Our Correspondent
Kohima | April 14
Nagaland State Legal Services Authority (NSLSA) today held a consultative meeting of Master Trainers, Trainers, Retainer Lawyers and State Panel Lawyers in the presence of Director General of Police, Rupin Sharma.
In his address, the DGP said people tend to believe that they have their own rights and that is where the role of law comes to create awareness among the people to run a society in a particular direction by minimizing the discord and conflict in a society as per the acceptable standard of lawful activities.
Stating that law differs from place to place and people to people creating discord in the society, he said that Nagaland being a micro world with over 25 different sections of the society settling in the State.
He therefore maintained that a common body of laws is required to regulate the general behavior in all aspects of life. He said that awareness about right laws enables a person to do things in a guided and proper manner and therefore regulations prevents from not only doing negative things but to implement things in a positive way.
Role of legal fraternity in Nagaland is very important specially to keep people away from the wrong track, he said while emphasising on the need to create awareness among the people about the rights and wrongs through legal perspective.
“With legal awareness will not only bring about better understanding of the laws, procedures and rights, but also the general conduct of people in the society,” he said. Stating that the awareness about the traditional cultural rights and systems may be very, he however said the awareness and compliance with the modern systems of justice is law in Nagaland.
Nagaland cannot remain in isolation with the rest of the world, he said, while stressing on the need to impart basic legal education in the schools and colleges to help develop a legal habit from the young age so as that they are aware of the modern jurisprudence. He also opined that the traditional justice system should be codified.
Delivering the introductory address, NSLSA member secretary Mezivolu T. Therieh said the consultative meet is to recognize and review all that have been achieved and identify the cracks and to re-equip themselves to find out the prospects of carrying forward the legal services activities.
As a body of the legal services, she said NSLSA needs to come together and find out how law can be translated into justice for a society which is socially and economically underprivileged. “We all need to put our minds together and build up our strategies and programmes and implement them systematically so that the deserving person benefits,” she said.
The focus of National Legal Services Authority is therefore to have a paradigm shift from awareness to empowerment, he said adding that “with this in mind NSLSA has devised a module for organizing Legal Services Camps, a pan India Campaign which the NSLSA is undertaking as a yearlong programme touching all the districts this current financial year.
The task of opening Legal Literacy Clubs in the schools have also started and it will continue as a yearlong programme to impart the constitutional vision of equality and equal opportunity, she said while hoping that this would empower them which ultimately will wipe off illiteracy and unemployment.
