Effectiveness evaluation of DISHA Scheme; DISHA 2.0 extended for pan-India legal aid including Jammu & Kashmir
DISHA 2.0 extended for pan-India legal aid (2026–31), including Jammu & Kashmir; includes Tele-Law, Nyaya Bandhu, legal literacy, and VIDHI Sanjeevani dashboard
- DISHA 2.0 is an extended phase of the DISHA Scheme, running for five years from 2026 to 2031 and covering pan India including Jammu & Kashmir.
- Nyaya Bandhu facilitates free legal assistance to eligible beneficiaries under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 through portal/mobile matchmaking between beneficiaries and pro bono advocates.
- VIDHI Sanjeevani aims to use a centralized Integrated Dashboard with real-time data streams for monitoring service delivery and implementation progress, with envisaged integration with the Nyaya Setu AI Chatbot.
The Ministry of Law and Justice extended the DISHA Scheme as DISHA 2.0 for pan-India legal aid for five years (2026–31), using an independent third-party evaluation-cum-impact assessment for the erstwhile DISHA Scheme (2021–26). DISHA 2.0 is positioned as technology-enabled, people-centric legal services delivered through multiple components—Tele-Law, Nyaya Bandhu, legal literacy programmes, and VIDHI Sanjeevani’s centralized monitoring dashboard—with explicit inclusion of Jammu & Kashmir.
What happened
The Ministry of Law and Justice conducted an independent third-party evaluation-cum-impact assessment study of the erstwhile DISHA Scheme (2021–26) through M/s Quality Council of India (QCI), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Based on the evaluation, DISHA was extended as DISHA 2.0 for 2026–31 for pan India implementation, including Jammu & Kashmir.
DISHA 2.0 aims to scale legal aid delivery through mobile/tele conferencing, community facilitators, pro-bono matching under the Legal Services Authorities framework, and real-time monitoring via a centralized integrated dashboard with AI-assisted support. UPSC can frame the challenge as balancing “easy, accessible, affordable” outreach with measurable service delivery quality and data-driven governance across states and UTs.
