Parliament Question: National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5653 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 27TH MARCH, 2026 NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (NALSA) †5653. SHRI ARUN GOVIL:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has constituted the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to provide legal support to women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, disaster victims, economically weaker sections/classes and poor so that no groups of people is deprived of access to justice due to paucity of funds;

(b) if so, the total number of districts in the country wherein NALSA is operational;

(c) the number of districts in the country where NALSA is not operational so far;

(d) the time by which NALSA is likely to be made operational in the remaining districts;

(e) the rate of per case remuneration given to the lawyers serving under this Authority; and

(f) the number of people who have benefited from the National Legal Services Authority during the last five years in the Meerut Parliamentary Constituency? 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 (d): The Government of India 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 women, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, disaster victims and economically weaker section, eligible under

Section 12 of LSA Act, to ensure that opportunities 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.

As per Section 6(1) of LSA Act, 1987, “Every State Government shall constitute a body to be called the Legal Services Authority for the State to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on, or assigned to, a State Authority under this Act.” 1As per Section 9(1) of LSA Act, 1987, “The State Government shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, constitute a body to be called the District Legal Services Authority for every District in the State to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on, or assigned to, the District Authority under this Act.” In order to reach out to the citizens in every corner of the country, the legal services authorities have been setup from the Taluk level up to the Supreme Court level. The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) functions at the Supreme Court

whereas, there are 38 High Court Legal Services Committees (HCLSCs), 37 State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs), 715 District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) and 2475 Taluk Legal Services Committees (TLSCs).

(e): NALSA has framed the National Legal Services Authority (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010. The Regulation 14 of the National Legal Services Authority (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010, which provides for the payment of

fee to the panel lawyers are as follows:- “14. Payment of fee to the panel lawyers. - (1) Panel lawyers shall be paid fee in accordance with the Schedule of fee, as approved under the State regulations.

(2) The State Legal Services Authority and other Legal Services Institution shall effect periodic revision of the honorarium to be paid to panel lawyers for the different types of services rendered by them in legal aid cases.”

(f): Details of number of persons benefitted through free legal services under LSA Act in the State of Uttar Pradesh (including the district of Meerut) during the last five financial years

are as follows: - Year Persons benefited 2021-22 1,32,629 2022-23 24,890 2023-24 29,079 2024-25 22,732 2025-26 27,179 (upto January, 2026) However, district and constituency wise data is not maintained by NALSA.

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