New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) Union Minister of State (MoS) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that, as of March 6, 2026, 36,269 digitally signed Certificates of Practice have been issued to newly appointed Notaries across the country.

In a written reply to a question, Meghwal said the government has launched the Notary Portal as a dedicated platform for providing online services related to the Notaries Act, 1952, and the Notaries Rules, 1956.

It is intended to provide an online interface between the Notaries and the Government for various services like submission of applications for appointment as Notaries, verification of eligibility for appointment as Notaries, issuance of digitally signed Certificate of Practice as a Notary, renewal of Certificate of Practice, change of practice area, submission of annual return, etc.

The Notary Portal provides a faceless, paperless, transparent and efficient system. Currently, only the module for verifying documents and eligibility, and issuing a digitally signed Certificate of Practice to newly appointed Notaries, is live. Before the launch of the Notary Portal, Certificates of Practice were issued in physical form to Notaries.

In response to another question, the MoS said the government is implementing a different scheme to ensure affordable and accessible justice for citizens.

The Scheme of “Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA)” aims to strengthen access to justice for all citizens, in alignment with the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987.

Under the component Tele-Law, citizens are connected with panel lawyers to obtain pre-litigation legal advice through video or tele-conferencing using a network of about 2.50 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) operating at the Gram Panchayat level across 777 districts, including 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks, in 36 States/UTs.

As of February 28, 2026, more than 1.12 crore pre-litigation advices have been provided under the programme.

Through the Nyaya Bandhu component, a pro bono culture is being promoted among advocates and law students, the MoS said.

Under this programme, pro bono advocates provide free legal assistance and representation in court to eligible beneficiaries under Section 12 of the LSA Act, 1987. As of February 28, 10,263 advocates have been registered under the programme.

–IANS

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