Daily Times

“Sindh Legal Advisory Call Center (SLACC) is a gift to the people of Pakistan from the Sindh government because it enables citizens across the country to seek legal advice.”

This was said by Barrister Murtaza Wahab during his visit to SLACC on Wednesday. It is worth mentioning that SLACC was launched under the ‘Legal Empowerment of People Program’ (LEPPS) in Sindh. The project was a result of a public private partnership (PPP) in collaboration with Legal Aid Society, a non-profit organisation run under the chair of Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid.

Provincial Advisor on the occasion explained that any person across Pakistan could call the SLACC on a toll free number (0800-70806) to seek legal advice on civil , criminal and public service related matters. He further said said that anybody could seek legal advice on matter of ghost schools, police refusing to register FIR, need for emergency support to victim of violence. He said that citizens could call the helpline to understand how and where to report corruption while protecting themselves. “If a citizen is not able access their socio -economic rights such as water , electricity and other utilities, they can simply call the helpline and gain information regarding the legal remedies available to them,” said the CM advisor.

” The SLACC will not only respond to legal query within 24 hours of call with correct legal advice and information but will also strive to connect the caller with the relevant government department or service provider for relief,” said Barrister Wahab. He shared that SLACC was managed by a team of 24 experienced and well trained high court retired advocates. Provincial advisor added that the helpline , unlike other manually managed help lines , ran on fully automated , sophisticated and distinctive call receiving and management system.

CM advisor said that the automated nature of SLACC will not only ensure the accuracy of legal information given but also allow for monitoring of quality and most importantly once tabulated and analysed it will allow the Sindh government to gain insight into the legal needs of the people and design evidence based projects to provide relief to public.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab was impressed to learn that a Pakistani women residing in Saudi Arabia was given legal aid through the helpline and a separate case of underage marriage had been resolved through it. Justice (r) Arif Khijli informed Barrister Wahab that SLACC was working since 2014 and had received over 150,000 calls from all over Pakistan.

Later, while talking to the media Barrister Wahab said that getting justice was the primary right of people and the Sindh government had established an effective legal assistance call centre under the PPP mode. He added that Sindh government will continue to support this center so that poor disempowered, marginalized segment of society could be provided legal assistance.

Law Secretary Sharique Ahmed and Information Director Zeenat Jehan also accompanied Barrister Wahab on his visit.

Published in Daily Times, October 4^th 2018.