Any measure that hastens the tardy judicial process in the country is welcome. Lok adalats to deal with complaints against public utility services would help enormously, given that out of two crore public utility cases pending in the courts, only one-third has been disposed of so far. The purpose behind the Centre's decision is clear enough. Apart from speeding up the judicial process in one sphere, the lok adalats would make justice more accessible to the ordinary man. Complaints about transport, communications services, power and water supply, waste removal, hospitals and insurance can go through the process of hearing and disposal faster and more easily. With an upper limit of Rs 10 lakh fixed for the jurisdiction, the lok adalat would remain a proper court for the people. To make the lok adalat effective, the law ministry has given it the extra power of settling disputes on the basis of merit, whereas earlier, the lok adalats were empowered to dispose of disputes by compromise. But improvements of this kind always bring a trail of questions with them. This is not really a systemic tightening, which the justice system in the country needs. It is, rather, a proliferation of bodies to prune the excess that the law courts cannot deal with any more. There are first the pragmatic questions of whether the bill seeking the necessary amendment will pass safely through the houses of Parliament, and whether, before that, the standing committee will let go of it soon enough to be acted upon. Once the system is in place, there would be other questions. Whether proliferation necessarily means efficiency, for example. More people, more paperwork, more mediation - India does not have the happiest experience in these matters. In other words, it is not the plan that is the most important thing. Without implementation and constant monitoring there will be no improvement. Indian politicians still seem blissfully unaware of the implications of having to deal with such a huge number of people and the characteristic lack of interest in work that officials exhibit. The two are a dangerous combination. The law ministry must be prepared to take up this challenge.