Lawyers For Change (LFC)

The efforts of CSJ has brought substantial change in the initiatives, actions, and participation of community members in asserting their rights, raising voice and seeking legal remedies for exploitation and injustice. Following are a few examples how legal awareness and empowerment have helped people resolve the social issues they face in daily life-

1. Justice to construction labourers: Labourers at a construction site in Sagar were not paid wages for several months by the employer. They approached the Government and called for a strike at the District Collector’s Office.The Government authorities did not take any actions and thus the labourers were helpless at the indifference showed by the employer and the authorities. However, with the assistance of the project team the workers filed a complaint with the Labour Department and District Collector in a proper presentation citing the legal provisions under labour laws. On filing the complaint, the responsible officers became alert and started acting proactively. Additionally, an application was submitted to the higher authorities of the construction company. As a result, the authorities released a payment of Rs.1,50,000/- promptly that was pending for months.
In a separate incident in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, after the intervention of a fellow supported under the project, theGovernment released pending payment of Rs.60,000/- to MGNREGA workers.

2. Justice Accessed- Legal matters are said to be a curse for the poor and oppressed. The poor, at times, are unable to access justice due to the cumbersome administrative procedures.Even if justice is granted by the legal system, it is often after a long legal battle. Three tribal suspects were granted bail by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh after an appeal was made by an advocate against their arrest under section 323 and 325 of the IPC. The suspects were not aware that they have been granted bail and the police were in no hurry to start their release procedure. They were kept in jail for many days even after receiving bail. On hearing about the incident in Panna, our fellow lawyer intervened and facilitated the release of the tribals from jail.

3. Petition for decriminalizing Pardhi community- In another case, our fellow lawyer at Damoh has filed a petition tothe Collector, Chief Minister &Governorof Madhya Pradesh for recognition of Pardhi community as a scheduled tribe and delisting it from the de-notified tribe list. De-notified tribes are the communities that were listed as criminal tribes under British rule. The de-notified tribes are still facing discrimination and police atrocity and are deprived of social welfare schemes. CSJ is working on the petition to take it ahead within and outside legal options. Regarding the same issue we have also been working with Muskaan, an organization in Bhopal who is actively working with the volunteers of the Pardhi community for recognizing them as a scheduled tribe.

4. Drought relief to forestland owners-The DamohCollectorate sanctioned Rs 40,00,000 as part of drought relief scheme for the district. Earlier the scheme was just limited to revenue landowners but now due to our fellow lawyer’scontinuous efforts and regular follow-ups, the residents holding titles on forest land were also surveyed and got the relief amount. Out of the total amount Rs 7,50,000 was sanctioned particularly for Jabera block which coincides with our fellow lawyer Santosh Dubey’s work area.

5. Wages paid to workers- In Dhanora village of Katni district, labourers worked under a government contract at the village panchayat. The amount of wage for 45 days was Rs.1,82,000. However, after completion of work the Sarpanch denied to make the payment and offered only Rs.24,000. On demanding the due amount, he alleged the labourers of blackmailing, threatened and assaulted a few of them. The labourers were demonstrating in front ofthe District Collector’s office for three days, but did not get any response from the authorities. The incident came into notice of our fellow lawyer-Mr. Rajkumar, who has been actively working in the district. He prepared a petition with all evidence provided by the labourers including photographs of working on the site and their signatures in the muster.
The District Magistrate ordered an inquiry and the claim of the labourers was found to be true. Entire payment was released immediately.

CSJ’s roles in creating impact in the society involved- making the community aware, educate and empower them at one end and creating a cadre of legal workers through fellowships for supporting the community actions and providing grass root level legal assistance at the other.

CSJ’s approach for resolving the deprivation to access legal services and justice is to create in-depth awareness about the common laws, educate and empower the marginalized community for improving their justice-seeking change in outlook rather than blaming their own fate for all kind of atrocities and injustice done to them.

CSJ is making efforts to create a cadre of grass root legal workers so that primary legal services are made accessible and affordable for poor and marginalized communities.

Continuous capacity building and stakeholder engagement is the strategy adopted by CSJ for putting forward its agenda of legal empowerment. The Government agencies like Labour Department, Women and Child Development Department, Social Welfare Department, Social Security Department etc. are sensitized and engaged in the process of legal empowerment of marginalized communities.

Many local CBOs and NGOs working at the grass root were also reached out to, sensitized and engaged in the process and of creating an enabling environment so that the community feels safe and vested interests are kept away from influencing the affected.