Tihar Jail inmates to get legal aid, Vocational Training to become neo-literate: DSLSA

Inmates in Tihar jail will now have access to legal aid and a Vocational Training Centre, thanks to the opening of the Refurbished Legal Aid Clinic & 'OJAS' Centre for Learning for Jail Inmates.

The programme was launched in the presence of dignitaries including Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Executive Chairman, National Legal Services Authority, along with Justice Vipin Sanghi, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi and Executive Chairperson, Delhi State Legal Services Authority; Justice Siddarth Mridul, Judge, High Court of Delhi and Chairman, Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee, as well as other Delhi High Court Judges. It was launched in collaboration with Delhi Prisons by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) under the auspices of the National Legal Services Authority. Apart from the above dignitaries, the event was also witnessed by Principal District and Sessions Judges, Judicial Officers of DSLSA, senior officers, especially from Delhi Prisons.

"Every person who comes in touch with the criminal justice system is a person who has been deprived of the ability to live a safe and secure life because they have fallen out of the protective net at some time." As a result, they need a second chance to reset and restart their lives. It is our common responsibility to provide a learning atmosphere in prisons and guarantee that inmates return to society as Good Samaritans," stated DSLSA Member Secretary Kanwal Jeet Arora to ANI.

Skill-based courses to help inmates become neo-literate, says DSLSA

According to DSLSA, skill-based courses, continuous education courses, and vocational courses would be delivered to inmates through the OJAS Vocational Training Centre to help them become neo-literate and increase their economic potential. Inmates would be given courses in everything from painting to plumbing to textile design to stitching to electrical gadgets and mobile repairs. Inmates would have better job chances and a sense of confidence if they acquired skill-based knowledge, according to the DSLSA, which would aid their rehabilitation into society after their release from prison.

In addition, the DSLSA's Refurbished Legal Aid Clinic, staffed by Legal Aid Counsels and Paralegal Volunteers, attempts to increase inmates' access to legal aid services. DSLSA said in a statement to ANI that panel lawyers visiting jails provide free, competent, and efficient legal assistance to inmates so that they are not deprived of their constitutional and statutory rights, and also assist them in filing appeals or miscellaneous applications in the courts after interacting with them.

Image: ANI