Context: Constitutional Right, Limited Reach

While access to justice is a constitutional guarantee in India, the reality on the ground reveals a significant disconnect. The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 mandates free legal aid for nearly 80% of the population. However, the actual reach and impact of legal aid services remain modest.

An analysis of data from April 2023 to March 2024 underscores the systemic limitations that prevent equitable access to justice, despite legal and institutional frameworks.

Key Issues in Legal Aid Delivery

1. Limited Outreach Despite Expansive Coverage

• In 2023–24, legal aid reached 15.5 lakh individuals, a 28% increase from the previous year’s 12.14 lakh.
• However, this figure remains small compared to the vast eligible population.

Delivery Mechanisms:

• Legal aid is primarily provided via front offices in courts, prisons, and juvenile justice boards, supported by empanelled lawyers.
• Rural access depends on legal aid clinics, but their presence is sparse:
• Only one clinic for every 163 villages, as highlighted by the India Justice Report 2025.

Challenges:

• Uneven geographic distribution of services.
• Inconsistent support in terms of funding and personnel.

2. Financial Constraints and Budgetary Gaps

• Legal aid receives less than 1% of India’s total justice budget, which includes police, prisons, judiciary, and legal services.

Budget Trends (2017–2023):

• Total funding rose from ₹601 crore to ₹1,086 crore, largely due to increased state contributions.
• NALSA’s share fell from ₹207 crore to ₹169 crore.
• Utilisation of NALSA funds also declined:
• From 75% in 2017–18 to just 59% in 2022–23.

3. Inadequate Per Capita Expenditure

• Per capita spending on legal aid rose from ₹3 in 2019 to ₹7, yet this remains insufficient.

State Disparities (2023–24):

• Haryana leads with ₹16 per person.
• Bihar (₹3), West Bengal (₹2), and Uttar Pradesh (₹4) lag behind the national average of ₹6.

This uneven funding indicates not only disparities in fiscal commitment but also results in unequal access to quality legal aid services across states.

4. Decline in Para-Legal Volunteers (PLVs)

PLVs play a vital role as community intermediaries, yet their presence is rapidly declining:

• Between 2019–20 and 2023–24, their numbers fell by 38%, from 22,000 to 14,000.

Compensation Issues:

• Honorarium remains low, often below minimum wage:
• Kerala pays ₹750/day, while Gujarat and Mizoram offer just ₹250/day.
• Poor remuneration discourages participation and undermines the long-term sustainability of this essential workforce.

5. Innovations and Budget Cuts: The LADC Scheme

Introduced in 2022, the Legal Aid Defence Counsel (LADC) scheme aims to professionalize legal aid by creating dedicated public defenders, reducing reliance on empanelled lawyers.

• Operates in 610 out of 670 districts.
• Utilised its full ₹200 crore budget in 2023–24, showing early promise.
• However, funding has already been cut to ₹147.9 crore for 2024–25.

While the LADC model holds potential to improve the quality and reliability of legal aid, it requires sustained policy and financial support to succeed.

Systemic Weaknesses and the Path Forward

Despite modest financial increases and institutional innovation, India’s legal aid system continues to suffer from:

• Inconsistent quality of service
• Public distrust
• Lack of accountability
• Over-regulated fund usage
• Under-compensated and under-deployed personnel

What Needs to Change:

1. Increase overall budgetary allocation in proportion to population needs.
2. Allow flexible, context-specific fund utilisation at the local level.
3. Improve compensation and expand deployment of para-legal volunteers.
4. Provide sustained funding for initiatives like LADC, alongside robust quality monitoring.
5. Strengthen integration with community justice mechanisms to boost outreach and public trust.

Conclusion: Realising the Right to Justice

India’s legal aid system finds itself at a critical juncture. While legislative intent and institutional frameworks are in place, the system lacks the resources, reach, and responsiveness needed to fulfil its constitutional promise.

Transforming legal aid into a meaningful service requires:

• Increased funding
• Decentralised governance
• Investment in human capital

Only then can India ensure that justice is not symbolic, but a tangible, lived experience for all—irrespective of income, caste, or geography.