The Centre has provided Rs 136.33 crore to Odisha under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for the development of infrastructure facilities for judiciary in the district and subordinate courts in the last five years, Union Minister of State, law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Replying to a query by BJD member Subhasish Khuntia, the Minister in a written reply said the Union government has taken several steps to improve access to justice delivery in the country, including in the State of Odisha.
As on 31 December 2025, Odisha has 913 court halls and 156 court halls are under construction. Under the eCourts Project, a total of 184 eSewa Kendras are functioning in the State of Odisha, facilitating a wide array of services to litigants, lawyers and the general public including, assistance in e-filing processes, e-payment of court fees and fines, etc. .
220 court complexes under District and Subordinate Courts across the State have been provided with Information Communication Technology (ICT) hardware items and Video Conferencing facility has been enabled in all the District courts across the State. 44 Fast Track Special Courts have been established in the State of Odisha to dispose-off pending cases related to rape of children and women, the Minister informed.
The Centre has provided free and competent legal services under Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act to the poor and marginalised sections of the society including Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) to ensure that opportunity for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunities.
In order to reach out to the citizens in every corner of the country, including Odisha, the legal services institutions have been set up from the Taluk level up to the Supreme Court.
As part of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, four National Lok Adalats (NLAs) have been organised in 2025, from Taluk Courts to High Court of Orissa. That apart, pursuant to the direction of the Executive Chairman, Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA), a District level Lok Adalat was also organized by the OSLSA on 27 July 2025 on the cases under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. Further, 22 Permanent Lok Adalats are functional in Odisha to deal with cases related to Public Utility Services.
In order to provide effective and quality legal services to the disadvantaged and underprivileged sections of the society in court based criminal matters vis a vis Public Defender System and under the aegis of NALSA steps have been taken by OSLSA to implement Legal Aid Defence Council System (LADCS) in 30 DLSAs of the State, the Union Minister concluded.