Institutional Distinctiveness

Since 1924 we have upheld the values of eternal principles of Justice reflected in our Vision and Mission. We are committed to impart socially relevant and professionally desired legal education in achieving ends of Justice. We are distinct in imparting Justice Education by creating academicians, lawyers, judges who advocate cause of empowerment of women, disabled and socially disadvantaged sections by addressing issues of gender equity, inclusiveness and social justice in academic as well as administrative activities in the following manner:-

GENDER EQUITY –  Our Journey Towards Women Empowerment begins with inviting three ladies to join ILS, during an era when women were discriminated against in all fields of life. This signifies that we have been ahead of our times by taking this step towards women empowerment in the year 1924. With establishment of Woman and Law Centre (1998), we have addressed women’s rights through teaching, research, and other activities. The Ford Foundation, New Delhi supported the Centre with providing the seed money. We are one of the first Law Colleges in India to have received recognition from UGC to establish the Women’s Studies Centre (WSC) in 2011. WSC aim at achieving “Gender Justice” based on the perspective that women’s rights are indivisible human rights.                                                                              

Women’s Studies Centre

The Women’s Studies Centre works can be categorized as follows:

·        Research and Documentation Projects

·        Organizing workshops/Conferences

·        Organising/ conducting course

·        Providing Consultancy services/advices 

Research and Documentation Projects

·        Women and Land Rights – implemented in two phases

·        This ongoing research and advocacy project coupled with the component of capacity building of grassroots organizations on law and policy pertaining to women and property rights which commenced in October 2015 completed its first phase in June 2016.This project aimed at evolving a programmatic agenda for women and land rights in Maharashtra. The Project is being carried out with the Financial support of SWISS AID India

 

·        Training manuals for the stakeholders under the PWDV Act were developed and disseminated: These training manuals are shared with the representatives of the stakeholders, civil society organizations and networks working to address domestic violence issue Funded by:– SWISSAID-India

·        Guidebooks on the MTP and PCPNDT Acts:

Writing simplified versions of two laws – The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971; and The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 –in June 2016. This project was undertaken at the request of ‘Pratigya’ – a national level  campaign for gender equality and safe abortion.

·        Purushbhaan Parishad’ – A Men’s Convention for Gender Equality

             Date: 30th May 2015

 The idea of the convention was initiated by two women’s organizations that have been part of the autonomous women’s movement in India – Nari Samata Manch and Stree Mukti Sanghatana. Women’s Studies Centre participated in the planning meetings for this Convention and supported the convention in audio and written documentation. The purpose of the Convention was to bring men across Maharashtra on a common platform to speak out their concerns about masculinity and notions of ‘manliness’ that create a discriminatory society.

·        Training workshops on Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA) at Manavlok, Ambajogai.

              Date: 17th and 18th October 2015

NGO Manavlok, located in Ambajogai, Beed district, Maharashtra, invited Women’s Studies Centre to conduct the workshop on PWDVA. The participants of the workshop on the first daywere about 40 and include the police patil, protection officers and social workers of the Osmanabad district, and on the second day were about 10-12 lawyers. The gender perspective as well as provisions of the Act was the focus of both the workshops. The purpose of the Act as a civil law was also highlighted. The training was particularly useful for protection officers who were newly appointed, for the police patil whose role has not been defined by the PWDVA.

·        Training workshop on women related laws on domestic violence organized by Prakriti, Nagpur. 

Date: 25th Feb 2016

The NGO, Prakriti that works in Nagpur city and rural parts of Nagpur and Bhandara in Maharashtra, invited the Women’s Studies Centre on a panel for speaking at the workshop on the above subject.  About 100 counsellors, lawyers, social workers and women survivors of domestic violence attended the workshop. PWDVA and dowry related laws were primarily presented and discussed

·        Training workshops on Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA) organized by Halo Medical Foundation, Andur.

Date: 17th Jan 2016

The NGO Halo Medical Foundation, Andur, Osmanabad district, Maharashtra invited Women’s Studies Centre to conduct the workshop on PWDVA for about 60 judges and lawyers of Osmanabad district. The sessions focused on understanding the provisions of the Act and using them from a gender sensitive perspective.

