Training on legal literacy programme in Itanagar

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA), in collaboration with the department of justice under the union Law and Justice Ministry, organized a legal literacy programme on Saturday for the gaon burahs and burihs of Anjaw district. The programme, a part of the project 'synergy between customary practises of the traditional village council system and formal laws of India', was organized at Hayuliang, the district headquarters. The program, which was carried out with the support of the district administration and the District Legal Services Authority, saw the participation of 51 GBs and head GBs from 50 different villages. Several high-ranking officers from the judiciary, administration, and police also participated in the program, including APSLSA Member Secretary Yomge Ado, Judicial Magistrate First Class Utumso Boo, Anjaw SP Rike Kamsi, ADC Sotaillum Bellai, and CO Nyalem Hakom, according to a communiqué here. The gaon burahs and burihs were trained on various important topics relevant to their roles as heads of the traditional village council, such as the Assam Frontier Regulation of 1945, the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Courts Act of 2021, and the fundamentals of court proceedings by subject experts Yomge Ado and Utumso Boo. The training session was followed by a legal awareness session, during which several NALSA-approved schemes and Acts of Public Interest, including free legal aid, the protection of women from domestic violence, and the victim compensation scheme, were covered by advocates Bajangso Kri and Khopey Thaley. "The project is an essential step towards empowering the gaon burahs and burihs to discharge their duties more efficiently and effectively. It was aimed to bridge the gap between the traditional practises and formal laws of India and promote a better understanding of legal rights and obligations through formal training and capacity-building exercises like the 'Each One Teach Ten' initiative," said project coordinator of APSLSA-DOJ Gonum Pul. "Our efforts in this regard have been highly appreciated by both the participants and our partners from New Delhi. The initial target under the project was to train 500 GBs from 13 districts. We were able to deliver beyond this mandate by providing legal literacy and capacity-building training to 554 GBs in total," he said. We have also been able to provide basic legal awareness to around 3,000 rural residents from across 200 villages so far, he added.