Having made some progress towards reducing poverty and exclusion during the 11th Plan period, the 12th Plan aims to accelerate faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan points out that the “greater desire to access information about the rights and entitlements made available by law and policy, and eagerness to demand accountability from the public delivery systems augurs well for the future.”
UNDP has engaged in a partnership with the Department of Justice, Government of India, which began with a preparatory phase, Strengthened Access to Justice in India (SAJI) to carry out a justice sector diagnosis, identify entry points and support innovative small pilots to identify good initiatives for replication. Based on lessons and results of the first phase and an extensive design mission, a four year project (2008-2012) was developed. The project ‘Access to Justice for Marginalized People’ was implemented in the UNDAF focus states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh as well as at national level with key institutions. A new phase of the Access to Justice Project has been launched for a period of 5 years.
The Department of Justice is taking many other steps to ensure improved access to justice for the people. An access to justice project has recently been rolled out in the 8 States of North-East India and in J & K. In addition, the Department has introduced a slew of measures towards this end. The GoI is computerizing the courts and making them ICT enabled. This will allow the courts to move away from manual functioning to e-functioning and provide e-services to the people. It is also investing on judicial infrastructure. The Government has also initiated the Gram Nyayalaya scheme which supports the States to set up courts at the grassroot level with a view to take justice to the doorsteps of the people.
A key forward-looking initiative of the Department of Justice is the setting up of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms with the twin objectives of a) Increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system, and b) Enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities.
The Mission, which is chaired by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Law and Justice, has identified 5 strategic initiatives to achieve its goals:
Policy and Legislative Changes;Re-engineering Procedures & Alternate Methods of Dispute Resolution;Focus on Human Resource Development;Leveraging ICT for better Justice Delivery; andImproving Infrastructure.The UNDP supported ‘Increasing Access to Justice for Marginalised People” Project (2013-2017) has two major components: Legal Empowerment (LEP) and embedded technical support for the National Mission on Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms (JDLR). The Project Manager will head the Project Management Team of the LEP component. S/he will work under the direct supervision of Project Coordinator and will report to the National Project Director (NPD) and Programme Officer, UNDP.
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