With the Union Cabinet on Thursday giving its approval to further pursue the Gram Nyayalayas Bill in Parliament, the government has made clear its intention to make the legal system available at the doorsteps of rural people.
First Class Magistrates would head these rural courts or “Gram Nyayalayas”. “Nearly 6,000 magistrates would be required across the country to fill these positions,” Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the proposal.
The government, he said, had accepted most of the recommendations of the Standing Committee to where the Bill had been moved after being introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
“The official amendments will be moved in the Rajya Sabha in the next session. The legislation will reduce considerable number of pending cases in subordinate judiciary,” he said.
The rural courts are expected to reduce cost of dispensing justice, free from protracted procedural wrangles, quick and available at the grass-roots level, accessible to the common man and render justice to him as enshrined in article 39A of the Constitution, he added. In another decision, the Cabinet approved funds for construction of a road from Zaranj to Delaram in Afghanistan.
“The road is being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation, reflecting India’s commitment in efforts to rebuild the strife-torn nation,” Dasmunsi said. Rs 746.79 crore will be incurred in the upgradation and construction of the road from Zaranj to Delaram, he said.
“The road will also give India improved access into Afghanistan and Central Asia, and also open an alternate route for Afghanistan to an Iranian seaport and reduce its dependence on Pakistan,” he observed.