LEGAL

LITERACY AND
AWERENESS IN
SEMINAR
INDIA
RESEARCH
PAPERN SUBMITTED TO:

Dr. EQBAL
HUSSAIN, FACULTY
OF LAW, JAMIA
MILLIA ISLAMIA,

SUBMITTED BY: HUZAIF JAMIL

SEMESTER- IX (REGULAR)

ROLL No. – 23

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout

the course of this assignment. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive
criticism and friendly advice during the project work. I am sincerely grateful to them for sharing
their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues related to the project.

I would like to thank Dr. Eqbal Hussain for giving me the opportunity to take on this
assignment, imparting valuable knowledge about the subject and paving the way towards the
completion of the assignment.

I would like to thank my parents whose constant support helps me through everything I do and
who are there to appreciate what is right and rightfully criticize what needs to be improved.

HUZAIF JAMIL

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 CONTENTS:
TOPIC PAGE NUMBER
ABSTRACT 04

1. INTRODUCTION 05

 Hypothesis
 Methodology
 Research Question
 Literature Review

2. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES 08

 Women Related Laws

 Children Related Laws
 Schemes For The Benefit Of Specific Class Of People
 Public Health, Legal And Medical Aid
 Authorities, Complaints And Redressal Mechanisms And Right To Information
 Elections, Election Manifestos, Publication Of Records Of The Candidate And
Model Code Of Conduct

3. NATIONAL LEGAL LITERACY MISSION 16

 Implementation of The Mission.

4. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES 21

5. SUGGESTIONS AS TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT SCENARIO 22

CONCLUSION 24
BIBLIOGRAPHY 25
ANNEXURE-I 27

 Questionnaire On Legal Literacy

ANNEXURE-II 30
 Chart
ANNEXURE-III 32
 A Summary Of The Responses To The Questionnaire Created At Google Forms

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 ABSTRACT
We the citizens of India, take pride in being one of the largest democracies around the globe
among various other nations, and having an enormous written constitution containing a number
the articles and provisions, ranging from fundamental rights to fundamental duties to election
related laws and many more areas. We are also signatories to various international treaties and
conventions, such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on rights of
children; Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, etc.
Although, we are a nation of diversity on terms of religion, race, caste, language, culture, the
Laws of the nation remains equal for all of us.

Since we achieved independence, there have been enacted a lot many laws to deal with
particular issues in specific, such as, The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, Right to Information Act,
2005, The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence
Act, 2005, The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), 2013, etc. and also many schemes for the benefit of
the masses, such as Atal Pension Yojana, 2015, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act, National Literacy Mission Programme, National Pension
Scheme, etc. But, till date, all these Acts, Provisions, and Schemes have not been able to achieve
the sought aim with which they were enacted.

One of the main and the most important reason of this can aptly be said to be, lack of Legal
Literacy and Awareness. A huge number of citizens of this country are still unaware of their
rights. Apart from being illiterate, this group of population suffers even more in the absence of
proper knowledge about their rights, the schemes made by the government for their benefit,
various complaint and redressal mechanisms, which also leads to their loss of confidence in the
nation and the Government.

This paper aims to analyze certain areas, showing how the lack of legal literacy and awareness is
also a main factor of hindrance in the development of the nation and how the same defeats the
basic purpose of the Indian Constitution and various Acts enacted by the Legislature. Also, it
additionally attempts to looks into the various possible solutions to this major issue, particularly
focusing on the role of The Legal Aid Clinics established in the Law Institutions, Law Students,
Para Legal Volunteers, NGOs, etc.
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 1. INTRODUCTION
India, being home to people of different religions, castes, languages, cultures, etc. is very
diverse. But the entire country has the same Constitution of India, applicable to all the
diversities. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution provides that everyone is equal before the law
and is entitled to equal protection of the law. It gives the central and the state legislatures to
legislate and make laws, policies and schemes for the better according to the subjects classified
and contained in the Central, State and Concurrent List. The Parliament and The State
Legislatures have so far enacted numerous laws and schemes for the benefit of the citizens.

But the main question here remains, as to how many citizens of the nation are really aware about
these laws and schemes. It would not be wrong to say that a huge percentage of the Indian
population is still unaware about even their basic human rights and fundamental rights. A huge
percentage of the population is still unaware about various authorities, complaint and redressal
mechanisms, and still fear the institution of Police and other Government institutions, rather than
co- operating and getting benefit from it. And this scenario doesn’t seem to change anytime soon
without any concrete efforts to deal with it.

Legal Literacy doesn’t really mean that the common masses should be aware about the exact
provisions and the case laws as a lawyer or a law student, rather it means that they should
possess a minimum basic understanding of the legal system, such as, the human rights,
fundamental rights, fundamental duties, voting rights and the awareness regarding publication of
the financial, educational and criminal records of the candidate during the election and also the
electoral offences and the model code of conduct, the laws made specifically for certain sections
or groups of the nation should be known by that section, the common shouldn’t be afraid to
reach out to the Police and the Courts of law for protection and enforcement of their rights and
they shouldn’t be baffled and embarrassed by this entire legal regime functioning in our country.

