Itanagar, Jan 31: Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) member secretary Yomge Ado on Thursday inaugurated a legal aid clinic at Yingkiong police station in Upper Siang district.
The clinic will provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen on the basis of economic or other disabilities.
A team of paralegal volunteers will provide free legal aid counsels, free legal advice, counselling and preparation of legal documents, etc.
Speaking at the event, Ado highlighted the role and functions of legal aid clinics and paralegal volunteers.
Emphasizing the importance of legal aid clinics, he said, ‘as per government policy it is mandatory to open legal aid clinics in every police station to provide free legal services to the poor and marginalized people’.
He favoured organizing legal awareness and legal literacy programmes throughout the district to educate the masses about their legal rights and to avail the facilities of legal aid clinics.
Ado also urged all stakeholders to work together to make it successful, so that poor and vulnerable sections of society get the benefits.
Upper Siang deputy commissioner Talo Jerang thanked the APSLSA for opening the legal aid clinic and said that this will go a long way in providing much-needed free legal services to the poor and vulnerable sections.
Superintendent of Police Token Saring assured that police will work in close coordination to deliver justice to needy people.
To mark the day, a legal awareness programme was also conducted by the APSLSA in collaboration with the Upper Siang district legal services authority.
District child protection officer Akoying Tekseng made a presentation on Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 and disclosed that 38 children in the district are sponsored under centrally sponsored scheme Mission Vatsalya.
Other resource persons sensitized the participants on various aspects of legal aid clinics, NALSA mandated schemes which provide free and competent legal services, victim compensation schemes, marriage registration, POCSO Acts and other legal issues.