·        District-level Workshops on ‘Domestic Violence’ conducted for Judicial Officers:

With the permission of Hon’ble Justice Mohit Shah, Chief Justice, Bombay High Court, Mumbai, the Women’s Studies Centre organized and conducted seven workshops about Domestic Violence for Judicial Officers. Other stake holders also participated.

·        Judicial response to mental illness in matrimonial disputes:

The Women’s Studies Centre, jointly with Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy completed the research project that analysed the legislative and judicial response to mental illness as a ground for matrimonial remedies under various marriage laws in India. Judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts were compiled. More in-depth data was collected from the Family Court of Pune.

·        UGC sponsored ‘Refresher Course’ on ‘Integrating Gender in Legal and Social Science Pedagogy’ –

Date :17th Sept to 7th Oct 2015:

 The aim of this course was to provide a gender perspective and integrate the understanding while teaching subjects of law and social sciences. Themes covered were as follows:

Gender, patriarchy and feminism

Gender, Human Rights, Policy and Law

Gender discrimination and gender justice

Violence against women

Gender, disability and law

Women and work

Women, political participation and governance

Gender, Law and Development

Women, land and other natural resources and law

Workshops

 

SrNo. Date of workshop and thematic focus Key issues discussed Learning outcomes
1. 21st-23rd Sept 2016  Fine-tuning of  learning from topics of previous phase Conflict arising between the ideal self, and real self, and in conforming to external demands (due to patriarchy).Counselling processMental health status Understanding psyche of DV survivor and perpetrator. Identifying the problem, setting counselling goals, preparing and implementing an action plan, Symptoms of various types of mental illness
2. 3rd-5th Jan 2017  Role of counsellor, dealing with emotions, understanding the intimate relationship Trainees shared counselling experiences through case presentationsPower dynamicsStress management, responding to aggression, depression, suicide, griefWhat and how to assertPurpose of lawImportance of evidence Trainees were able to:Prepare problem statementUnderstand change processGained confidence in speaking to the perpetratorLearnt tips on keeping evidence required for legal intervention
3. 10th-11th April 2017  Introduction to law on DV. Handling issues in intimate relationships, Addiction, More about emotional management, Defense mechanisms Clarifying of definitions under PWDVASingle and joint counsellingHelping counselee take self- responsibilityUnderstanding defense mechanismsBrain behaviour in an alcoholic Trainees learnt that –– such counselling would prepare the counselee to make use of resources of the police, law etc. – Using power to overcome power is not the solution to the problem in the long run.–  certain issues of custody and guardianship– mechanisms’ provide temporary relief and do not help in resolving problem from its root.– Usefulness of summarizing techniqueInsights on  counselling in cases of addiction– Understanding and dealing with suspicion (as a nature/ as an illness).
4. 10th-12th Aug 2017 More about PWDVA Dealing with defence mechanisms, enhancing self-help and life-skills of counselee, teaching emotional management, more about relationship counselling Introduction Role of the Protection officer in implementing PWDVAGroup work – support groups on DV – articulating objectives, planning activities, using audio-visual media and its role in providing psychological first aid to DV survivors, evaluationUnderstanding how motivation is sustained.Counselling the DV survivor and perpetrator using the framework of “cause –consequence – response to violence”  How to deal with defense mechanisms. Trainees learnt about:What to expect from the Protection officer, ways in which the counsellor/ centre can connect with the court and other resources for enhancing effectivity of intervention.Trainees learnt to identify commonly used defenses through real life examples such as denial, regression, fantasy, reaction formation.Learnt about changing self-talk from ‘must’ to ‘desirable’ (as in REBT)Learnt to identify areas  symptom formation for relationship counselling
5. 26th-28th Oct 2017 Law of Domestic Violence – in depth  Provisions and procedures of the following –PWDVA498A of IPCFamily laws (in brief/ as per needs of trainees)Property law (women’s right over property)Other laws – PCPNDT, MTP, sexual abuse and rape law, POCSO Enhanced understanding about the following: When to make use of such lawsProtection order must be prayed for in It is essential for counsellors to be knowledgeable about laws Every application under u/s12 PWDVAContents must be accurate and trueNeed for awareness creation among stakeholdersWays and strategies in connecting with stakeholders for seeking cooperation and positive response.

 

Participation in Seminars/ Conferences

·        Meeting of AMAN – the national level network against domestic violence

1st to 3rd May 2017, Bangalore.

