The News Today: PPSMCD project running successfully in two dists
Our Correspondent GAIBANDHA, May 7: Activities of a project entitled 'Promoting Paralegal Support for the Marginalized Char Dwellers (PPSMCD) has been running at 6 char unions of Gaibandha and Kurigram districts since January amid creating positive impacts to char inhabitants. Friendship, a reputed national NGO, is implementing the project at 10 chars of Fazlupur, Urya, and Erendabari unions under Gaibandha district and Jatrapur, Astamirchar and Chilmari unions under Kurigram district at the sponsorship of EMK (Edward M. Kennedy) Centre. The goal of the project is to activate government legal services and improve access to justice by improving lawyer and community participation via paralegals on the ground and improving matters affecting Human Rights, said Amdadul Haque, PPSMCD project coordinator. To create awareness among the char dwellers about legal aid programs and help the beneficiaries proceed with litigation is the outline of the project, said programme manager Abu Muhammad Shihab. To advise and assist beneficiaries (clients) about how they could start litigation and case handling via the paralegals to proceed with their case work is another outline of the project, he added. Paralegals had been assigned in 10 chars each after imparting them need base training by the lawyers from both Friendship and external trainers so that they could perform their work at the communities properly, said team leader Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman. To strengthen the legal aid services to the backward and hard to reach char inhabitants of the unions, a view sharing meeting between the members of district legal aid committee (DLAC) and the representatives of Friendship was held at the conference room of district judgeship of the town here very recently. Ratneswar Bhattacharja, district judge of Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, addressed the meeting as the chief guest and additional district judge M. Shariful Islam, chief judicial magistrate M. Shahidullah and police super Ashraful Islam were present as the special guests. With Barrister Ayesha Taasin Khan, director of legal compliance and head of good governance project of Friendship, in the chair, the function was also addressed, among others, by district legal aid officer and senior assistant judge Rawshan Alam, and government pleader Hafijur Rahman. Barrister Ayesha Taasin Khan in her speeches said as the government is committed to provide legal aid services to the poor and distressed people; she sought whole hearted cooperation of all the members of the DLAC to make the legal aid services in the chars a grand success.