The aim and objectives of the Indian Constitution and the various Legislations will not be
achieved and fulfilled till everyone is aware of their basic fundamental rights, every woman is
aware of all the laws made for her protection, child labour and trafficking is no more a normal
scenario in the society, everyone is able to analyse and assess every piece of information and
news based on their logical and legal reasoning, and the common man does not fear the
Government Institutions and the Court and is able to repose his/her trust in it.

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This is a matter of shame and concern that the citizens with a various number of rights,
protections, and benefit schemes are still sleeping over their rights. This should be the
responsibility of the Government primarily, and also the Law Institutions and various NGOs to
eradicate such illiteracy and unawareness from the nation. The condition of the rural areas is still
far worse than the urban areas, in the concerned matter. However, the condition of urban areas is
also not satisfactory in terms of the same.

The citizens should be made aware that they have certain basic rights by virtue of being humans
and citizens of this nation, which are not privileges granted to them by the ruling government,
and they are entitled to it no matter what, except in case of reasonable restrictions as per Article
19(6) of the Indian Constitution.

Article 39A of the Constitution of India requires the State to ensure that the operation of the
legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity. It directs the State to provide
free legal aid with the support of suitable legislation or schemes. The State is also directed to
ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen for reason of
economic or other disabilities. If people are aware of their rights and duties, the delivery of
justice and balancing of various interests in a society become so much easier. Increase in legal
literacy ultimately develops into a transparent and accountable government truly based on the
‘Rule of Law’. Since the fundamental postulate of the Indian Criminal Procedure Code is
“ignorance of law excuses no one from compliance therewith,” the need for legal literacy is
undisputable. Legal literacy, therefore, is a tool for bringing about qualitative change at the
grassroots level. Experience shows that better awareness of laws helps people work more
effectively in diverse spheres. The non-implementation of many laws is partly attributed to the
beneficiaries’ lack of awareness.

1.2 HYPOTHESIS

The principle of Legal aid is a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy. And overtime, it
has become a mandatory provision to be followed by the Courts, rather than just being a
directive. And this has become a mandatory provision through Judicial Decisions and
Legislations; a paradigm shift in the concept of legal services, the reaching out to the people to
facilitate “access to justice” to all in the most practical manner. But the system is still lacking

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somewhere as the implementation of the law is not as proper as it should be, as there are many
people who are unable to have access to justice by the reasons of social obligations (like women
in rural areas are reluctant to go against their relatives in cases of domestic violence and dowry),
lack of interest of the lawyer, poverty, lack of awareness, lack of proper implementation of law
on part of the lower judiciary and state authorities.

1.3METHODOLOGY

The dependability and reliability of any study mainly depends upon the Methodology adopted.
In the present study library method and case study method are adopted to collect the material
which are relevant to the present study. The relevant statutes, judicial decisions and reports of
the 6committee are critically examined. The findings of the study are summarised and the study
at the end also forwards suggestions to the policy makers to contain the menace of corruption.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The primary objective of this research paper purports to analysis of the legal literacy and
awareness among the common and thus, the primary questions shall be:

1. To trace out the legal awareness among the common people of India.

2. To ascertain the factor that what are the reason that the common people of India are not aware
about the legal awareness.

1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW

The paper discusses in detail about the legal literacy and legal awareness among the common
people of our country India and how to overcome from this problem. Many articles, books, and
reports have been looked upon to ascertain the situation at certain point of time around the
country. The books of many authors and reports have especially have been referred to as they
have explained the various factors regarding the legal literacy and awareness and further
classified such problem in the view of their action and activities.
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 FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Part III of the Indian Constitution (Article 12 - Article 35) contains Fundamental Rights, which
are the most essential basic human rights for the survival, growth and development of any
citizen. These rights are enforceable in the court of law in case they are violated. These rights
consist of right to equality, right to freedom, right against exploitation, right to freedom of
religion, cultural and educational rights and right to constitutional remedies. These rights cannot
be denied, except under circumstances of national emergency and reasonable restrictions.

Also, many of the Directive Principles of the State Policies have been elevated to the status of
Fundamental Rights over time under the ambit of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution to meet
the needs of the society and ends of justice, such as, right to equal pay for equal work, right to
free legal aid, right to health care, right to speedy trial, right to a healthy environment, etc.

However, in practicality and reality, a considerable number of the Indian Population is still
unaware even of the existence of the Indian Constitution, and a huge number of people are
1
unaware of the existence of their basic human rights. They do not ask for their rights and
simply accept the ill-comings simply blaming it on their fate and mostly poverty.

