ADVOCACY AND LEGAL ADVICE CENTER (ALAC)

ALAC INDIA is Transparency International India’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre providing free and legal advice & assistance to witnesses and victims of corruption. Offering a simple, credible and viable mechanism for citizens to pursue their corruption-related complaints, ALAC India empowers citizens in the fight against corruption. It also plays a critical role identifying corruption hotspots that demand reform or official action. Harnessing the powerful, real life data gathered by ALACs on the consequences and mechanisms of corruption, Transparency International India (TII)’s state chapters engage in strategic advocacy to bring about systemic change in public policy and practice.

Through telephone hotlines and walk-in centres ALAC India helps citizens pursue corruption-related complaints. Their success serves as a rebuttal to the idea that corruption is inevitable. The diversity of cases and people who use the centres – from the unemployed to entrepreneurs and well-positioned whistleblowers – demonstrates the pervasive nature of corruption. In line with TII’s approach of constructive engagement, ALAC India builds partnerships with public authorities and private actors to effect change. ALAC India seeks to translate citizens’ concerns on corruption structural changes for better local and national governance. It pushes for specific administrative, institutional, legal and systematic changes.

There are several government schemes which are meant for poor people but due to lack of information and/or flows in the governmental machinery, most of the deserving people are deprived of these schemes. Most of the times they have to pay bribes to government officials to get the benefit of these schemes. Apart from this, the poor and illiterate people of rural and urban area both are demanded bribe by government officials for various government services. This practice is prevalent in the electricity departments, government hospitals, police stations, courts, transportation department etc. Therefore, victims of corruption have nowhere to go and no one to say his/her agony.

Transparency International India (TII) started helpline in Chennai and Ranchi to tackle these problems. The victims can directly lodge their complaints on these helpline number and these complaints are followed up by TII. This has been found as the simplest way of lodging the complaints by “poor” and “illiterate” people who have no saying anywhere else.

ALAC INDIA MISSION:

To empower and develop more active and responsible citizens in a fight against corruption.

ALAC CENTERS IN INDIA