The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority to appoint part-time legal volunteers to deliver legal services to the people – H. Shashidhar Shetty, Member Secretary,Karnataka State Legal Services Authority.

Bengaluru, September 23 (Karnataka News):
The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority has decided to appoint part-time legal volunteers (Authority Friends) across the state to extend a helping hand to the people in delivering legal services, said H. Shashidhar Shetty, District Sessions Judge and Member Secretary of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority.
Speaking to the media at a press conference organized at the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority today, he said that the main objective of the scheme is to recruit and train these legal volunteers under the ‘Part-time Legal Volunteers’ scheme as directed by the National Legal Services Authority. Part-time legal volunteers work as intermediaries, bridging the gap between the common people and service institutions.
In this regard, each Taluk Legal Services Committee can have a maximum of 25-50 and District Legal Services Authority can have 50 to 100 active part-time legal volunteers. A total of 5343 part-time legal volunteers have been appointed in the state for a period of one year in the year 2024, whose term will expire on 20-11-2025.
Applications are invited for the selection of these part-time legal volunteers, and interested parties can apply to the authority by 20-10-2025. They must have completed at least matriculation to work. They must have a compassionate attitude to help the weak of all categories without expecting any kind of income.
Teachers, retired teachers, senior citizens, women, Anganwadi workers, doctors, law students, self-help groups, retired soldiers and other people from all walks of life can be appointed as part-time legal volunteers. For their selection, the respective Principal District and Sessions Judges and Presidents will be the Presidents of the District Legal Services Authority at the district and taluk levels. Applications will be invited from local residents by the respective District / Taluk Legal Services Authority and the selection process will be done. The selection committee will use its discretion to select suitable candidates as part-time legal volunteers. It will also give priority to Scheduled Castes / Tribes, Backward Classes. The selected candidates will also be used for the front office of the State Legal Services Centers, awareness programs, and various legal activities. They will also be given an honorarium of Rs. 750 / – per day. They will be appointed for a period of one year.

The selected part-time legal volunteers should engage themselves in creating legal awareness among the people, preventing child marriage, preventing drug smuggling, collecting information, providing information on Lok Adalat mediation, and eliminating serfdom. By appointing them in districts, taluks, and villages, the legal problems of the people will be resolved very quickly. He said that Outlaw India and Nyaya Swayamsevak Sangh have come forward to train the selected ones.
Also, the Karnataka Legal Services Authority conducted Lok Adalat on 13-9-2025 and settled 1 crore 11 lakh cases. 53 lakh traffic challan cases were settled and Rs 144 crore was collected. The fourth National Lok Adalat has been scheduled for 13-12-2025. He said that the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority is providing guidance to the people by opening a helpline number 15100.
Karnataka Legal Services Authority Deputy Secretary M. Sridhar and Public Relations Officer Balasubramani were present at the press conference.