WSC team participated in the meeting which largely discussed challenges faced in stopping violence and in implementation of PWDVA. Sec 498A that is being diluted was one of the major concerns expressed, for which advocacy is required. Besides, non-appointment of sufficient number of protection officers and allocating additional to them duties in various states, complete ignorance about role of medical officers in addressing DV, lack of coordination among stakeholders were also voiced. Whether use of government schemes – such as victim compensation scheme (that is applicable across the country) can be extended to DV survivors, working with District Legal Services authority, and raising awareness and advocating the use of other existing schemes, was also discussed. The grassroots practitioners shared positive experiences in addressing DV (such as support of village level panchayat samiti, support groups, etc.) and best practices that were shared were insightful. Parliamentary and budget advocacy and media campaign were suggested as being the need of the day and the purpose of an AMAN campaign in future.

 ·        Seminar on the Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences Act 2012

 11th June 2016:

Women’s Studies Centre organised this seminar in which various experts working on child rights and child abuse issues were invited. It included judges, psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, child specialists, NGO representatives, networks and forums against child abuse (FACSE), police personnel, child welfare committee members, lawyers, public prosecutors and personnel from the department of women and child development of Maharashtra

 Roundtable on Coordinated Community Response to Gender Based Violence. Held on 11 July 2016 at Mumbai It was organized by Direct Action for Women Now (DAWN) Worldwide, US cofounded by Geeta Aiyer – working to end gender-based violence and advance gender equality through education and collaboration, in collaboration with Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA).

International Women’s Action on Non violence Held on 2nd to 4th Oct 2017 at Jalgaon, Maharashtra International Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and Peace, Madurai, Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon Ekta Europe Ekta Parishad, India had organized the event. It was part of a 13-day long campaign across India for promoting peace and nonviolence. Human rights as the basis for peace and non-violence were the call of the campaign. Experiments for peace across the globe, especially across conflict ridden borders of countries were presented by international guests, and enlightened the audience about the strength of women in peace-making efforts

Seminar on the Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences Act 2012 Held on 11th June 2016 Women’s Studies Centre organised this seminar in which various experts working on child rights and child abuse issues were invited. It included judges, psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, child specialists, NGO representatives, networks and forums against child abuse (FACSE), police personnel, child welfare committee members, lawyers, public prosecutors and personnel from the department of women and child development of Maharashtra.

·        International Women’s Action on Nonviolence

2nd to 4th Oct 2017 at Jalgaon

Maharashtra International Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and Peace, Madurai, Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon Ekta Europe Ekta Parishad, India had organized the event. It was part of a 13-day long campaign across India for promoting peace and nonviolence. Human rights as the basis for peace and non-violence were the call of the campaign.

·        Women’s Studies Centre was invited to a meeting on the Sexual Harassment at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal ) Act, 2013, Organised by NGO –  Alochana. It was held on 19th February 2014, in which several NGO representatives from Pune participated.  The objective was to bring clarity about the provisions of this law, consider developing an NGO forum whose representation would be required in the Internal Complaints Committees formed under the Act, and decide on the next steps to be taken by this forum. 

Providing consultancy/ advice/ support

·        Campaign against Female Genital Mutilation: Public meeting on awareness and eradication of this gruesome practice WSC of ILS Law College, joined the campaign and the public meeting. University Women’s Association, Pune; Poona Women’s Council; Family Planning Association of India; and Pune Women’s Forum were part of this campaign. WSC provided the legal expertise for the campaign.

                Date: 23rd April, 2016

·        Workshop on People Centred Advocacy :A training workshop was organized for partners of SwissAid on how to undertake advocacy on issues related to domestic violence especially for better implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. WSC provided the necessary advice and inputs for planning and designing the contents of the workshop to National Centre for Advocacy Studies. 

               Date: 13th to 15th Oct 2016

·        Capacity building Workshop about MTP Act, PCPNDT Act and POCSO Act within the context of access to safe abortion services: CREA, CommonHealth and Samyak had organized the said workshop, in which about 25 grassroots activists from rural Maharashtra working on women’s rights and health issues, participated. Dr. Jaya Sagade and Ms. Prasanna Invally provided inputs on the three laws – namely – MTP Act and the proposed amendments, the PCPNDT Act and its interlinkages with MTP Act, and the POCSO Act with special reference to difficulties and dilemmas faced by the activists in dealing with cases under POCSO Act. At the end of the workshop, as a first step, the campaigners decided that the information on district level committees in various districts whose primary role under the MTP Act was registration of MTP Centres, should be sought through an RTI application. 

