2023 · GS Paper 2 · Q2 · 10 marks
Who are entitled to receive free legal aid ? Assess the role of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in rendering free legal aid in India.
In short
Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 entitles SCs, STs, women, children, persons with disabilities, victims, workmen, persons in custody and the poor to free legal aid, and NALSA has widened access though quality lags. Lok Adalats disposed of 23.58 crore cases between 2022-23 and 2024-25.
Model answer
Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026 · 290 words
Disadvantaged groups
Section 12 of the Act covers SCs, STs, women, children and persons with disabilities.
Victims
Victims of trafficking or begar, mass disaster, ethnic or caste atrocity, and natural or industrial disaster are entitled.
Workers and persons in custody
Industrial workmen and persons in protective homes, juvenile homes or psychiatric hospitals qualify without a means test.
The poor and the accused
Anyone below the notified income limit is eligible, and Khatri (1981) requires aid from first production before a magistrate.
Wide reach
Legal services reached 44.22 lakh people from 2022-23 to 2024-25, and Lok Adalats disposed of 23.58 crore cases (PIB, 2025).
Innovation
The Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (2022) created public-defender style district offices, and NALSA's own petition won transgender rights in NALSA v. Union of India (2014).
Thin quality
Panel lawyers are poorly paid, and legal aid spending was only ₹1.05 per head in 2019-20 (India Justice Report, 2020).
Undertrials
Three in four prisoners were undertrials in Prison Statistics India 2022.
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Question from the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2023 paper. Answer written by Ghissu's engine and checked against our editorial standards. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it within 48 hours.