Introduction

CLAP, the acronym of Committee for Legal Aid to Poor, is a Non-Governmental Voluntary Organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 (Act XXII of 1860) of India.  It is a legal service and advocacy organisation, which seeks to accomplish freedom, liberty, justice, equity and fair play for every individual in the society. For this purpose it promotes human right with dignity and democratic development.

CLAP got registered as a Society on November 18th 1982. It traversed a long journey for realisation of Human Rights through the means of law in India and observed Silver Jubilee of its existence in 2007. It is based in Cuttack City (the erstwhile capital city of Orissa) in the State of Orissa in India. It works in various states of India with primary focus on Orissa.

CLAP originated at a period of the history of modern India when promotion and protection of Human Rights hardly occupied a conspicuous space on the governance agenda. At that time promotion and protection of Human Rights was primarily largesse of the Government.  Access to Justice for the poor in such a state of affair was hard to accomplish. Administration of Justice by the state was mostly confined to adversarial nature of dispute resolution where securing rights of poverty ridden populace was abysmally negligent. In this backdrop, the CLAP was formed as a legal entity to address the deep rooted persisting problems of injustice in the fabric of Indian society. The founders envisioned an organisation, which can substantially fulfil the voids in the system and promote good governance.  The genesis of CLAP fulfilled a long required need of the Indian society in matters of Law and Justice for the disadvantaged.

CLAP enjoys the unique distinction of being the oldest law based Human Right Organisation in India. Even though charitable humanitarian voluntary service has a long pedigree in India, law based Human Right initiative had come to occupy a position only in the last quarter of 20th century. CLAP was the forerunner in this area and it has paved the way for promotion and protection of Human Right through the means of law. It acted as the pioneer organisation in this field and over the years created sustainable institutions and culture to promote and protect Human Rights.

CLAP is also considered to be one of its kind human right organisations, as it is driven by Gandhian Principles for realisation of Human Rights with Dignity in course of its effort. It strongly pursues the principles of Non-violence, Truth and Peace. It endeavours to establish a Sarvodaya order of society.  More so it contributes to strengthening Democratic Governance through Rule of Law and Access to Justice. It renders legal aid to enable poor people to assert their right within the framework of constitutional governance.