·        The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013: Consultancy, advice to Corporates such as ‘QuickHeal’, Avalara Technologies and College such as the Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune (VIIT), was provided. Advice pertaining to their policy against sexual harassment, orientation of the law to the Internal Complaints Committee, and conducting staff awareness sessions on the company’s policy was undertaken. 

·        District-level Workshops on ‘Domestic Violence’ conducted for Judicial Officers: With the permission of Hon’ble Justice Mohit Shah, Chief Justice, Bombay High Court, Mumbai, the Women’s Studies Centre organized and conducted seven workshops on the subject of Domestic Violence for Judicial Officers. Other stake holders also participated.

             PUBLICATIONS

Books

·        Feminism In The Subcontinent and Beyond; Challenging Laws, Changing Laws (2014)

·        “Law of Maintenance: An Empirical Study” (Indian Law Society, 1996)

·        “Child Marriage: Socio-Legal and Human Rights Dimension” 2005 (Oxford University Press, New Delhi)

           

·        Book Edited

 1.           “Stree-Nyaya-Kayada” (Indian Law Society, Chandrakala Prakashan, Pune, 1998)

 

·        Articles

 1.           ‘Law and Social Reforms in Rural India with Special References to Child Marriage’, Supreme Court Journal, pp. 27-35 (1981).

2.           ‘The Shahabuddin Bill to Starve Muslim Divorcee’, Secularist, pp. 100-118 (1981).

3.           ‘Legislative Regulation of Muslim Personal Law’, IX JBCI, pp. 102-112 (1981).

4.           ‘Talaq and  the Rights of Women’ (in correspondence – reply to Shahabuddin), 74 Secularist, p. 47, (1982).

5.           ‘Implications of Nomination – A note on Sarbati Devi v. Usha Devi’, 8 Academy Law Review, p. 279-290 (1984).

6.           ‘Family Courts Act – an Appraisal’, Annual Report of Mahila Dakshata Samiti, 1984-85, p. 45.

7.           ‘Protection or Exploitation of Muslim Women’, ILS Law College Magazine, 1985-86.

8.           ‘Maintenance : An Obligation and an Entitlement’, 4 Corporate Law Journal, p. 37  (1989).

9.           ‘Polygamy and Woman’s Right of Maintenance’, 29 JILI p. 336, (1989).

10.       ‘Women and the Law’ in Baxi Upendra (ed.), Dimensions of Law, (ILS, 1992) p. 175.

11.       ‘Legislation : Challenges and Responses’ in Samuel C.J. (ed.), Principles of  Legislation (Dept. of Law, University of Poona, Pune, 1992) p. 68

12.       ‘Uniform Civil Code’, 43 Social Action p. 501 (1993).

13.       Contributed regularly to ‘Maharashtra Herald’ (Local Newspaper) in the column ‘Point of Law’ from August 1987 to December 1990.

14.       Maharashtra Bill on Adoption Seminar, Sept. 1996.

15.       ‘Raising Age at Marriage – Socio-legal Constraints and Strategies’ S.P. Sathe (ed) Law Liberty and Justice (ILS Platinum Jubilee Volume, 2002)

 

·        Monograph

1.           Draft proposal of the Indian Marriage and Matrimonial Remedies Act, (1986) published by the Indian Secular Society.

2.           Legal Education and Human Rights, a monograph for the Ford Foundation, New Delhi 2002

 

·        Book Review

1.           Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Muslim Women Act, 1986 reviewed July-August New Quest, p. 64,  (1987).

2.           Shri Durgadas Basu, Uniform Civil Code in India, in University News 35 (23) June 9,1997 p.25

 

·        Marathi Articles

1.           Contributed a chapter on  ‘Law of Maintenance’ in a Marathi book ‘Potgicha Kayada’.

2.           ‘Women and the Law’, Bayaja, Jan-April 1986, p. 9.

3.           ‘Uniform Civil Code : Need of the Time’ in Sadhana – Special issue on women’s problems, May 1988, p. 7.

