NLSIU has done extensive research on labour, legal system reforms and access to justice. Source: NLSIU
The Meghalaya government has signed an agreement with Bengaluru-based National Law School of India University (NLSIU) to offer a fellowship which will allow students of the law university undertake research activities in the northeastern state, officials said on April 5.
The PA Sangma Fellowship for Legal and Policy Research is aimed at
helping students gain experience on the current challenges of law and policy. Besides, it will provide capacity building programmes and training for law officers and officials of other government departments, Meghalaya officials said.
"This will be a great learning experience for the fellows because the transition they would make from the classroom environment to understanding the ground realities of law and policy will be beneficial," said Meghalaya law minister James PK Sangma.
PA Sangma was a former chief minister of Meghalaya and speaker of Lok Sabha. His son, Conrad, is the current chief minister of the state, his other son, James, is a minister, and his daughter, Agatha, is a Member of the Parliament.
NLSIU has done extensive research on topics like ‘Labour and Work’; ‘State Capacity and Reform’; ‘Access to Justice & Legal System Reform’; and ‘Law, Technology and Society’. In the past, it has also worked with the Central government and other state governments to build centres to study marginalised communities.
The fellowship resonates well with the institute’s track record of insightful research, since Meghalaya, which has seen a series of reforms in recent years, is home to a large portion of Scheduled Tribes in India.