PASIGHAT, 19 Jan: A legal literacy cum training workshop for the gaon burahs and burihs of East Siang district was organized by the Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) of the Union Law & Justice Ministry on Wednesday at the District & Sessions Court Complex, here in East Siang district.
The workshop, which was organized under the banner ‘Training of Trainers’ (ToT) is part of the ongoing collaborative effort between the APSLSA and DoJ – ‘Synergy between customary practices of the traditional village council system and formal laws of India’ – to directly educate and sensitize 500 gaon burahs and burihs of the state on various legal acts and schemes of public importance and thousands of ordinary citizens indirectly through them.
The ToT initiative is an experimental approach, tangent to APSLSA’s traditional practice of imparting training to the gaon burahs and burihs, that is through recruitment of subject experts as speakers cum trainers.
Instead, with ToT, the APSLSA has strategized a different approach as gaon burahs and burihs were identified and coached as trainers, who then were asked to train their colleagues in a group discussion style workshop, relevant to their role as head of the traditional village council.
Gaon Burih Bobita Bori and Gaon Burah Tapir Tamut of Oyan village of East Siang district were appointed as the trainers of the programme, who led the discussion on the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Court Act, 2021 and the amendments the Act had brought to the Assam Frontier (Administration of Justice) Regulation, 1945.
In-depth discussions were held amongst the participants and the trainers, which was moderated by Advocate Tonning Pertin, who also spoke on the evolution of the GB institution in context of the Assam Frontier (Administration of Justice) Regulation, 1945 during the discussions.
The training workshop was followed by a legal awareness programme, during which subject experts, such as District & Sessions Court Judge Budi Habung; APSLSA Member Secretary Jaweplu Chai; and others spoke on various acts, legal schemes and entitlements.
The legal awareness segment was also attended by a coterie of self-help groups and other members of the civil society.
A brief segment to create awareness and appreciation for National Girl Child Day, which is observed on the 24th of January every year, was also scheduled during the programme.
East Siang ICDS Deputy Director Machi Gao, East Siang DC Tayi Tagu, SP Sumit Kr Jha, and Ashutosh Shrivastava from the Department of Justice, New Delhi also participated in the programme remotely via video conferencing.