A new study of the regions Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by Payal Hathi of the
Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, published in The Economic and Political
Weekly in its Vol. 53, Issue No. 42, 20 October, 2018 2 based on mobile phone survey reveals

that a significant percentage of the Dalit and Muslim community still face discrimination.3

A pioneering report released by IDSN Member, the National Dalit Movement for Justice
(NDMJ-NCDHR), in collaboration with the National Centre for Dalit Human Rights, titled,

1Most people are still not aware of their basic rights, THE TIMES OF INDIA (Jun 16, 2011, 11:28
IST), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Most-people-are-still-not-aware-of-their-basic-
rights/articleshow/8868684.cms

2Payal Hathi, Experiences and Perceptions of Discrimination Among Dalits and Muslims, Economic & Political
Weekly, (20 October, 2018), https://www.epw.in/search/site/payal%20hathi

3 Vishnu Padmanabhan, The Discrimination Dalits and Muslims face in India, LiveMint, (24 Oct 2019, 06:45 PM
IST), https://www.livemint.com/Politics/69Nrdm8oMIvspVNHgdBPsK/The-discrimination-Dalits-and-Muslims-
face-in-India.html

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Criminal Justice in the Shadow of Caste looks at administration of criminal justice in India
4
through a caste lens, revealing discrimination at all levels, including within prisons.

Similarly, the citizens are equally unaware about their fundamental duties contained in Part IVA
of the Indian Constitution to promote the feeling of patriotism and unity, and the Karnataka High
Court directed the central and state governments to undertake programmes to educate and aware
the citizens regarding it, as the absence of it results in exploitation, deception and deprivation of
5
rights and benefits from which the poorer sections suffer, etc.

2.2 WOMEN RELATED LAWS

Along with the constitutional provisions regarding equality (Article14, 15, 16, 21) and
reservation of seats for women provided in gram panchayat (Article 243D) and municipalities
Article 243T), there are a number of legislations particularly to deal with and prevent the
violence and sexual, physical and mental harassment of women. But, mostly the women who are
to be protected under these legislations are not even aware about the existence of these Acts and
still fear to raise a voice or complaint against what they suffer. A few of such legislations have
been discussed under:

 Section 498A, IPC and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Section 498A provides for punishment in case of husband or a relative of husband
subjecting the woman to cruelty, and the Act, 2005 aims to protect any woman, married
or unmarried, in a domestic relationship, from domestic violence, sexual, physical,
emotional and verbal or economic abuse.
But according to a report of The National Health Survey-4, released by the Union Health
rd
Ministry, reveals that every 3 woman, since 15 years of age has experienced domestic
violence of various forms; at least 31% of the married women have experienced physical,
sexual, emotional or economic abuse by their spouses; in case of unmarried women, the

4
Report finds entrenched caste discrimination in India’s criminal justice system, International Dalit
Solidarity Network, (January 18, 2019, https://idsn.org/report-finds-entrenched-caste-discrimination-in-
indias-criminal-justice-system/
5Ashok KM, Make Citizens Aware Of Their Fundamental Duties, Karnataka HC Tells Centre, State, Live
Law.in, (25 Oct 2016 10:24 AM), https://www.livelaw.in/make-citizens-aware-fundamental-duties-karnataka-hc-
tells-centre-state/

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 domestic violence results from most common perpetrators- mothers, step-mothers,
6
fathers, step-fathers, brothers, sisters, teachers, etc.
 Section 304B, IPC and The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Section 304B provides for punishment in case of un –natural death of a married woman
within 7 years of marriage, in connection with demand of dowry, and the Act, 1961 aims
to abolish dowry (property or valuable security given or taken in connection with
marriage) and lays down stringent provisions to deal with any such case.
But National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recorded 4668 dowry deaths in the year
1995. The numbers rose to 6787 in the year 2005 and further to 7634 in 2015. Thus,
going by the latest data, India loses 21 lives to dowry every day. Studies reveal that out
of total number of cases registered, 93 per cent of the accused were charge sheeted but
7
only one third resulted in conviction.

 Section 354A, 509, IPC and The Sexual Harassment of Women at

Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
Section 354A deals with sexual harassment and punishment for it, Section 509 deals with
punishment for any act, word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman. The
Act, 2013 deals with prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplace and setting
up of Internal Complaint Committees and Local Complaint Committees to investigate
the complaints of sexual harassment.
But again, there is unawareness amongst most of the working women about the
provisions and the act; also they don’t complaint of any such issue out of fear of losing
their jobs, which further worsens their condition. According to data published by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development, the number of cases of sexual harassment
in the workplace registered in India jumped 54% from 371 cases in 2014 to 570 in 2017.

6 Sheikh Saaliq, Every Third Woman in India suffers Sexual, Physical violence at Home, NEWS18, (February 8,
2018, 9:41 AM IST), https://www.news18.com/news/india/the-elephant-in-the-room-every-third-woman-in-
india-faces-domestic-violence-1654193.html

7Vageshwari Deswal, Dowry deaths: An ominous ignominy for India, The Times of India Blogs, (April 3, 2019,
10:13 PM IST), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/legally-speaking/dowry-deaths-an-ominuous-
ignominy-for-india/
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 According to the ministry, 533 cases have already been reported in the first seven months
8
of 2018 – nearly as many as for all of last year.

