Legal Literacy on Mundkar and Tenancy Law - Marcela Free Legal Aid Cell

The Marcela Free Legal Aid Cell of V.M.Salgaocar College of Law organised a legal literacy programme on Mundar and Tenancy Laws in Goa on 01 February 2016, at Talem, Betki village, Goa. The chief guest of the said programme was Mrs. Bhavana Naik, Panch of Betki and the speaker was Dr. Naguesh Colvalkar. Dr. Kim Couto, the faculty in charge of Marcela legal aid cell attended the programme.

The programme started with the lighting of the traditional lamp.

Miss. Vishaya shet (Student in charge), gave brief introduction of the cell and its activities. Dr. Colvalkar spoke on the Mundkar Act, in that he explained about how to get your name enrolled in the I & IV form as mundkar and also told about the rights of the mundkar of which the people of that village were unaware of. As the topic went further several questions were raised by the people, one of the questions from the audience was "Is there any solution to declare mundkar now as many years have passed and they have not done anything to declare themselves as mundkar?" On answering the question, He then moved to the Agricultural Tenancy Act, he explained about how the Act was enacted and also narrated the 5th amendment to the Act. Several questions were raised during this topic also, which were all explained by Dr. Colvalkar. Around 50 villagers attended the programme.

As we had decided to select a part of the village for undertaking village visits, and provide legal aid, the concept was explained to the villagers by Mr. Vithal Naik (cell member), where he told about how Marcela Cell would shift to  Talem ward and Gimona for one month and try to solve most of their problems. We got a good response for this concept of village visit and all of the audience showed interest in this village visit.

Finally Mrs. Rashmi Lambor (cell member) proposed vote of thanks. The students members certify that "Truly this was a good programme because it actually benefited the people and they were willing to help us to help them and the concept of “village visit” was very well appreciated."

Valpoi Free Legal Aid Cell Holds Awareness Program On Land Laws Of Goa

This time the members of the Valpoi Free Legal Aid Cell of V.M.Salgaocar College of Law took its legal literacy program to the interior village of Guleli, and made the purpose of access to justice a reality. The rural areas of Guleli and nearby villages are located around 20 km from Valpoi. The student members very enthusiastically undertook an intensive campaign, well in advance to ensure that the villagers are aware about the programme.

Moreover the visit was planned with the objective of identifying the situation and legal problems of the people residing there as well as to create awareness about basic law and rights amongst them.

Students say : “After visiting these places, we found that the people residing there were extremely poor and were most probably dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. The infrastructure present there was null but we found one primary health centre which was consisting of only one small room and that too was closed when we visited during the fore noon time.Some parts of the village didn’t have roads and at one place we found a small bridge on which only one 4 wheeler vehicle could go. So we crossed that bridge and found only 5 houses there. The trip ended with lots of learning and memories to cherish.”

The effectiveness of the campaign was evident in the participation of the villagers in good number for the program on 30th January 2016. They were very enthusiastic and were infact  present at the venue much before the scheduled time. Village Panchayat of Guleli provided all basic infrastructure needed for the programme.

The speakers were  Adv. Yeshwant Gauns and Dr. Naguesh Colvalkar, the faculty in charge of the Cell. Mr.Pranav Vaze welcomed the guests and Ms. Safira Sheikh invited the dignitaries to the stage.  The event started with “Deepprajwalan” was followed by welcome wishes through flowers. Mr. Pranav Vaze introduced the audience to the legal aid cell and spoke about the activities of Legal Aid Society of V.M Salgaocar College of Law.  Mr. Hazare who is a ZP member welcomed the legal aid cell to their village and thanked the students for providing such useful information to the people.

Adv. Gauns spoke on Land Revenue Code and Dr. Colvalkar spoke on Mundkar and Agricultural Tenancy Act. Many queries were raised by the audience and the resource persons effectively clarified and answered them. The programme was greatly appreciated by the villagers. Ms Akshata Gauns proposed the vote of thanks.