9,000 undertrials released through Maharashtra's legal aid model: CM
2
Nagpur: Around 9,000 undertrial prisoners, nearly 45% of the 20,000 aided so far, were released through a pioneering legal aid initiative launched under chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2018.
The first-of-its-kind model in the country, this effort has since been adopted by the central govt and is now being expanded nationwide with dedicated funding, a statement released by the govt says.
Conceived as a response to the disproportionately high number of undertrials in Indian jails, the initiative focuses on providing structured legal assistance to inmates who often remain incarcerated due to lack of representation or inability to afford bail.
As per the Prison Statistics India Report 2021, over 77% of inmates in India are undertrials, with an average jail occupancy rate of 130%.
"This effort began with a clear objective, to deliver justice to those trapped in the system for no fault other than poverty or lack of support," said Fadnavis, highlighting the need for equity within the criminal justice framework.
The project began with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Maharashtra govt and the Azim Premji Foundation.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn
IC Markets
Đăng ký
Undo
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and National Law University, Delhi also partnered in operationalising the programme.
Initially rolled out across eight major prisons — Nagpur, Arthur Road, Byculla, Kalyan, Taloja, Latur, Thane, and Pune — it involved the appointment of trained social work and legal fellows within jails and District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs).
These professionals assist prisoners in preparing legal documents, understanding court procedures, and securing effective legal representation.
The initiative has not only helped secure bail or case closure for thousands but has also strengthened the prison-based legal aid system and triggered policy-level reforms.
With the success of the pilot phase, the state govt recently renewed its MoU with the Azim Premji Foundation. The next phase will focus on strengthening information systems, scaling legal clinics in prisons, and building institutional capacities to deliver justice more efficiently.
Officials said that the initiative has become a national model for legal aid, demonstrating how administrative will and structured partnerships can transform access to justice for the most marginalised.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
3 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Silent killer on the loose: The menace of Chinese manjha
It's a humid July afternoon. In Southeast Delhi's Sangam Vihar, a 14-year-old has just come back from school. The scrawny teenager quickly changes into brown shorts and a black T-shirt and heads out again. He has to buy a packet of toned milk from a grocery store in the Sangam Vihar market, a small cluster of shops across the road from the main Wazirabad market. But the milk is only part of the errand. The boy, his friends claim, is the contact in the area to get the infamous 'Chinese manjha (kite string)'. 'Kam se kam 200 ka loge? (Will you buy at least Rs 200 worth of manjha?)' — he's often heard asking prospective customers. Once assured the buyer is serious, the boy gestures for them to follow him inside the market. En route is a shabby one-room kite shop, with children queuing up outside. But he passes by without a glance. 'Yahan kuch nai milega. Abhi (police) raid ka season hai. (You won't find anything here. This is the season of raids),' he says, referring to a recent raid by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in Wazirabad on July 5. After passing through a narrow alley, the boy reaches a small medical shop. He steps up and murmurs into the ear of an 18-year-old youth sitting at the counter. 'Rs 220 ek reel manjhe ke liye. Ek dum dhaardaar hai, Bareilly se laya hai mere chacha ka ladka. Bolo toh mangwaunga (Rs 220 for one reel of manja. It's very sharp. My cousin got it from Bareilly. Say the word and I will bring it),' the boy at the counter says. Despite being banned in Delhi, the sale of Chinese manjha continues. The string, made of nylon, is coated with crushed pieces of glass, giving it razor-sharp edges that easily cut through other kite strings in the air — but it is capable of doing far worse on the ground. In recent years, it has been linked to multiple deaths and injuries, particularly among two-wheeler riders whose necks get caught in stray strings hanging across roads. This year, it has already led to the death of one person and injured another. On June 27, Yash Goswami (22) died after his throat was slit by a Chinese manjha on Rani Jhansi flyover in North Delhi. The Karawal Nagar resident was on his way home at the time. 'Goswami suffered a deep cut on his neck, causing him to collapse on the spot. He was rushed to the hospital by passersby, where he was declared dead on arrival,' a police officer had said. In another incident on July 2, the string did not take the life of Axis Bank employee Prakash but slashed his face while he was passing by the Shastri Park flyover on his bike, police had said. Chinese manjha, according to the police and shopkeepers, is primarily produced in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. It is called 'Chinese' not because of its origin, but because it is synthetic, unlike traditional Indian Manjha or 'Sadda', which are made from natural cotton threads. In January 2017, the Delhi government moved a notification banning manjha made of nylon and plastic and ones made of cotton coated with glass or metal (popularly known as 'Bareilly ka manjha'). In 2017, the National Green Tribunal had ordered a total ban on manjha made of nylon or any synthetic material. Like every year, the Delhi Police has started its crackdown on the supply of Chinese manjha. With the kite-flying season approaching ahead of Independence Day, the Crime Branch has already seized over 1,200 rolls of the banned thread from three locations in the city. The first seizure was done at Central Delhi's Kamla Market on June 26. Running the illegal manjha operation here was Areeb Khan (22) a former textile store worker. 'He had 248 rolls of banned string and was caught near Kamla Market. Areeb used to work at a clothing store but moved to kite-string selling for more profit,' DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav had said. The second operation happened in West Delhi's Uttam Nagar on June 27. 2. Raju Chaurasia (51) was arrested in the case. The third operation took place in Sangam Vihar, Wazirabad on July 5. The raid led to the arrest of Danish Khan (28) and the recovery of 56 rolls of manjha. He used to make kites but started selling manjha to earn more money, police had said. In all, 1,226 rolls of Chinese manjha have been found, and police registered three FIRs against the people involved. On Friday itself, brothers Samir (22) and Shakir (18) were arrested from a jhuggi cluster at Nand Nagri with 325 reels of the banned Chinese manjha. They allegedly told the police that they were stocking up for the Independence Day. Kamla Market in Daryaganj, in the Lal Kuan area, is known as the hub for kite shops. Sitting at his family's kite shop is a 13-year-old bespectacled boy, handling customers as the adults have stepped out. Behind him, kites of all shapes and colours are pinned to the wall. The news of Areeb's arrest has spread like wildfire, with shopkeepers now vehemently denying ever possessing the Chinese Manjha. 'Chinese manjha ab nahi milta yaha. Jo bechte the unko bhi pakad liya police ne (Chinese manjha is not available here, the police have caught those who sold them),' says the boy. 'Par uski takkar ka mil jaayega (But you can get something of the same quality at the main shop),' he adds. He goes down a damp lane and, after about 250 m, enters a house with a green curtain serving as its entrance. Inside is a room with high-ceiling, with kites all around. Sitting on the floor, on a ragged, torn maroon carpet, are two teenage boys and an elderly man clad in a white kurta pyjama — all sewing kites. The man owns the kite shop. The 13-year-old asks the man, who is holding a purple kite in his hand, for manjha. The man shouts, 'Indian reel le aa ek (Bring a reel of cotton manjha).' Hearing him, the other two boys, a couple of years older than their bespectacled peer, rush together inside a storeroom. They come out with a reel of thread. 'Cotton hai, par masala chadha hua hai. Wahi glass wala jo hota hai. (It's a cotton thread, but it's coated with glass),' says the man on being asked if the thread has the same sharpness as the 'Chinese one'. According to police officers, the ban applies both to the nylon thread and its deadly glass coating (Bareilly manjha). 'The nylon threads are sometimes replaced by cotton ones at these shops. But they have options. You can buy a sadda (plain cotton reel) or the glass-coated one (glass-coated cotton reel),' an officer said. 'Hard to make arrests' Though suppliers are often caught in raids, arrests are rare in cases where deaths occur from stray manjha hanging in public spaces. 'It's very difficult to nab someone in these cases. The thread gets cut once it tangles around someone on a road or in any public place. It's difficult to trace the owner of one piece of thread found on a random flyover,' a police officer says. No arrests have been made in the two cases from this year, police say. On August 19 in 2023, Sandeep (40) was taking his seven-year-old daughter on an early morning drive on his black motorcycle to Bhaira Enclave in West Delhi's Paschim Vihar. His daughter was sitting in front. He was about to take a turn when his daughter screamed. 'I quickly stopped and got her down — and saw the manjha wrapped around her neck. She was bleeding,' Sandeep had told police at that time. The girl died on her way to the hospital. No one has been arrested till now, a senior police officer says. In August 2019, Manav Sharma (28) had his throat slit by the manjha in Paschim Vihar of Outer Delhi. He was on the way home on a scooter with his sisters after celebrating Raksha Bandhan. No arrest was made in this case either, the officer adds. Monika (26), the younger sister of Manav, was sitting behind him on the scooter, when his throat was slit. 'The scooter has been parked for the last six years in front of our building. No one in our family touched it,' Monika says. The death of Manav, who was the sole breadwinner for a family of five – including his parents and his two sisters – devastated the family. 'We were returning after celebrating Raksha Bandhan. My cousins had come from Punjab. Manav was riding the scooter, and I and my sister were riding pillion. He suddenly stopped and we saw blood gushing from his throat,' Monika says. Monika is now the sole breadwinner of the family of three – her father had died in 2023. 'I work for a private firm… Since he (Manav) left us, I haven't been able to ride a two-wheeler. Every year, I hear about manjhas causing deaths. I don't know about the ban, but how come such a thing that can kill people this easily is still available in the market,' she asks. As Independence Day nears, raids on manjha godowns are expected to be stepped up, senior police officers said. 'Most suppliers get stock 48 hours before August 14, when the demand is at peak. They look to quickly sell and finish off the stock before they can be caught,' an officer added.
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
NGT orders probe into ‘illegal' sand mining in Dhenkanal
1 2 Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered an investigation into alleged illegal sand mining at a quarry in the Brahmani river in Dhenkanal district. The directive came during a hearing on Friday on a petition filed by a Talcher-based NGO which alleged that sand was being mined illegally over 11.80 acres from the river at Gunadei village under Odapada tehsil, flouting several environmental norms and guidelines. The petitioner's counsels, Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy (appearing virtually), claimed the project was operating in violation of the Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016, issued by the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change. Taking note of the charges, NGT's east zone bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) constituted a five-member fact-finding committee comprising officials from the Dhenkanal administration, Odisha State Pollution Control Board, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), and the mines department. The Dhenkanal district magistrate will act as the nodal officer for coordination. The committee has been directed to conduct a site inspection and file a report on affidavit within three weeks. The matter has been listed for next hearing on Aug 19. NGT in its order noted that the original environmental clearance (EC) granted on March 30, 2021, to the Odapada tehsildar, was conditional upon submission of an annual rate of replenishment study (ARSS) by May 2022 — a requirement that was not fulfilled. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dolly Parton, 79, Removes Her Makeup and Stuns Everyone The Noodle Box Undo On July 12, 2023, the EC was transferred to a private lessee. However, SEIAA flagged it as a "violation case", acknowledging that the quarry had operated without proper transfer of clearance. The petition alleged that although the lessee was permitted to extract only 8,618 cubic metres of sand in the third year, mining exceeded permissible limits within just four days, with over 100 trucks operating daily, suggesting extraction of nearly 2,000 cubic metres per day. Other allegations include mechanical mining in violation of manual mining conditions, lack of demarcation at the site, unapproved district survey report and failure to display statutory clearances. Use of heavy vehicles was also said to be impacting the river's flow and local infrastructure.
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Domestic violence: Low rates of conviction flag systemic gaps
Bengaluru: A new study by a city-based women's organisation has revealed alarming gaps in the justice system's handling of domestic violence cases in Bengaluru: Between 2017 and 2022, only 24 out of 2,202 cases filed under IPC Section 498A (cruelty by husband or his relatives) ended in convictions. This translates to a conviction rate of just 1% over five years. The findings are part of a larger research project by the group, Aweksha, that analysed data from sources such as the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), National Family Health Survey (NFHS), National Commission for Women, and Bengaluru's district court records. The study also noted that while criminal cases under 498A are low, nearly 4,990 cases were filed in the city under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, a civil law that provides for protection and relief but doesn't lead to criminal convictions. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru Though the lack of govt data for the last two years limits the study, cases spanning longer periods in Indian courts bring relevance to these numbers. Among those arrested under domestic violence-related sections, the majority were men in the age group of 30-45 years, and more than 95% of the arrested were granted bail. Data from Halasuru police subdivision also revealed that at least one accused was granted anticipatory bail in 72.5% of such offences. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Despite the high number of chargesheets filed, convicting the violators remains a huge challenge before the district judiciary, as numbers go way below the national average. Despite men's rights organisations across the city accusing women of filing false cases, the numbers show that only 16.6% of cases alleging crimes against women were closed after being deemed false. Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri, chairman of Karnataka Law Commission, said that a provision of law being misused is no ground for demanding that it be scrapped. "Freedom of speech is being misused and abused day in and day out. But the freedom of speech cannot be withdrawn. Similarly, on the ground that the conviction rate is low, Section 498A of the IPC, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, cannot be repealed," he said. "We've tried our best to sort of take a middle path to show the reality of what these laws are — how these laws are being implemented to our best faculties without trying to sound that we are only men against women," said Bindu M Doddahatti, a women's rights activist and co-author of the report.
