Hans News Service Jayashankar Bhupalpally

Providingfree, effective and speedy legal assistance to underprivileged and vulnerable people is the primary objective of legal services institutions, Telangana State Legal Services Authority Member Secretary Ch. Panchakshari said.

Addressing an awareness programme at the Government High School in Mogullapally on National Legal Services Day, organised under the Surakshit Bachpan Abhiyan, he said Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children and senior citizens were entitled to free legal aid.

He stressed the need to protect children from sexual offences and cybercrime and called for greater awareness of the POCSO Act, laws preventing child marriage, the Right to Education Act and the prohibition of child labour.

Senior Civil Judge Tadoori Mahathi Vaishnavi, Additional Junior Civil Judge G. Akhila and other officials, police personnel and education department representatives attended the programme.