Recap: Growth of Legal Literacy Clubs

Followers of this blog will notice that I am particularly fascinated by legal literacy clubs propping up in various places in India. Although it is not unusual throughout the world for public interest organizations to hold legal education seminars in poor and underdeveloped neighborhoods, and for these organization to advise and help people secure and protect their rights, Indian legal literacy clubs do so much more. They educate students how to recognize legal problems confronting their neighbors, and how to talk to their neighbors about their rights.

Thus, I was excited to read that legal literacy clubs are being established in all schools and colleges in Union Territory, Chandigarh, with a focus on rights for welfare and those with mental and physical disabilities. A press release states: “The primary function of the students would be spreading legal literacy awareness. They would identify people in need of legal services and refer them to the nearest legal services institution,” said Justice Jagdeep Jain, Member Secretary of the SLSA.

Another news article from the Express News Service points out the students will be trained for door-to-door visits. It further points that "the student community is a great observer of the society. They know the harsh reality of all the sections of the society. We intend to trained the students so that an awareness campaign can be launched in a very big way to make qualitative change in the lives of the common people."

The training will be from members of the State Legal Services Authority, in part about what legal services are offered, how they assist with pre-litigation settlements of disputes, and other aspects of the legal system. I discussed in a prior article that one benefit of the legal literacy clubs are that legal literacy and education about society's structure could become cool, or at least something over which students could bond.

I look forward to reading articles about the social benefits of these clubs. Another benefit not previously discussed by me, or in the news articles I have written, is the favorable effect of students being trained by, and thus interacting with, members of the legal profession. One particular challenge that upwardly driven members of poor communities have is that they often don't have contacts in the sophisticated industries.

For instance, when I was growing up, I knew many lawyers and other professionals with which I could discuss my career interests. When I came to spend time in a couple poor neighborhoods in Baltimore and Washington, DC on a regular basis, I came to realize that the high school students there did not personally know any professionals, much less any high ranking ones.

Thus, the interaction between legal literacy club members and members of the legal community can do world of difference in addressing the economic segregation that often prevents students of low-income communities from considering high ranking professions.