THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Oct 2: The Palamu District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) is now enriched with a long fleet of para-legal volunteers.
Unaddressed local issues of witchcraft and Nilgai
The newly selected and now trained 155 para legal volunteers, the majority of whom come from the rural landscape, asked a variety of questions in the 5-day training schedule but none of them asked about the evil and menace of Dayan Pratha (witchcraft) and the destruction of crops by the blue bull called Nilgais.
Witchcraft and blue bulls are a major problem here which people talk about among themselves but when it comes to raising it at a proper forum or at the right time they just miss it. They decide themselves that nothing is going to come out which will help them.
Secretary of the DLSA Arpit Shrivastava said, “As far as I recollect since I had two sessions with them taking their questions and clearing them in as simple a fashion as possible, I don’t think any PLV took pains to raise the issue of Dayan Pratha and the blue bull problem.”
He agreed it would have gone a long way had any of them cared for asking questions about the evil, menace and legal provisions of dealing with Dayan Pratha most strictly.
The issue of Nilgai was not even at the remotest of the remote, said the secretary of DLSA Arpit Shrivastava.
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Questions of police delay in lodging FIR
Arpit Shrivastava said there came questions like police don’t register FIRs any easily. Police dilly-dally it. The fresher PLVs asked how to deal with such a situation.
“We told them how to go about it in such a situation” added Shrivastava. A police station is duty-bound to take and register the complaint and in the event of its denial there are higher-ups where this issue can be brought for its solution.
Questions on middlemen
There was another question. It was that in offices of blocks, middlemen rule the roost.
It is they who come first between a common man and the block officials. These permanent fixtures outsmart the officers and take the common man for a ride.
Robust training program
Arpit Shrivastava said their queries were down to earth. None looked superficial. They asked what they meant. It proved their training was robust and interesting.
They looked all set to grasp the delicacy of law or legal provisions. Their training was done very professionally and they too showed keen interest in it too, said court sources.
Palamu DLSA makes major strides without beating the bush, said court sources.