2.3 CHILDREN RELATED LAWS

Along with the constitutional safeguards, such as, equality before laws and equal protection of
laws (Article 14), the state can make special provisions for children [Article 15(3)], free and
compulsory education for children 6-14years of age (Article 21A), Prohibition of traffic of
human beings and forced labour (Article 23), Prohibition of employment of children below age
of 14years, etc., there have been enacted various legislations for the protection of children. A
few of which have been discussed under:

 The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

This act aims at prohibition of child marriage, making it a criminal offence and provides
for the voidability of child marriage at the option of either of contracting parties,
provision of maintenance, residence and Child Marriage Prohibition Officers. However,
the child marriages are still occurring and the people indulging into it are either un-aware
of the laws or the ill effects of such marriages.
According to Factsheet on Child Marriages, 2019 released by UNICEF, there is a 40%
9
prevalence of child marriages in Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
 Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
This act aims at prohibiting the employment of a child below the age of 14years in
hazardous establishments, limits the working hours, prohibits overtime and regulates the
conditions of work. However, as many as 33 million children are employed as child
10
labourers in India, also in hazardous industries and mines. And we, the society have
normalized child labour like any other legal and right thing. We don’t object to it.

8Kanishk Karan, Five charts show sexual harassment in workplaces is being recognised – but much more must
be done, Scroll.in, (Oct 17, 2018 · 10:30 am), https://scroll.in/article/898327/five-charts-show-sexual-harassment-
in-workplaces-is-being-recognised-but-much-more-must-be-done

9 Indo-Asian News Service, Child marriage widespread in Bihar, Rajasthan and Bengal: Unicef report, India
Today, (March 18, 2019 08:59 IST), https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/child-marriages-widespread-in-bihar-
rajasthan-and-bengal-unicef-report-1454035-2019-02-12
10 World Day Against Child Labour 2017: Key Statistics, Money Control, (Jun 12, 2017 04:34 PM IST),
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/world-day-against-child-labour-2017-key-statistics-2302279.html

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  The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015
Despite various provisions and authorities, including the Juvenile Justice Board or The
Children Welfare Committee, or the National and State Commissions for Protection of
Child Rights, a considerate number of children in conflict with law are still languishing
in shelter homes or prisons due to unawareness about the laws made for them; and many
of the children in need of care and protection are being sexually exploited and physically
abused in the shelter homes, particularly, girls, such as The Deoria Shelter Home Rape
an Trafficking Case, 2018 and The Muzzafarpur Shelter Home Rape Case, 2018 exposed
by the TISS Report.
These children are helpless and unaware of the laws and provisions meant for their
protection, they do not know whom to approach and seek help from.
Many of such children are being trafficked too, for various reasons, mainly sexual
exploitation, child labour, beggar and pornography, as they are easy targets.

2.4 SCHEMES FOR THE BENEFIT OF SPECIFIC CLASS OF PEOPLE

The present and the governments in the past have launched various schemes over time to benefit
and meet the needs of certain class of people, mainly the poor and the marginalized, such as, The
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti
Bima Yojana, The Pradhan Fasal Bima Yojana, The Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna, Make in
India, and a lot more. However, not all the population of India reads newspapers as to stay
informed about the schemes. Those who are to be targeted by these schemes are not even aware
about the existence of these schemes and are still battling for their existence without any aid.

Unawareness among the people, mainly, in the rural areas, leads to the failure of the schemes;
also who get to know about the schemes, do not possess information as to how to avail the
11
benefit of these schemes, which results in a little lived success of the schemes. There has to be
a method and proper channel to make people aware about the schemes meant for them and the
procedure to avail the benefits of the scheme.

11 Vivek Anand, Two years of Ujjwala Yojana: Lack of awareness regarding benefits of LPG hinders
scheme's objective at rural level, FirstPost, (May 25, 2018 11:56:38 IST), https://www.firstpost.com/india/two-
years-of-ujjwala-yojana-lack-of-awareness-regarding-benefits-of-lpg-hinders-schemes-objective-at-rural-level-
4482377.html

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2.5 PUBLIC HEALTH, LEGAL AND MEDICAL AID
Most of the citizens are still unaware about their Right to Health and Healthcare being a
fundamental and basic right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution (State of Punjab v. M.S.
12
Chawla ) or even about the existence of any such right. Many people still hold back from going
to the Doctors and Hospitals for lack of money; or that smoking in public is prohibited and the
passive smoking is injurious to health too, (Murli S. Deora v. Union of India13) or that we all
have a right to a healthy and clean environment free from pollution (M.C. Mehta v. Union of
14
India ) , which is the responsibility of the government, from which it cannot step back
(Municipal Council, Ratlam vs Shri Vardhichand & Ors 15) or that life is of paramount
importance and that right to medical aid is a legal aid and no action will be taken against the
person who helps an accident victim to reach the hospital (Parmananda Katara v. Union of
16
India ) and that the hospitals cannot refuse emergency medical care (Paschim Banga Khet
Mazdoor Samity v. State of West Bengal17)

2.6 AUTHORITIES, COMPLAINTS AND REDRESSAL

MECHANISMS AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Most of the people are still unaware as to the proper authorities concerned to file a complaint
with and the process of filing a complaint about anything, or the mechanism of grievance
redressal. The common masses in the urban and the rural areas have to be made aware about
these, so that their problems and grievances can be solved.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 is a great achievement for the citizens as it promotes
transparency by letting the citizens ask for relevant information about the working of the
government and policies. However, the issue still remains the same that there isn’t awareness
about this act either.