4.           Written a number of notes for Vishwakosh, (Encyclopaedia) Wai.

5.           ‘Uniform Civil Code’ in Vidya Bal (ed.) Milun Saryajani, Aug. 1993.

6.           ‘Women and the Law of Maintenance’ in Neelam Gorhe (ed.) Striya ani Kayada, 1993.

7.           Contributed three articles in the book  “Stree-Nyaya-Kayada” in Marathi.

8.           “Uniform Civil Code” in Diwali Magazine 2003 “Ramteckchya Gadavarun” in Marathi

 

 CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW AND POLICY

 International Diploma in Mental Health Human Rights and Law:- The Diploma is run by Indian Law Society in collaboration with World Health Organization . It is offered as a distance learning program of one-year duration to accommodate working professionals across the globe. It is instrumental in creating change makers across the world equipping them with specific learning and transferable skills. Faculty members with various expertise and experience from various countries and settings allow for a diverse input and learning experience into the course content. The Diploma is running for last 10 years and till date 100 students have graduated from 50 odd countries. The Centre has developed and delivered short term courses for the judiciary, police officers, and bureaucrats, international agencies, and Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations on mental health legislation.

 

The Centre undertakes Research projects in the field of mental health policy and legislation. Some of the core projects are –

  1. Quality Rights Project-

    Reports in many countries have highlighted the considerable violence, abuse, and coercion that occurs in mental health settings including forced admission and treatment and the use of seclusion, and restraint. Recognizing the significant extent of poor quality and human rights issues in mental health, WHO launched the QualityRights initiative in 2013. The Quality Rights initiative is based on international human rights standards including the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and represents a practical tool for implementing the Convention (CRPD) at the ground level. CMHLP, in collaboration with WHO, Geneva, implemented Quality Rights as a scalable solution in public mental health services in Gujarat, India. Other collaborators included CAMH, Toronto, SAA, Pune, SCARF, Chennai, PHFI, Delhi. This was the first ever large-scale implementation and systematic evaluation of the impact of adopting comprehensive human rights-based approach in mental health services though core interventions of the WHO Quality Rights initiative. The implementation was delivered across 9 public mental health facilities including three mental health hospitals, district hospitals, medical colleges, and civil hospitals.The intervention included four main areas of intervention: assessment of the mental health facilities using Quality Rights Toolkit, capacity building training on three manuals, capacity building of service users and caregivers to form, organize, and sustain support groups, and influence service-level policies that protect and promote rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities.Through the intervention, for the first time, persons with psychosocial disabilities were trained as Peer Support Volunteers. They were responsible to enable people’s recovery journey by filling in recovery plans and organizing peer support meetings. The impact of the evaluation measures showed that service users feel more empowered, and better recovery outcomes. The staff at the facilities see coercion as a violation of human rights. Detailed findings of the intervention are soon going to be published. Here is the summary of other interventions:407 staff received training in recovery-oriented care, 447 staff completed the rights of persons with mental illness training modules, 424 staff received training in the communication skills module, and 286 staff were trained in alternatives to seclusion and restraint.218 service users and family members were trained in the recovery-oriented care module and the modules on rights of persons with mental illness.During the 12-month period, 115 Saathi (care-giver groups) meetings were conducted across intervention sites: on average, 16 meetings were conducted by each group and each meeting was attended by 20 caregivers.6 Maitri (peer-support) groups were established at the intervention sites that meet weekly or fortnightly. During the 12-month period, 127 meetings were held: on average, 21 meetings were held per group and each meeting was attended by 11 service users.During the 12-month intervention period, there were 27 active peer support volunteers at the 6 intervention services; by the end of the project, the State Mental Health Authority of Gujarat created a protected budget for 35 PSVs, who are now funded and supported from the public health budget.

