of people was towards us was definitely a ‘plus one’ for me. I would like to be a part of the program again and help as many people as I can through such drives.

Bhoomika nim (legal awareness and pro bono team)