12 AIR (1997) SC 1225

13 AIR (2002) SC 40
14 AIR (2006) 3 SCC 399
15 1980 AIR 1622
16 AIR (1989) 2039, (1989) SCR (3) 997
17 AIR 1996 SCC (4) 37
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2.7 ELECTIONS, ELECTION MANIFESTOS, PUBLICATION OF
RECORDS OF THE CANDIDATE AND MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT
We, the citizens of the Indian Democracy, possess the right to vote from the age of 18 years,
along with it, we also possess the right to contest the elections, subject to the disqualifications
and qualifications for the same as prescribed in the constitution. However, most people aren’t
still informed about these valuable rights possessed by them. The Election Manifestos published
by the candidates and the parties are still not looked in to by the people while deciding whom to
vote for, as a result of which, they are not able to make informed choices and are still influenced
by the caste, religion and the paid news broadcasted over the news channels. Also, most of the
people are still not aware about the requirement of disclosure and publication of the liabilities,
financial assets, educational qualifications, previous convictions and criminal charges of the
candidate, again resulting in to making un-informed choices to vote for. Similarly, the Model
Code of Conduct is less known about and the people are still influenced by the candidates or the
political parties, and also the concept of Electoral Offences and Grounds for Disqualification for
the candidates, which should at least be known to the common masses, to help them better
judge, decide and exercise their right to vote.

2.8 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Most of the citizens of our country are still not aware as to how the criminal justice system of
our country functions. Many people still fear the Police; also there have been cases of the Police
misusing their powers and exploiting the complainants and victims and harassing them. The
complaints of non- registration of FIR are not a new issue. This leads people in not going to the
Police to get their complaint registered. They can however, resort to file a complaint with the
Magistrate or any senior police officer regarding the same, but many of the citizens is not aware
about it. People need to be informed about the concept of Zero FIR.

The police cannot use handcuffs, unless it is necessary (Prem Shankar v. Delhi
18
Administration ) and it cannot arrest a women after sunset and before sunrise, that too without
any lady constable or police officer.

18 AIR 1996 SCC (4) 37

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The people who are too poor to afford to pay for the expenses of approaching the court, have a

Right to Free Legal Aid (M.H. Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra19) and the people need to be
made aware about the proceeding of the court and how the court really functions, they should
not back by the reason of poverty or cumbersome or time –consuming processes of the court
which leads to loss of trust in the institution of the court and the criminal justice system as a
whole, they should be informed that the under-trials have the Right to Speedy Trial (Hussainara

Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar20).

They should also be made aware about the Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism in the case
of Civil Disputes, which is comparatively less time- consuming and costly than the civil
proceedings.

19 AIR 1978 SC 1548

20 AIR 1979 SC 1360
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 3. NATIONAL LEGAL LITERACY MISSION
The National Legal Literacy Mission, with its motto was launched by the honorable Prime
Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh launched. This five-year Mission had its foundation in
the goal of legal empowerment of all sections of the society. Its object was to simplify the
language of the law to make people able to understand laws and judgments. Special focus was
laid on the downtrodden, minorities and women.

As evident from the speech of the Prime Minister, a democracy is meaningless, unless the
people know their basic human rights like education, employment and the right to live a life of
dignity and self respect. Such awareness is possible only through the mechanism of legal
literacy. To remove the obstacles, such as complex legal language of the statutes, in
understanding their rights, the Mission has been prepared as a weapon.

In the words of the former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti, women, children, tribal and
minority communities, victims of militancy, crime, disaster, drought-hit farmers, and sex
workers needed urgent attention. Legal literacy, being the first step towards knowledge of the
law, the Mission aims at legal education of all sections of society.

Objective of the Mission.

NLLM was initiated with the aim of providing legal education to the underprivileged persons,
including disabled people. The subject matter of the mission was to educate the people about
law, legal terminology and legal rights. Looking deep into the structure of the NLLM, it had
following goals:

1. To achieve 100% legal literacy.

2. To target the most disadvantaged, distraught, disintegrated, vulnerable and
victimized populace first and progress further in the grass-root level.
3. To prepare State Specific Plan of Actions for implementation of objective of the Mission.
4. To undertake survey, research, documentation drive, social investigation reporting and social
audit as a learning exercise of people’s problems, grievances and to understand the nature
of redressal required.
5. To sensitize the Judicial Officers to people’s cause particularly to that of women and children,
and minorities, tribal and such other most vulnerable groups as well as persons in custody in

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addition to implementation of the Acts pertaining to mentally and physically challenged, the
destitute and beggars, the orphans and neglected citizens, the abandoned elderly citizens,
discrimination in case of any caste, communal violence, disaster and disease outbreak .

Target Groups.

