Access to justice constitutional right, financial constraints shouldn’t hinder it

As many as 150 persons were sensitised on various legal and social issues during a Mega Legal Literacy Camp organised at the Community Centre of Gadiara gram panchayat in Palampur subdivision of Kangra district today.

Senior Civil Judge, Palampur, Gaurav Kumar presided over the event as chief guest. He said that access to justice was a constitutional right of every citizen and no one should be denied justice due to financial constraints. He added that the Legal Services Authority had been specifically established to provide easy and timely justice, especially to the poor and vulnerable sections of society.

Gaurav Kumar said that the authority was providing free legal aid to economically weaker sections, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, persons with disabilities and other eligible beneficiaries. He apprised the participants about traffic rules and said that driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without a helmet attracted fines ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. He added that legal literacy camps were being organised regularly at the panchayat level to make people aware of their rights and duties.

Advocate Arvind Sharma spoke on India’s resolve to build a drug-free society and said that substance abuse was harmful to individuals, families and society at large. He emphasised the need to keep the youth away from drugs and engage them in education, sports and positive activities. He added that achieving the goal of a drug-free India required collective efforts from all sections of society to build a healthy, strong and progressive nation.

Advocate Rajesh Katoch spoke on environmental protection under the theme “Save the Planet”. He urged people to take responsibility for protecting nature. He added that rising pollution, climate change and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources posed a serious threat to the earth. He stressed the importance of plantation drives, water conservation, reduced use of plastic and the adoption of clean energy to ensure a safe and healthy future for the coming generations.