True progress is ensuring justice, dignity for all: Justice Surya Kant

Guwahati, Oct 11 (PTI) Justice Surya Kant of the Supreme Court on Saturday emphasised that true progress cannot be measured by GDP or statistics, but by ensuring justice, dignity and equal opportunity for all across the country.

He said the role of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is important in this regard by acting as a bridge between ‘law and life’.

Speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day ‘East Zone Regional Conference’ of the NALSA, Justice Kant said the meet is of increased importance as it shows that this region is not merely the frontier of the country’s geographical boundaries, but is ‘frontiers of India’s justice’.

“This gathering on the eve of the East-Zone Regional Conference, is more than an inauguration – it being a reaffirmation that our commitment to justice must reach where it has so far been slow to travel: across the valleys, tea gardens, and borderlands of India’s East,” the seniormost judge of the apex court, who is also the Executive Chairman of NALSA, said.

Lauding the organisers, he maintained that it demonstrates “a deep moral vision: one that recognises the historical inequities and structural barriers faced by the Eastern States in India”.

The conference has been organised by the Assam State Legal Services Authority in collaboration with the Gauhati High Court.

Justice Kant maintained that while the eastern states, including the North East region, have a rich biodiversity, culture and tradition, it is also burdened with adversities that demand collective attention.

“Assam’s tea fills cups across the world, Bengal’s intellectual traditions have shaped our nation’s modernity, Bihar’s agriculture sustains millions, Odisha’s coastline links us to global trade, and Jharkhand’s minerals power our industries. The Northeast, with its music, its dances, its festivals, remains a cultural heartbeat of India,” he said.

Alongside the abundance, stark vulnerabilities persist and development indicators reveal troubling disparities, Justice Kant added.

He pointed out that the Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that some of these states remain among the most deprived.

Though India's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index indicates progress being made, but much remains to be done for ensuring gender equality, access to justice and the protection of human dignity, he added.

“True progress is not measured merely by GDP or statistics, but by whether justice, dignity, and opportunity are equitably distributed across every community,” the Supreme Court judge stressed.

He mentioned child marriage, abuse of narcotics and psychotropic substances, problems of tribal communities and tea garden workers, and mental health issues are major concerns for the region.

Highlighting the role of NALSA in helping address these issues, he said, “It is in this space of shared inequality that the National Legal Services Authority must step in as the bridge between law and life. NALSA must acknowledge its tasks to ensure that law does not remain confined to books or courtrooms, but is translated into everyday justice that touches the lives of the most marginalised.” The NALSA executive chairman elaborated on the specific steps taken by the Authority to address these issues, including DAWN (Drug Awareness and Wellness Navigation), ASHA SoP to curb child marriage, and SAMVAD (Strengthening Access to Justice for Marginalised Adivasis and Denotified Tribes).

“And for our most valiant Defense forces – who are protecting our borders in the unforgiving and chilling heights of the North East – we have recently brought about the NALSA Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana 2025 Scheme, which promises their families quality legal assistance at no cost,” he added.

Justice Kant maintained that the technical sessions during the conference will not be mere academic exercises, but serve as opportunities to align regional realities with national strategies.

He said inter-agency coordination must be strengthened, technology used as a bridge, and “cultivate the courage to listen — to listen to children, to workers, to tribes, to those battling despair — and to shape justice not in our language, but in their sentiments”.

“…the Eastern States are not mere frontiers of India’s geography; they are frontiers of India’s justice. To secure justice here is to strengthen the moral fabric of our great Republic,” the apex court judge added. PTI SSG NN