Taking into account the provision of the section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987,
which prescribes the criteria for giving legal services to the eligible persons, following persons
are covered under the target group of the Legal Aid services:

1. a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;

2. A victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred to in Article 23 of

the Constitution;

3. A woman or a child;

4. A mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;

5. a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass

disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or

6. An industrial workman; or

7. a person in custody, including custody-

a. in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Immoral
Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; or
b. in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause (j) of section 2 of the Juvenile Justice
Act, 1986 or
c. in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of clause (g)
of section 2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987; or

8. a person who receives an annual income of less than rupees nine thousand or such other
higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Govt if the case is before a court other than
the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may
be prescribed by the Central Govt if the case is before the Supreme Court.
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3.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MISSION.

In the present scenario, the implementation of any reform policy in India does not merely
depend upon the Government policies for its implementation. In this regard, the role played by
the non-governmental agencies can’t be ignored as they have deeper contacts at the grass roots
than official government machineries. The implementation of the legal literacy programmes as
well as this Mission depends largely upon the NALSA, state legal service authorities, the non-
governmental agencies (mainly NGOs) and the colleges.
Therefore, in order to understand the significance of the bodies involved in the implementation
of the legal literacy programmes, it is essential to know their working and modes

of implementation adopted by them.

A. National Legal Service Authority. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), as
constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 has a paramount role to
Provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society.
Among its other functions, the Authority has an obligation to adopt measures for spreading legal
literacy and legal awareness amongst the people and, also for educating weaker sections of the
society about the rights, benefits and privileges guaranteed by social welfare legislations and
other enactments as well as administrative programmers and measures. Also, the NALSA has the
duties pertaining to:
1. Monitoring and evaluation of implementation of the legal aid programmers at periodic
interval;
2. Independent evaluation of programmers and schemes implemented in whole or in part
By funds provided under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987;
3.providing grants-in-aid for specific schemes to various voluntary social service
Institutions and the State and District Authorities, from out of the amounts placed at
Its disposal for the implementation of legal services schemes under the provisions of
this Act; and
4.Organizing legal aid camps, especially in rural area, slums or labour colonies with
the Purposes of educating the weaker sections of the society as to their rights and the
Settlement of disputes through Lok Adalats.

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Measures of NALSA towards Legal Literacy and Awareness.
1. National Plan of Action. In its newsletters, the NALSA describes the National Plan of Action
for every year. As far as the legal literacy and legal awareness is concerned, the NALSA focuses
upon the legal literacy and legal awareness programmes in these plans. In the National Plan of
Action for the year 2010-11, a significant focus has been given to the legal literacy and
awareness camps.

2. Legal Literacy Classes in Schools and Colleges. In the year 2010, the NALSA took giant leap
in the realm of legal literacy, by taking initiative to impart legal awareness to the younger
generation. Through this programme, the NALSA aims at creating consciousness amongst the
school going children that our country is governed by rule of law.

3. Students Advocacy Programme Linking Institutes of Learning (SAPLING). The NALSA has
launched this programme, involving law students in order to promote legal awareness. This
programme is part of National Legal Literacy Mission. Also it launched `Project Combat,'
which, aimed at protection of the rights of girl child.
B. Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Section 3A of the Act lays down the provision for
the establishment of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, for the purpose of exercising
such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the
Central Authority.

C. State Legal Service Authorities (SLSAs). The Legal Services Authority Act provides for it
has the obligation to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA. Also it has duty to
provide legal services to those who need and fulfill the criteria as laid down in the Act; to
conduct Lok Adalats and perform other functions as fixed by regulations. It also coordinates
with NGOs, voluntary institutions, universities and other bodies, involved in promoting legal
awareness.

D. High Court Legal Services Committee. Section 8A of the Act lays down the provision for the
establishment of the High Court Legal Services Committee, for the purpose of exercising such
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powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the State
Authority.

E. District Legal Services Authorities. Under section 9 of the Act, the State Government has
been empowered to constitute a body to be called the District Legal Services Authority for every
District in the State, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

The authorities perform the following functions:

1. Coordination in the activities of the Taluk Legal Services Committee and other legal services
in the District;
2. Organizing Lok Adalats within the District; and
3. Such other functions as fixed by the State Authority by regulations.

F. Taluk Legal Services Committee. Under section 11A of the Act, the State Authority has
discretion to constitute a Committee, to be called the Taluk Legal Services Committee, for each
taluk or mandal or for group of taluks or mandals. It performs following functions:
1. Coordinating the activities of legal services in the taluk;
2. Organizing Lok Adalats within the taluk; and
3. Such other functions as the District Authority may assign to it.

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 4. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES:

“The Poor man looks upon the law as an enemy, not as a friend. For him the law is always
taking something away.” Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Law Day Speech, May 1, 1964.

