The Jharkhand Unit based out of Ranchi, was established in 2007 against the backdrop of rampant atrocities against vulnerable communities (Tribals, Dalits, women, and the poor) by the corporate-state-police complex. Over the years, the unit has diversified its work and manages Legal Aid Clinics in 24 districts across the state addressing issues such as environmental degradations, accession of Tribal land by corporates and displacement of villagers, forest rights, sexual assault and exploitation, issues involving survivors and delinquents who are minors (POCSO cases), domestic violence, property rights, custodial torture, human trafficking, and refugee rights. What our clients and partners say about our work "Last year when cow lynching incidents were on the rise, we were looking to partner with an organization that has been working on human rights issues for years and SLIC's name came up. Since then, whenever there is an unfortunate incident of lynching, be it Ramgarh, or Godda, or Jamshedpur, the SLIC Jharkhand team has been prompt in conducting Fact Findings and have also looked over the cases from lower Courts up to the High Court. There is a dire need in this state for organizations like SLIC who work for the oppressed and partake in people's struggles. Their work has strengthened people's faith in judiciary, especially among persons from the economically weaker sections who earlier could not get access to justice when they were wronged." Tanveer Ahmed, Social Activist, Anjuman, Jharkhand. “We started working with SLIC in 2008 and one of our first PILs was on making polling booths accessible for disabled persons during elections. Within 8 days we got the relief we demanded from courts. Rajive Raturi has been instrumental in guiding our movement here ever since. There aren’t many organizations that work for disabled persons in Jharkhand so legal aid from SLIC has enabled us to strengthen our fight.” - Arun Kumar Singh, Disability Activist, Jharkhand Viklaang Manch and Rashtriya Viklaang Manch. “We work on excesses against Dalits in Koderma district. While our social campaign has been active for years, it is only with SLIC’s support that we are now in the past two years able to approach the Courts when the state machinery in the district fails us. We are also now able to tell those who try to threaten us that we have access to legal aid at the High Court and Supreme Court level and that has made a difference.” - Manoj Bhagat, Dalit Rights Activist, Dalit Utpeedan Sangharsh Samiti, Koderma. “My 4 year old daughter was sexually assaulted by a boy in our locality. We were distraught. We are not very rich so having Jawedji who works with SLIC in our district (name withheld for privacy) represent us without any fee. Our case was handled with care and to our satisfaction.” - Mother of the 4 year old sexual assault survivor from the tribal community. District Lawyers Program The Jharkhand unit runs a District Lawyers Program partnering with lawyers in 16 districts across Jharkhand. The aim is to further litigation at the district level, reach out to clients located in and around small districts across the state, and advance the state of human rights in west Bengal. To know about our District Lawyers Click here.