'Legal aid officers to be appointed in 200 districts'

The government would appoint facilitation officers in 200 districts of the country where cases older than 10 years are pending in court, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday. These officers would help the poor people coordinate with the government and the courts and work towards getting their cases heard in fast-track courts, he said.

Prasad said there are around 2.5 lakh common service centres (CSCs) in the country which are run by women and youth where PAN cards, Aadhaar cards are made and other digital services are provided.

"We will train people and attach them with CSC. There are poor people who need justice and they should get proper legal advice before the hearing of a case," he said. The minister said in the phase-II of e-computing, the district law service authorities would be computerised. Prasad exhorted those involved in the legal profession to help the government in achieving its objectives by devoting their time and energy in cases "that may be pro bono and may not bring publicity".