The legal aid system in India has proven ineffective. There are four main reasons why the
National Legal Services Authorities has not been able to deliver real legal aid:

There is a general lack of awareness of the availability of legal aid;

There is a perception that free service is incompatible with quality service;

There are not enough lawyers delivered by the legal services authorities, and lawyers generally
are uninterested in providing competent legal assistance because of financial constraints.
Moreover, too often lawyers assigned to provide legal aid and paid with public funds do not
faithfully represent their clients, casting serious doubt on the credibility of the scheme of legal
aid provided to weaker sections of society. Some lawyers engaged by legal aid committees hold
their client’s cases for ransom by employing delay tactics. These lawyers compel their clients,
many innocent, to pay additional amounts of money to them, even though they are supposed to
obtain their fee from the legal aid committee. One factor that may be contributing to this is that
the remuneration paid to lawyers by the legal aid committee is very low and does not even meet
thelawyer’sincidentalexpenses.
Another major obstacle to the legal aid movement in India is that the delivery system for legal
aid is far too inefficient. More lawyers must be encouraged to delivery free legal aid and a
campaign should be launched to inform people about the existence of free legal aid. The legal
aid movement cannot achieve its goal so long as people are not aware of their basic rights. When
the poor are not aware of their legal rights, they are subject to exploitation and ultimately
deprived of the rights and benefits provided to them under law. Thus, the key to a successful free
legal aid system is increased awareness among the populace and more efficient delivery
processes.

Successful legal aid delivery in India requires the government to embark on a campaign to
inform and educate the public of its right to free legal aid. Further, the government must employ
more efficient processes to improve legal aid delivery, including but not limited to increased
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compensation for legal aid lawyers. Absent that, the constitutional right to free legal aid rings
hollow.

5. SUGGESTIONS AS TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT SCENARIO

As we have analyzed so far that we do not have the lack of laws, acts or provisions, but the
implementation of these and the lack of the awareness among the citizens of the nation. The
object of these legislations and provisions will not be achieved till there is unawareness
prevailing among the people of our country, particularly, the rural areas.

The legislation should reach to the knowledge of the class of people for whom it is meant and
the procedure as to how they can benefit from the legislation. People should be made aware at
least about their basic fundamental rights.

There is an immediate need of making people aware about their rights and the Central and the
State Governments should take up legal literacy programs with maximum reach to the people,
with the aim of eradicating legal illiteracy like the illiteracy.

The Law Schools should compulsorily set up Legal Aid Clinics as provided by The Bar Council
of India in Point 11, Schedule III of The Rules of Legal Education, 2008 and they should be
actually working and helping people in need of legal advice, rather than just setting it for the
sake of requirement. The Bar Council of India should regularly make visits to the Law Schools
and inspect the working of these legal aid clinics.

The Law Students should be given group activities on a regular basis to set up legal awareness
camps in the nearby areas and localities, so as to educate the masses and create legal awareness
among them, they should also inform the people about the Legal Aid Clinics available in the
Law Schools where they can seek legal aid and advice.

The Law students should be encouraged to join as Para Legal Volunteers to create legal
awareness amongst the common masses about their rights and duties, and give them legal
advice, in case they need it.

The Advocates should also actively participate in such programs of creating legal awareness.

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The Theatre Societies of universities or theatre schools should perform street plays, theatre plays
in the localities on various social and legal issues and try to educate and aware the audience
through their plays.

The most basic and common laws should be broadcasted on the national television channel and
radio in the form of awareness advertisements.

The students enrolled in schools should also be taught about their rights and duties from a young
age, so as to inculcate it in their memories.

The NGOs should be encouraged to take up this issue and work for creating legal awareness in
the society.

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 6. CONCLUSION
It can hence be concluded from the above discussed details that we, as a nation won’t be able
develop completely without our citizens becoming aware of the rights that they possess and the
duties that they owe towards the fellow citizens and the country. Most of the population is still
sleeping over their right due to lack of legal awareness. We, as citizens, should be aware of and
possess at least the basic legal knowledge.

This paper does not at all intend to say that we should impart legal education to the common
masses like a law student, it rather aims to insist on the need to make the citizens aware of the
existence of basic human rights and making them vigilant in the matter of violation of their
rights and also in the matter of policies which are made for their benefit.

Such legal awakening of the masses will help in the reduction of the cases of exploitation of the
common masses due to lack of proper knowledge about their rights and the redressal mechanism
in case of violation of their rights. They should not be afraid to ask and fight for what they
possess. These right granted to them are not in any way a privilege provided to them by the
government.

The legal awakening of the country will result into control and decrease of the spread of the fake
news, as people will apply their basic logical reasoning based on their legal knowledge, resulting
into decrease in the number of incidents of mob- violence. We, as a country, will become more
informed, and will be able to assess as what news to believe and check its authenticity and
source before believing it.

The law students can play a major role in achieving this goal by creating awareness in the areas
near them; also the Central and the State Governments need to take up legal literacy programs to
eradicate the legal illiteracy. More NGOs should be set up and encouraged to work for creating
legal awareness in the society.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

PRIMARY SOURCE
STATUTES REFERRED:
 The Constitution of India
 Indian penal code 1860

 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015.

 The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and

Redressal) Act, 2013
 Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
 The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

BOOKS REFERRED:
 Schuler Margaret and Sakuntala Kadirgamar-Rajasingham, Legal Literacy: A Tool
for
Women’s Empowerment, Women, Law and Development OEF International UNIFEM
Publications 1992

 Ved Kumari, The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015
st
(Universal Law Publishing, 1 edn., 2017).

