Nyaaya, an initiative committed to advancing access to justice and bridging last-mile legal gaps, has launched the third cohort of its flagship Samvidhaan Fellowship, welcoming 18 lawyers into the new cohort. Despite ongoing efforts, there are still many barriers to access to justice, such as inaccessible legal information, limited resources, and systemic inequities that disproportionately affect underserved communities.
Through the Samvidhaan Fellowship, Nyaaya continues its mission to close these gaps by supporting legal professionals working to expand justice for women, children, sexual minorities, and other underserved communities.
About the Samvidhaan Fellowship
The Samvidhaan Fellowship is a flagship initiative of Nyaaya, designed to close the last-mile gap in access to justice by supporting public spirited lawyers to do community based work. Through immersive field engagement, structured mentorship, and rigorous thematic training, the Fellowship supports Fellows to work at the intersection of law, policy, and community needs with a special focus on advancing the rights of women, children, people of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underserved communities.
Over the past two cohorts in Karnataka, the Samvidhaan Fellowship has significantly strengthened access to justice by conducting over 270 in-person legal awareness sessions, reaching more than 9,000 women and children across the state. Fellows also supported 132 grievance redressal cases, helping community members secure access to critical welfare schemes and entitlements. In addition, they responded to over 500 legal queries and took on 60 cases for pro bono litigation, further advancing legal support for underserved communities.
This work has been further amplified through sustained collaborations with over 30 partner organisations, regular legal awareness programmes aired on DD Chandana and Akashvani, and partnerships with key public institutions including the Karnataka Police and Karnataka State Legal Services Authority. Collectively, these efforts have strengthened communities’ ability to navigate justice systems and ensured that legal information remains accessible, contextual, and actionable.
A new cohort committed to changing the access to justice journey in Karnataka
The third cohort brings together 18 qualified practicing lawyers from 12 districts across Karnataka (Bengaluru, Belagavi,Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Dakshin Kannada, Davanagere,Dharwad,Hassan, Uttara Kannada (Karwar), Koppala, Raichur, Kalburgi). To equip fellows for this year-long intervention, Nyaaya conducted a four-day training and orientation programme focused on identity-based sensitisation across child rights, gender, sexuality, and disability was conducted from 24th-27th January 2026 at Shankaraa Foundation in. Fellows were also introduced to key field strategies and community engagement approaches to support last-mile access to justice.
The training was attended by leading civil society organisations including Hasiru Dala, APSA, APD, Mukta Initiative, Durga India, Stree Jagriti Samiti, Vatsalya Charitable Trust, Aneka Trust, among others. Together with these partners, fellows mapped critical community issues and identified pathways to address them – taking the first step towards a year-long programme to advance access to justice for all.
Anisha Gopi, Lead, Nyaaya, reiterated the values of the Fellowship and said,
“Through the Samvidhaan Fellowship, we are building a strong network of public-spirited community lawyers committed to last-mile access to justice. We invite civil society organisations and institutions in Karnataka to engage with the Samvidhaan Fellows and collaborate with us in ensuring quality, free legal aid and support for the communities they work with.”