  2. ATMIYATA

    In India, mental illness affects approximately 5-7% of the population and approximately 20% of the Indian population is affected by common mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Common mental health disorders (CMD) often go undetected and untreated, due to a complexity of factors. People with mental health problems often face discrimination and stigma in their communities, which reduces willingness to seek help from mental health care providers. Supply side factors, such as the paucity of trained mental health professionals in India, means that there are insufficient human resources to address the burden of CMD in the community, particularly in rural areas. As a result, 90% of the population in rural areas is without access to mental health care. While primary care practitioners in public health care in rural communities can provide mental health care, they lack the skills needed beyond very basic care; this paucity of providers results in a growing disparity to access of any form of mental health care in rural India, despite the clear and growing need. The limited number of mental health care providers and lack of access to these limited services, combined with the fear of stigmatization and discrimination, contribute to the startling treatment gap for mental illness in India, especially in rural areas.Atmiyata program is a low cost, high impact community-based mental health intervention focused on promoting wellness and reducing distress through community volunteers in rural parts of India. The Atmiyata approach is distinct, but complementary to the public health sector. Atmiyata take a social development approach with lens of human rights and equity. Atmiyata intervention involves a two-tier community led mental health care model that develops capacity of community volunteers to identify and provide support and counselling to persons mental health issues. Champions are main community volunteers in each village who get a training on identification, referral, counseling, using films and facilitating social benefits. This training is for seven days and each champion is supposed to give one hour per day for this work. The project also select and train 4 to 5 volunteers from each village called as ‘Mitras’. They help champion to identify people with mental health issues and enhance geographical and social reach of champion. Champions are supported and mentored by community facilitators who in turn monitored and mentored by project managers. Each Champion has been given a smart phone loaded with android based application along with training material and films. Application is primarily used for a programme data collection and used as a guide by Champion.The project objectives are:

    • To improve access to the common and severe mental health issues;
    • To reduce symptoms of common mental disorders and improve social functioning;
    • To facilitate access to social care benefits for beneficiaries and their families.
    • To improve community awareness about mental health issues via films

    The Atmiyata programme was developed to harness these existing community resources to provide basic support at the village level and strengthen community well-being; the development and evaluation were funded by Grand Challenges Canada in the state of Maharashtra, India as a proof of concept. The project trained 59 community volunteers (Champions) from 41 villages and 265 volunteers (Mitras). Champions identified and supported 1350 people with common and severe mental disorders and around 250 families helped with accessing social benefits. 7600 people viewed the films based on mental health.Atmiyata Gujarat is a transition to scale grant for 29 months starting from November 2016 funded by Grand Challenges Canada and Mariwala Health Initiative, India. The project is in collaboration with Department of health and social and family welfare, Gujarat. The project is being implemented in 500 villages of Mehasana district having an adult population of 1 million. We have trained 300 community volunteers as champions and 620 volunteers as Mitras till date. The project aims to reach out to 50000 beneficiaries in total./p>

  3. SPIRIT project

    SPIRIT (Suicide Prevention & Implementation Research IniTiative) project is a research partnership that aims to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and practice in suicide prevention and mental health interventions in India and Bangladesh.SPIRIT project is implemented by the Indian Law Society (ILS) in collaboration with Trimbos Institute, Netherlands; SNEHA – Suicide Prevention Centre, Chennai; Gujarat Institute for Mental Health (GIMH) & Hospital for Mental Health (HMH) Ahmedabad and the Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (Bangladesh).The project is supported by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat, and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health (United States). The project has received approval from the Health Ministry Screening Committee (HMSC) of the Government of India.SPIRIT project researching the implementation process of an integrated suicide prevention intervention in a community setting at scale. It aims to reduce suicidal ideation among targeted adolescents, rate of suicides in the intervention villages in Mehasana District of Gujarat, and build capacity of health workers in suicide prevention measures. It also aims to empower regional policy makers to integrate evidence generated from implemented research on suicide prevention in policy making in Gujarat.SPIRIT project runs for a period of five years (August 2017 to June 2022) and has two components: Scale-up study: SPIRIT team will implement and evaluate an integrated suicide prevention intervention through a cluster randomized controlled trial in 120 villages of Mehasana district in Gujarat. The integrated intervention includes three evidence based sub interventions. The first sub-intervention is based in schools where school teachers will be trained to deliver a culturally adapted Youth Aware of Mental Health Program. The second sub-intervention consists of encouraging community members to use centralized storage units of pesticides. The third sub-intervention consists of training primary, community and lay health workers in identifying, reaching and providing the support to those exhibiting high-risk behavior in their communities and where necessary, refer them for appropriate specialized support.

    1. Capacity building: SPIRIT team will organize one-year Implementation Science Research Fellowship Program for health care researchers and policy makers, training modules and short term online courses for other stake holders of the mental health sector.
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  6. UPSIDES Project

    CMHLP is a part of an international Consortium under Horizon 2020, GACD grants. The project aims to replicate and scale-up peer support interventions for people with severe mental illness, generating evidence of sustainable best practice in high-, middle- and low-resource settings. The Coordinating Centre is based at Ulm University, Germany, other partners are based at UK, Uganda, Tanzania, Israel. The CMHLP is awaiting the decision on funding by ICMR, New Delhi.Socially Disadvantaged Sections of the SocietyStudents benefited by the Scheme implemented by the institution and other initiative by the college:

    NAME OF THE SCHEME Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Earn and Learn Scheme Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Earn and Learn Scheme Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Earn and Learn Scheme Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Earn and Learn Scheme Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Earn and Learn Scheme
    YEAR 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018
    NUMBER 04 37 60 31 35

                         

    NAME OF THE SCHEME Mess Bill by ILS Law College Mess Bill by ILS Law College Mess Bill by ILS Law College Mess Bill by ILS Law College Mess Bill by ILS Law College
    YEAR 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018
    NUMBER 02 — 04 02 04

      

    NAME OF THE SCHEME Fee Waiver by ILS Law College Fee Waiver by ILS Law College Fee Waiver by ILS Law College Fee Waiver by ILS Law College Fee Waiver by ILS Law College
    YEAR 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018
    NUMBER — — — 07 03

     ·        Number of students benefited by scholarships and free ships provided by the Government year wise 

    Year Name of the scheme Number of students benefited by government scheme
    2013-2014 Government of India Scholarship Scheme 175
      Government of India Freeship 75
    CENTRAL SECTOR SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOP “SC” STUDENTS
      ·        Top Merit Scholarship (Renewal) 03
      ·        Laptop Scheme (Fresh) 05
      TOTAL 262
    2014-2015 Government of India Scholarship Scheme 214
      Government of India Freeship 75
    CENTRAL SECTOR SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOP “SC” STUDENTS
      ·        Top Merit Scholarship (Renewal) 06
      ·        Laptop Scheme (Fresh) 05
      TOTAL 300
    2015-2016 Government of India Scholarship Scheme 183
      Government of India Freeship 108
    CENTRAL SECTOR SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOP “SC” STUDENTS
      ·        Top Merit Scholarship (Renewal) 09
      ·        Laptop Scheme (Fresh) 02
      TOTAL 302
    2016-2017 Government of India Scholarship Scheme 35
      Government of India Freeship 63
    CENTRAL SECTOR SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOP “SC” STUDENTS
      ·        Top Merit Scholarship (Renewal) 08
      ·        Laptop Scheme (Fresh) 03
      TOTAL 109
    2017-2018 Government of India Scholarship Scheme 136
      Government of India Freeship 121
    CENTRAL SECTOR SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOP “SC” STUDENTS
      ·        Top Merit Scholarship (Renewal) 06
      ·        Laptop Scheme (Fresh) 01
      TOTAL 264
    2013-2014 Post-Matric Scholarship for Students Belonging to The Minority Communities —
    2014-2015 Post-Matric Scholarship for Students Belonging to The Minority Communities —
    2015-2016 Post-Matric Scholarship for Students Belonging to The Minority Communities —
    2016-2017 Post-Matric Scholarship for Students Belonging to The Minority Communities 05
    2017-2018 Post-Matric Scholarship for Students Belonging to The Minority Communities 06
    2013-2014 Concession for Wards of Primary and Secondary Teachers 04
    2014-2015 Concession for Wards of Primary and Secondary Teachers —
    2015-2016 Concession for Wards of Primary and Secondary Teachers 04
    2016-2017 Concession for Wards of Primary and Secondary Teachers 01
    2017-2018 Concession for Wards of Primary and Secondary Teachers —

Reformation in Laws

  • Draft Proposal of The Indian Marriage and Matrimonial Remedies Act 1986: We have contributed in formulation of Draft Proposal of The Indian Marriage and Matrimonial Remedies Act 1986, which was a blueprint of Uniform Civil Code on marriage. This work was also cited in the book named Family Laws and Constitutional Claims authored by Flavia Agnes
  • Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2008: This effort was a combined effort of the students and the faculty members of our College, for better and effective implementation of the law. Proposed changes were made to remove ambiguities in the present bill and to address the legal issues We, along with the experts in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology – listed suggestions and changes, which were sent to the Division of Reproductive Health & Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research