Raj Kumar Patel, Advocate, Katni
Raj Kumar is a lawyer practising in the Katni district of Madhya Pradesh where he is associated to the centre through a fellowship.
he admits that he has always had an inclination towards all things social, passion for activism is just an extension of that; even in his college days he would proactively engage with authority figures to voice the rights of students and mismanagements in the administration of the college. He always has a felt a strong connect with the community and his human rights activism is an extension of that.
His attitude towards social justice has been influenced by the discrimination faced by his Muslim friend he witnessed this discrimination all because he was from a minority religious identity this deepened his understanding of vulnerability. He supported him in the legal processes that followed after, then he was still a law student.
He has changed as a lawyer after his association with the centre; earlier he would view his client-advocate relationship commercially, his perspective towards legal aid has undergone a shift.
being associated with the centre has helped him amplify his reach in the community, he believes, this has simultaneously given birth to expectations from the villagers for action, and a hope to better their everyday lives, which he finds to be slightly daunting and rewarding at the same time.
He’s more comfortable in the skin of being identified as a social justice lawyer.
His most satisfactory experience was to spearhead the Katni campaign in May, 2015 which expanded the reach of the centre to new villages and helped identify crucial issues related to land labour and environment and habitat rights of the residents.
After the initial contact made to the campaign which facilitated the identification of collective issues the team has been regularly following up with the residents, and in october they organised a medical camp for the residents of the area, for they had repeatedly cited the deteriorating health conditions in the area, due to inadequate public health services. This he considers a validating experience for it helped in deepening ties with the village residents, which will go a long way to help the progress of the intervention.