New Delhi (PTI): "Train the trainer" appears to be the magic mantra for the Law Ministry which is struggling to arrange enough trainers to build a pool of mediators who could promote pre-trial settlement of matters and help ease the burden of over 2.75 crore cases on subordinate courts.

The government has cited shortage of trainers for imparting conciliation skills to prospective mediators as a major stumbling block in popularising Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR) System but is hoping to overcome the problem by training the future trainers in High Courts.

"There are not many trained mediators and conciliators to whom the cases can be referred to for pre-trial settlement," said a ministry official.

It has been decided to start a training programme in all the High Courts of the country to impart "training to the trainers" who shall further impart training to other persons to act as mediators, said a ministry official.

The shortage of trained mediators is also one of the major reasons why people do not accept this mode of pre-trial settlement as an alternative to the regular courts of law, the official said.

Involving NGOs, as suggested by experts from a Parliamentary Standing Committee, in popularising ADR among litigants is also being studied by the government. MORE PTI RAH