Water, health, school and safer roads: Rajasthan's legal aid teams take on four missions at once

Legal aid in Rajasthan is stepping well outside the courtroom. In Jaipur, the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority has launched four statewide missions at once: one sends village teams — elders and local leaders included — to restore the ponds and stepwells communities have relied on for centuries; a second, called SPANDAN, carries hospital teams with portable ultrasound, X-ray and eye-testing kits into prisons, with dedicated medical transport for inmates who need surgery; a third puts plain-language guides into parents' hands so every child can claim the right to free schooling; and a fourth tightens safety inspections across public transport. The Authority also opened a free legal counselling centre inside the High Court premises and switched on a rooftop solar plant it hopes to extend to dispute-resolution centres across the state. The missions were launched by Chief Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal and designed under Executive Chairman Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur, ahead of Legal Services Day on November 9.

SDG 16 · Peace, justice and strong institutions — Mechanism: institutional program