Kamala Sankaran & Ujjwal Kumar Singh Towards Legal Literacy: An Introduction to Law
in India. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, India, 2008,

SECONDARY SOURCES

WEBSITES REFERRED:
 https://doj.gov.in/sites/default/files/English_final_1.pdf
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256054889_National_Legal_Literacy_Mission_-
_An_Evaluative_Analysis

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 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/185813/16/16_bibliography.pdf
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/right-to-legal-literacy-
guaranteed-under-constitution-says-chief-justice-of-
india/articleshow/24758711.cms?from=mdr
 https://www.academia.edu/7852553/Legal_Literacy_as_an_Instrument_for_Social_reform_Apr
il_to_June_Issue
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_awareness
 https://www.firstpost.com/india/two-years-of-ujjwala-yojana-lack-of-awareness-regarding-
benefits-of-lpg-hinders-schemes-objective-at-rural-level-4482377.html
 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/child-marriages-widespread-in-bihar-rajasthan-and-bengal-
unicef-report-1454035-2019-02-12
 https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/world-day-against-child-labour-2017-key-statistics-
2302279.html
 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/child-marriages-widespread-in-bihar-rajasthan-and-bengal-
unicef-report-1454035-2019-02-12
 https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/world-day-against-child-labour-2017-key-statistics-
2302279.html

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 ANNEXURE-I

Questionnaire On Legal Literacy

This questionnaire is part of Research Article on the topic “LEGAL LITERACY AND
AWARENESS IN INDIA" prepared by Saiful Haque, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia
under the direction of Dr. Eqbal Hussain, Professor, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi- 110025.

To ensure your anonymity, all of your answers are sent directly to the secure database.
Regardless of the situation, no individual responses will be identified on any of the
questionnaires.

I am interested in your information, awareness and views about LEGAL LITERACY AND
AWARENESS IN INDIA and their conditions in India. Please take your time but try not to
linger on any one question, your first response to the question is usually your true belief.
Additionally, you should take the questionnaire only once.

1. Please indicate your age

Mark only one oval.

Below 18years
18-25 years
25-35 years
Above 35 years

2. Please indicate your gender

Mark only one oval.

Male

Female

Other:

3. Please indicate your educational qualification

Mark only one oval.

Below Matriculation
Matriculation Senior
Secondary Graduate
Post Graduate
Professional

4. Do you think that the laws in India are widely publicised? Mark

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only one oval.

Yes
No

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 5. Do you think the common and the deprived masses are aware about the

Laws in India? Mark only one oval .

Yes No

6. Do you think the government needs to organise legal awareness programmes? Mark only
one oval.

Yes No

7. Do you think the government schemes are widely publicised to reach those who are
to benefit from them?
Mark only one oval.

Yes No

8. Do you think the basic laws should be encorporated in the education

system? Mark only one oval.
Yes No

9. Do you think you have a duty towards the society to create awareness as a
responsible citizen?
Mark only one oval.

Yes No

10. Put forward your suggestions to create legal awareness in the country.

Powered by

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ANNEXURE-II

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 ANNEXURE-III

A SUMMARY OF THE RESPONSES TO THE

QUESTIONNAIRE CREATED AT GOOGLE FORMS 21
On a brief analysis of the responses to the questionnaire on Legal Literacy And Awareness, we
can conclude the following:
 About 72% think that law in India is widely publicized and 28% don’t
 About 85% think that the common and deprived masses are not aware about law
only 15% think that people are aware about law.
 About 97% thinks that the government should organize legal awareness program.
 About 94% think that basic law should be encorporated in education system.

 About 98% think that as a responsible citizen of the society they should have
duty to create legal awareness in the society.

 About 61% think that the government schemes widely publicized so that
whosoever needed get benefit from that scheme.

 People have various opinion regarding the improvement of legal literacy and
legal awareness, such as
 Compulsory legal course of one year to every adult.
 By organizing workshops about legal awareness in schools and colleges
 Government should have organised legal awareness in village and senior advocate
should also take legal awareness in ruler and urban areas .I think in law graduation
one class should be on legal awareness in uneducated community
 Awareness programme should be introduced in education system so that at each
level we learn something
 More sensitization in rural and socioeconomically backward pockets where people
have limited access to media print or televised. Formation of local self help groups
and spread of message through Nukad Nataks like activities On part of education
reforms particularly for law mandatory and actual social work need to be included in
curriculum to understand its necessity in first place

21
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAlpQLSfva0iB7yokBMb6yWXAzny27QqvJuCI7gRrQibMaVE79KxveQ/vi
ewform?usp=sf_link

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 It is nescessary for everyone to know about own constitution (laws).I think one
paper must be included in your education system (under graduation level or post
graduation level).
 Basic legal education should be inculcated in school curriculums.
 Provide legal camp in villages because everyone should aware about law
 Media can play a major role, rather than publishing stupidity they should work
towards creating awareness even at the ground level.
 People must be given more legislative exposure in democracy. Otherwise giving a
democratic tag to a country doesn't make it so. The educational curriculum of the
country must be reformed by further introducing the rights and power of citizen.
The people must recognise their strength and stand in the democratic run of the
country. New upcoming policies must be circulated among the masses with the
motive of getting their consent and agreement and must act accordingly.

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