Question : Constituition of courts

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government proposes to formulate any plan to set up courts at the village level so as to develop accessible justice system for the rural people and strengthen gram panchayats through it and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the total number of rural/village courts set up in the country during each of the last two years and the current year along with those which have started functioning especially in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand; and
(c) whether the Government has assessed the viability of these rural/village courts and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (c): To provide access to justice to the citizen at their door steps, the Central Government has enacted the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008. It provides for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas at intermediate panchayat level. The State Governments are responsible for establishing Gram Nyayalayas in consultation with the respective High Courts. However, the Act does not make setting up of Gram Nyayalayas mandatory. The issues affecting operationalization of the Gram Nyayalayas were discussed in the Conference of Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief Ministers where it was decided that the State Governments and High Courts should decide the question of setting up of Gram Nyayalayas wherever feasible, taking into account the local issues and situation. However some of the challenges related to efficient functioning of Gram Nyayalayas are overlap of jurisdiction with regular courts, shortage of First Class Magistrates to man Gram Nyayalayas, need of a cadre of Gram Nyayadhikaris and their training, awareness amongst stakeholders and need for mobile courts etc.
As per information made available by State Governments / High Courts, while the State Government of Uttarakhand has not notified any Gram Nyayalaya, 455 Gram Nyayalayas have been notified so far by 13 States including the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. State-wise details of the Gram Nyayalayas notified and operationalised by the State Governments, are as under:
Sl. No. State Gram Nyayalayas
Notified Gram Nyayalayas
Functional
1 Madhya Pradesh 89 89
2 Rajasthan 45 45
3 Karnataka 2 2
4 Odisha 23 18
5 Maharashtra 36 23
6 Jharkhand 6 1
7 Goa 2 0
8 Punjab 9 2
9 Haryana 3 2
10 Uttar Pradesh 113 14
11 Kerala 30 30
12 Andhra Pradesh 42 0
13 Telangana 55 0
Total 455 226

A third party evaluation of the scheme was done by NITI Aayog which had recommended the continuance of Gram Nyayalayas. The Central Government has been encouraging the States to set up Gram Nyayalayas by providing non-recurring and recurring financial assistance.
***********