Paralegal volunteers to help the poor avail of welfare schemes in MP

Paralegal volunteers of the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (MPSLSA) have now started an initiative to help underprivileged people who have been deprived of the benefits of or are unaware of Central or state welfare schemes.

Extending the ambit of its work beyond merely holding Lok Adalats and carrying out legal awareness campaigns, the MPSLSA has undertaken the task of aiding the poor in drafting and filing complaints before concerned departments.

The volunteers also follow up on the complaints with the departments in question.

Bhawani Shankar Kosthi, a paralegal volunteer from Narsinghpur district, said that he had seen many poor villagers from remote areas being unaware about the existence of government welfare schemes.

In recent times, he had helped about 25 villagers procure caste certificates and BPL cards, he added.

Volunteers from the Authority are trained in providing legal aid and disseminating awareness about rights -- a step that has been yielding results.

A total of 3,496 residents of the Chor Barhata village were at a camp recently where they were educated about schemes such as the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan scheme, scholarships for meritorious students and distribution of equipment to physically handicapped persons.

The camp also addressed the complaints of 1,189 tribal persons from Dindori district who had been unable to avail of welfare schemes.

“Whenever a large number of complaints are received from a district, a camp is organised there and we ensure that government officials are present at the spot for quick redress of the complaints,” MPSLSA deputy secretary Anand Kumar Tiwari told HT.