QUESTION 2
GS2
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.
WRITE IN
7 min
150 words
What the examiner wants
State who is entitled to free legal aid and assess NALSA's role in providing it.
AssessWeigh the evidence and say how far the claim holds.
Demand-wise check
- 1Eligibility under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987: SC/ST, women and children, persons with disabilities, victims of trafficking or disaster, industrial workers, people in custody, low-income persons≈35 words
- 2NALSA's role: Lok Adalats, legal aid clinics, Legal Aid Defense Counsel System, awareness, Tele-Law≈35 words
- 3Assessment: reach vs quality, awareness gaps, lawyer quality≈35 words
Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.
Answer plan
Article 39AEligibilityNALSA's work with dataGapsConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Not listing the eligible categories under Section 12
- Describing NALSA without assessing it
Draw this
- Flow chart: NALSA → SLSA → DLSA → Taluk committees
Value addition
- LawArticle 39A (42nd Amendment, 1976) directs free legal aid; the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 implements it.Constitution of India; LSA Act 1987
- SchemeLegal Aid Defense Counsel System (2022) provides full-time public defenders in criminal cases.National Legal Services Authority
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 11 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 44 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 38 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 5 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 7 minutes, then get it checked.