DISHA 2.0 Justice Access Scheme Approved with ₹255 Crore Budget
Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal has approved the Central Sector Scheme 'Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice' (DISHA) restructured as DISHA 2.0 for implementation from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031, aligning with the XVI Finance Commission cycle. The scheme has a total approved financial outlay of ₹255 crore, funded entirely through 100% Gross Budgetary Support from the Government of India. The scheme was appraised and recommended by the Standing Finance Committee meeting chaired by Shri Niraj Verma, Secretary, Department of Justice.
DISHA 2.0 introduces a new component called VIDHI-Sanjeevani featuring a centralized digital platform and AI-powered Nyaya Setu Chatbot for technology-enabled justice delivery. The scheme comprises four components to be implemented pan-India across all States and Union Territories: Tele-Law provides free pre-litigation legal advice through 2,50,000 Common Service Centres covering 784 districts across 36 States/UTs, including 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks; Nyaya Bandhu promotes pro-bono legal services among advocates and law students for eligible persons under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987; Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme spreads legal awareness through partnerships with ministries, PSUs, CSOs, and law universities; and VIDHI Sanjeevani serves as a centralized digital platform for end-to-end programme monitoring with integrated dashboard and AI-powered multilingual chatbot.
The scheme targets a cumulative outreach of 3 crore beneficiaries across all four programme components and supports India's commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG-16) on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. It aligns with the Prime Minister's vision expressed at the National Conference on 'Strengthening the Legal Aid Delivery Mechanisms' on November 8, 2025, emphasizing that 'ease of doing business' and 'ease of living' require 'ease of justice'.
The previous DISHA Scheme (2021-26) had a financial outlay of ₹250 crore and achieved a cumulative outreach of over 2.37 crore beneficiaries as of May 31, 2026. This included more than 1.13 crore pre-litigation legal advices under Tele-Law, 10,681 registered Pro-Bono Advocates, 109 Pro-Bono Clubs established across 31 States/UTs under Nyaya Bandhu, and outreach to over 1.24 crore beneficiaries under the Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme.