Union Minister of State (I/C) for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal has approved the continuation of the Central Sector Scheme ‘Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA)’ restructured as DISHA 2.0 for a period of five years from 1^st April 2026 to 31^st March 2031 co-terminus with the XVI Finance Commission cycle. The Scheme has a total approved financial outlay of Rs. 255 crore, to be funded entirely through 100% Gross Budgetary Support of the Government of India. The Central Sector Scheme DISHA 2.0 was appraised and recommended by the Standing Finance Committee meeting chaired by Shri Niraj Verma, Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.

DISHA 2.0 (2026-31), a meticulously rationalized and restructured Scheme initiated along with a new component, namely, VIDHI (Vision for Integrated Delivery of Harmonized Legal Initiatives) Sanjeevani. DISHA 2.0 aims to fulfil the constitutional mandate of “Access to Justice” to the people of India as enunciated under the Preamble and Articles 14, 21 and 39A of the Constitution of India and supports the implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG-16) on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Building upon the three components of the existing DISHA Scheme, DISHA 2.0 introduces a new Component VIDHI-Sanjeevani with Centralized Digital Platform and AI-Powered Nyaya Setu Chatbot for Technology-Enabled Justice Delivery. DISHA 2.0 comprises of the following four components and will be implemented on a pan India scale across all States and Union Territories:

1. Tele-Law (Reaching the Unreached): Free pre-litigation legal advice to all persons through a network of 2,50,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) operated by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at the Gram Panchayat level, covering 784 districts across 36 States/UTs, including 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks. Nyaya Sahayaks will continue to provide doorstep legal assistance in Aspirational Blocks. The programme will be further strengthened through AI-integration, multilingual access and upgradation of digital platforms.
2. Nyaya Bandhu (Pro-Bono Legal Services) Programme: The programme will promote a pro-bono culture among advocates and law students by providing free legal assistance and court representation to persons eligible for free legal aid under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. The programme will be expanded through the engagement of Pro-Bono Advocates, onboarding of law colleges under Pro-Bono Club (PBC) Scheme, and digital outreach.
3. Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme (LLLAP): Spreads legal awareness and literacy through partnerships with Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), law universities and media partners. Implementing agencies from government, private and CSO sectors will be engaged through MoAs/MoUs for both online and offline outreach campaigns.
4. VIDHI Sanjeevani: A centralized digital platform introduced as a fourth component for end-to-end programme monitoring and data-driven decision-making. It will feature an Integrated Dashboard consolidating real-time data streams from all four components; integration of the AI-powered multilingual Nyaya Setu Chatbot (developed with BHASHINI) for legal query resolution and data analytics and reporting.

DISHA 2.0 directly advances India's commitment to SDG-16 and the Viksit Bharat vision of 2047. It is aligned with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision, articulated at the National Conference on 'Strengthening the Legal Aid Delivery Mechanisms' on 8^th November 2025, that “ease of doing business” and “ease of living” would remain incomplete without “ease of justice”. 2.0 reaffirms the Government of India's abiding commitment to ensuring that no citizen is denied access to justice by reason of economic or other disabilities, as enshrined under Article 39A of the Constitution of India. DISHA 2.0 targets to achieve a cumulative outreach of 3.00 crore beneficiaries across all the four Programme Components

The erstwhile DISHA Scheme (2021-26), with a financial outlay of Rs. 250 crore, was implemented by the Department of Justice on a pan India scale. As on 31^st May 2026, the DISHA Scheme had achieved a cumulative outreach of over 2.37 crore beneficiaries, comprising 1.13 crore+ pre-litigation legal advices under Tele-Law, 10,681 registered Pro-Bono Advocates and 109 Pro-Bono Clubs established across 31 States/UTs under Nyaya Bandhu, and outreach to 1.24 crore+ beneficiaries under LLLAP.

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