The Government has set up National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) under the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 to provide free and competent legal services to the poor and marginalised sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunities.

In order to reach out to the citizens in every corner of the country, the legal services authorities have been setup from the Taluk level up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) functions at the Supreme Court whereas, there are 38 High Court Legal Services Committees (HCLSCs), 37 State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs), 707 District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) and 2440 Taluk Legal Services Committees (TLSCs). The activities/programmes undertaken by Legal Services Authorities include Legal Aid and advice; Legal Awareness Programmes; Legal Services Clinics; Legal Literacy Clubs; Lok Adalats and implementation of Victim Compensation Scheme.

State/UT and year-wise details of number of persons benefitted through free legal services under Legal Services Authorities Act during the last five financial years are at Annexure - A. However, the district and case-wise data is not maintained by NALSA.

The National Legal Services Authority (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010 provide for a robust framework for monitoring and evaluating legal aid services through the Monitoring and Mentoring Committees (MMCs) at all tiers i.e. Supreme Court of India, High Courts, State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs)/District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) and Taluk Legal Services Committees (TLSCs). These committees are responsible for overseeing court-based legal aid delivery, monitoring the progress of assigned cases, and guiding panel lawyers and Legal Aid Defense Counsels (LADCs) in providing quality legal services.

The MMCs maintain registers to track the day-to-day progress and final outcomes of legal aid cases. They obtain periodic reports from legal aid lawyers, assess their performance, and advise concerned authorities to take corrective steps when progress is unsatisfactory. This continuous follow-up mechanism ensures accountability, transparency, and quality control in legal services. The MMCs also evaluate lawyer’s performance to identify underperformance or misconduct. Moreover, performance of each human resource engaged under LADCS is evaluated every six months by the SLSA under the guidance of Executive Chairman of the SLSA. Additionally, monthly reporting of casework by the LADCs is done by the SLSAs to NALSA, ensuring real-time oversight and data-driven evaluation at the national level.

(d)  The data related to pending legal aid cases is not maintained by NALSA. However, quality of disposal and their rates are regularly monitored through various level as detailed under
para (c) above.

(e) The details of funds released and utilized by NALSA for implementation of various legal aid services and programmes under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, during the last five financial years are as under:

 

* Due to some technical glitches under newly introduced TSA/TSA Hybrid module of PFMS, SLSAs and DLSAs could not utilise completefund during F.Y. 2024-25 under the Scheme of Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS).

 

 

Annexure - A

 

 

Statement showing the number of persons benefited through Legal Services provided under Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 during the financial years2021-22 to 2025-26 (upto November, 2025)
S.No.	Name of State/UT Authority	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26 (upto November, 2025)
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	79	134	220	341	278
2	Andhra Pradesh	6,371	9,473	8,265	11,266	9,069
3	Arunachal Pradesh	2,657	5,559	5,696	9,236	6,696
4	Assam	1,10,254	38,335	63,749	82,694	66,567
5	Bihar	16,89,158	2,09,809	1,51,413	84,505	51,333
6	Chandigarh	1,781	2,653	2,822	2,951	2,202
7	Chhattisgarh	42,394	44,106	62,164	80,874	55,547
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	27	28	55	45	61
	Daman & Diu	17	24	34	119	92
9	Delhi	79,055	96,433	1,21,882	76,526	48,922
10	Goa	1,101	2,041	1,558	1,889	2,359
11	Gujarat	21,953	32,422	40,569	50,467	60,168
12	Haryana	23,260	43,098	76,863	82,194	85,858
13	Himachal Pradesh	4,806	5,998	7,346	6,222	4,442
14	Jammu & Kashmir	8,870	7,992	11,396	18,602	16,966
15	Jharkhand	6,49,481	1,45,217	2,69,303	3,28,365	2,95,398
16	Karnataka	32,794	45,663	53,406	51,245	41,089
17	Kerala	16,895	23,418	36,498	26,571	24,175
18	Ladakh	2,408	711	505	324	181
19	Lakshadweep	0	0	0	1	14
20	Madhya Pradesh	33,43,800	1,91,921	2,25,510	2,33,009	1,65,804
21	Maharashtra	22,595	36,663	53,756	59,454	40,935
22	Manipur	22,651	26,929	62,635	99,062	54,743
23	Meghalaya	2,346	2,769	2,371	2,754	3,378
24	Mizoram	3,201	5,038	4,801	3,713	2,427
25	Nagaland	7,750	7,390	4,603	5,012	7,418
26	Odisha	8,849	11,880	19,289	22,134	12,286
27	Puducherry	884	788	621	616	362
28	Punjab	36,404	56,448	60,361	65,513	55,037
29	Rajasthan	13,833	13,472	20,290	22,216	19,454
30	Sikkim	986	1,127	1,074	901	814
31	Tamil Nadu	38,181	49,570	45,180	52,528	37,759
32	Telangana	6,712	12,615	13,193	16,021	13,909
33	Tripura	2,671	5,055	9,964	10,303	7,943
34	Uttar Pradesh	1,32,629	24,890	29,079	22,732	20,861
35	Uttarakhand	3,775	5,386	21,339	34,208	35,333
36	West Bengal	29,015	49,714	62,354	92,914	72,350
	Total	63,69,643	12,14,769	15,50,164	16,57,527	13,22,230

This information was given by MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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Samrat/

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