It is a well known fact that every citizen in the country must be aware of the laws of the land because any excuse of committing an illegal act with an alibi of not knowing about the law is not maintainable under the law itself.
This is a very important issue making the legal literacy a significant matter as people dearth of other things can dwell in the society without much difficulty but in case of lack of knowledge about the laws of the land, there are many possibilities which might land people into deep trouble and in many cases behind the bars as well. Practically there are lots of people who remain unaware of even the basic laws and rules creating problems for the administration as well as themselves.
In this context, District Police Rajouri has come up with a workable solution to acquaint the public in general and student and legal communities in particular on three newly introduced criminal laws ‘Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita', Bhartiya Nagrik Surakhsha Sanhita, Bhartiya Sakshya Sanhita' by envisaging a workshop.
During this initiative, a powerpoint presentation enlightened the participants on the aforesaid laws besides highlighting the salient features of the same. Though the workshop also dwelled on the need for enacting these new laws, what is more important in this whole gamut was the concept of making the public aware of aforesaid laws.
Albeit this endeavour was at micro-level because the event was held in GDC Thannamandi but what is big about this workshop was the concept of imparting legal literacy to the masses. The government should come up with comprehensive campaigns across the Union Territory covering all the significant laws to educate people to deter them from committing crimes inadvertently due to lack of knowledge of laws. The priority should be on the laws regarding traffic, domestic violence, dowry, child labour, rape, provisions of POCSO Act, and other crimes.
It is for sure that the informed citizenry in context with the laws of the land would lead to decrease in the crime rate, thus making it imperative for the helmsmen to invest on this with liberal mindset and funding with an open heart as this could help significantly in making J&K a better place to live.
