A national-level workshop on ‘Access to Justice for the marginalized in Ladakh’ was organised by District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Leh in collaboration with the Department of Justice (DoJ), Ministry of Law and Justice, GoI under the directions of Ladakh Legal Services Authority (LLSA) on October 28 at DC Conference Hall.

Chairman, DLSA, Deepak Sethi spoke about the role of legal services authorities and government departments in ensuring access to justice for the people of Ladakh.

Director, DoJ, Shailesh Srivastava shared about the initiatives and activities of the Department of Justice in making the Access to Justice programme a success. He added the collaboration with the state law departments and authorities is essential for achieving its goal.

Scheme Coordinator, DoJ, Ravinder Pare spoke about the Designing Innovative Solutions and Holistic Access to Justice in India (DISHA) scheme launched by the department, implemented for five years from 2021-2026. He added that DISHA aims to merge different Access to Justice programmes implemented by DoJ while upscaling them to the pan-India level.

Registrar, University of Ladakh spoke about the aspirations of the people of Ladakh. He stressed that all government departments should work effectively to ensure that the schemes reach the intended beneficiaries. The representative of the Social Welfare Department presented a PowerPoint presentation on the scope of convergence in Legal Awareness and Legal Literacy. The Project Coordinator of Save the Children, Ladakh spoke on the role of NGOs in Legal Awareness and Legal Literacy.

The event also included group discussions on topics, such as Strategic Plan of Awareness and Legal Literacy through capacity building and utilization of existing workforce, possibilities of convergence among key stockholders for ensuring Access to Justice, and the use of technology for expanding the scope and delivery of Legal Literacy and Awareness.