Parliament Question: Access to justice in Odisha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 756 ANSWERED ON 05/02/2026 ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN ODISHA 756 SHRI SUBHASISH KHUNTIA:

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:

(a) whether Government has taken steps to improve access to formal justice delivery in Odisha, particularly in tribal and rural areas, and;

(b) if so, the measures taken to strengthen district courts, legal aid services and fast-track courts and to discourage informal or illegal village-level dispute resolution mechanisms; and

(c) If not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) to (c): The Government of India has taken several steps to improve access to justice delivery in the country, including the State of Odisha. To augment the resources of the State Governments/UTs, the Central Government has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme

(CSS) for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in the District and Subordinate courts since 1993-94. In the last five years, under this CSS, assistance of Rs. 136.33 crore (as on

31.12.2025) has been provided to the State of Odisha. As on 31.12.2025, the State of Odisha has 913 court halls and 156 court halls are under construction.

Under the eCourts Project, a total of 184 eSewa Kendras are functioning in the State of Odisha, facilitating a wide array of services to litigants, lawyers and the general public including, assistance in e-filing processes, e-payment of court fees and fines, etc. 220 court complexes under District and Subordinate Courts across the State have been provided with Information Communication Technology (ICT) hardware items and Video Conferencing facility has been enabled in all the District courts across the State. 44 Fast Track Special Courts have been established in the State of Odisha to dispose-off pending cases related to rape of children and women.

1The Government has set up National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) under the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 to provide free and competent legal services to the poor and marginalised sections of the society including Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe ( ST) to ensure that opportunity for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunities. In order to reach out to the citizens in every corner of the country, including Odisha, the legal services institutions have been setup from the Taluk level upto the Supreme Court.

NALSA has notified National Legal Services Authority (Legal Services Clinics) Regulations, 2011 which provides for establishment of District Legal Services Clinics in all villages, or for a cluster of villages, depending upon the size of such villages, which is called the Village Legal Care and Support Centre. Accordingly, 132 Village Legal Care and Support Centres have been setup by the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) and Taluk Legal Services Committees (TLSCs), in Odisha to help the marginalized people including tribals to resolve their legal problems, wherever required. The details of persons visited and provided with assistance by

Village Legal Care and Support Centres in Odisha during the last two years are as follows:

Year No. of persons visited No. of persons provided with assistance 2024 8,029 4,593 2025 7,638 5,644 As part of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, 04 National Lok Adalats

(NLAs) have been organised in 2025, from Taluk Courts to High Court of Orissa on the dates scheduled by the NALSA. That apart, pursuant to the direction of the Executive Chairman, Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA), a District level Lok Adalat was also organized by the OSLSA on 27.07.2025 on the cases under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. Further, 22 Permanent Lok Adalats are functional in Odisha to deal with cases related to Public Utility Services.

In order to provide effective and quality legal services to the disadvantaged and underprivileged sections of the society in court based criminal matters vis a vis Public Defender System and under the aegis of NALSA steps have been taken by OSLSA to implement Legal Aid Defence Council System (LADCS) in 30 DLSAs of the State.

2In addition to above, the Department of Justice has been implementing Tele Law and Pro Bono Legal Services (Nyaya Bandhu) Programme for legal assistance to the poor and marginalized sections of the society under the Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice

(DISHA) Scheme. Under the DISHA scheme, Tele Law connects citizens with the lawyers through Mobile App and Toll Free No. 14454 for rendering Pre-Litigation advice through the use of video/Tele conferencing facilities available at the Common Service Centres (CSCs)/Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at the Panchayat level. Under the Tele Law outreach programme, 29 Nyaya Sahayaks are active as community based legal facilitators in the aspirational blocks of Odisha. They play a critical role in creating awareness about legal rights and entitlements through door-to-door outreach, community interactions and local campaigns.

********* 3