Panchayat Shivir is a Hindi term for a Legal Literacy Camp. Law trainers may use it to aid tribal self-rule in India or other forms of decentralisation. Mass Tribal Organisations or Community Based Organisations may also use this approach in taking law to the people. Trainers may also use it in other countries that are progressing towards decentralised governance or in areas of special administration.

Legal literacy camps include such techniques as role-playing, focus group discussions, pictorial representation of legal issues, triangulating incidents with legal implications and informal sessions. Such camps are a simple method to encourage interactive learning and problem solving.

A summary card of this tool is available to download in four languages in PDF format:

English (43 K) | French (45 K) | Spanish (45 K) | Portuguese (45K)

Please cite this tool as:

Enviro-Legal Defence Firm. 2005. Legal literacy camps: panchayat shivir. Power tools series. Enviro-Legal Defence Firm, Noida, India and International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK.

The complete tool is also available (PDF format):

English (265K, 22pp) | French (290K, 22pp) | Spanish (641K, 21pp) | Portuguese (640K, 21pp)

For further information:

• Contact: Sanja Upadhyay eldf@vsnl.net; admin@eldfindia.com