Workshop on legal clinics and Adivasi rights

HYDERABAD: As a part of a long-term programme on Adivasi Rights initiated by the Council for Social Development (CSD) team, a workshop on legal clinics and Adivasi Rights took place here on Thursday. Adivasi lawyers from different districts in the state participated in the workshop who made recommendations on issues that required urgent attention in scheduled areas, where trafficking is a major issue.The workshop brought together people from diverse backgrounds like academicians, advocates, activists from within and outside the Adivasi background. M Ramanamma, who runs BRIDGE school for Koya children, Dr Jospeh Bara, from JNU, Dr Bahrul Islam from NEF College of Law, Rajendra Sail, a lawyer from Raipur, Bineet Mundu an activist from Jharkhand, Dr Smita Nayak from Utkal University and former bureaucrats like KB Saxena and BN Yugandhar, were among the people who participated in the workshop.The workshop consisted of six sessions which threw light on various issues such as the challenge of understanding socio-economic rights of adivasis and exploring channels of enhancing access to those rights.Legal clinics in the present context of the workshop are conceptualised to create awareness among Adivasi communities to empower them to understand and litigate on various laws legislated exclusively to protect adivasi rights.The discussions brought out the fact that given the socio-economic and cultural context of the Adivasi community, ownership of land based on caring and sharing and forest is not only theit means of livelihoods but as abode of their ancestors.Hence it is very important that the legal access is tailored to suit their moral psyche. Adivasis are neither culturally nor financially equipped to access legal services which are there to protect their rights. It is in this context that the importance of legal clinics for the Adivasi community through capacity building from within the community assumes significance.It was also pointed that apart from creating legal consciousness and provision of legal services, the clinic should develop into a multiple assistance mode which would also act as an agency for dissemination of information.