The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : New legal aid clinic opened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 28, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New legal aid clinic opened

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: M. Karunakaran

In aid of women: Member-Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority G.M. Akbar Ali inaugurates a legal aid clinic at the Women’s Indian Association in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: India’s oldest women’s association added another feather to its cap on Wednesday when it inaugurated a legal aid clinic in the city.

Thousands of women will get the opportunity to understand and secure their rights with the introduction of this clinic at the Women’s Indian Association premises on Greenways Road.

Inaugurating the clinic, Member-Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority G.M. Akbar Ali said everyday, women came to them with problems and had no idea of their rights and their available modes of redress. “Women should know where to go and that they can avail themselves of services such as free legal aid. The rights are available under the law but their benefits do not reach the people. Clinics such as this will fill this lacuna,” he said. Mr. Ali said a clinic like this would provide “first aid” until the case was referred to the District and State legal services authorities.

Mr. Ali noted that many women did not know of their property rights and laws such as the Domestic Violence Act. On these lines, several members of the Association received training on personal, property, matrimonial laws on Wednesday. “We have to learn how to solve issues that women face from not just a legal perspective but also a psycho-social perspective. As far the legal services available, women have to be aware that even if they cannot afford it, the legal services authority will supply them with free counsels to address their matter,” he said.

He added that 10 lawyers were appointed, who would even accompany the women to the police, so that they were taken seriously.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu