A mobile legal service and helpline for those in need

Chandigarh, Sep 15 : Harassed by the police? Driven to the wall by official callousness? In a unique initiative, a non-governmental organization (NGO) here has begun a mobile legal service in Chandigarh free of cost to the common man. The Global Human Rights Council (GHRC) launched the legal van linked to a 24-hour helpline for the poor and those in need.

"GHRC was established around 14 years back with the sole aim of protecting human rights. However, we realised that in many cases we could not reach people who needed help due to lack of communication between us. This led to the launching of this mobile van and a 24-hour helpline number from Sep 9," Arvind Thakur, chairperson of GHRC, told IANS.

"The idea of launching a mobile legal van and a 24-hour helpline struck me two-three years back. But, due the government's opposition and the administration's apathy, it took me a long time to launch this service," Thakur said. The helpline number is 09779703234.

"Now I can proudly claim that Chandigarh is the first city in the whole world to have a facility like this. If anyone is harassed by the police or some public servant or is facing any sort of difficulty in a court case then he just needs to call us. Upon receiving a call, a battery of experienced lawyers will immediately reach his doorstep to provide him the best possible legal assistance and help," said Thakur.

Thakur added, "Our main endeavour is to help the poor, handicapped, illiterate and old people. We will provide our services free of cost.

"We do not have any financial or any kind of help from any government agency or from anyone. We do not want any help from them so that we will be free from any external pressures. We contribute money from our own pockets to run the activity," said Thakur.

On their future plans, Thakur said: "In the beginning of 2009, we will start this service in Punjab's Jalandhar and Amritsar cities and in Haryana's Ambala city. We will establish a chain of legal clinics throughout the country depending upon the response that we get in these areas.

"Around 150 well established lawyers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are the members of GHRC. Nearly 50 lawyers are actively participating in it," said Thakur.

"We will also do sting operations in our individual capacity to unearth various scams and fraudulent deals done by our administration. That is the main reason, why the whole administration is against us," added Thakur.