Institutional Distinctiveness

The vision of National Law University Odisha is to develop as a centre of excellence in legal education and emerge not only as a place of professional learning but also to nurture the idea of public service and to carry forward the perambulatory promises of the Indian Constitution. The faculties play an important role of mentor and facilitator in the rigorous student-centric academic delivery. It is our constant endeavour to make learning a provocative engagement and a joyful exercise through innovative and creative methods of teaching. NLUO is one of the few National Law Universities that offer an integrated B.B.A. LL.B. (H) programme. This objective of the University to build socially relevant professionals is achieved through the following ways:

1. Through the curriculum in the Clinical Legal Education (CLE) course: The University has adopted clinical learning as its priority teaching –learning method.To promote experiential learning, the students in their third year of study are offered clinical legal programmes as a part of ‘Legal Aid and Public Interest Litigation (PIL)’ course with focus on prison advocacy, child rights, labour rights and juvenile justice etc. As a part of the course, students are expected to undertake field visits, conduct empirical research, identify key legal issues under the ambit of their clinics and propose solutions for the same. As a part of the course, students undertake field visits to prisons, police stations, brick kilns, juvenile detention centres etc.
2. Beyond the curriculum: Beyond the curriculum, various other steps are taken to expose students to ground realities involving the interface of law and society. This prompts the students to use their knowledge to make interventions in the society/community whenever required. This is achieved through the following ways:

• Legal Aid Clinic: University runs 2 legal aid clinics, one at Dompada Cuttack and the other at the NLUO campus. A full-time staff member with law degree has been appointed on contractual basis to manage the Legal Aid Clinic in the University. He works in tandem with the District Legal Services Authority, Cuttack for providing legal and other assistance throughout the process. Through these clinics, we aim not only to train our students but also to strengthen access to justice for the marginalized section of society through legal awareness, promoting alternative methods of dispute resolution and demonstrating innovations and best practices for clinical legal education. The assistance provided by students through these Clinics involve drafting of applications and related documents, referral services, follow-up of the cases with appropriate authorities, counselling etc. This process helps in creating a link between NLUO Legal Aid Society and the communities.
• Project Kutumb: With the objective of contributing to the national commitment towards creation of child friendly villages, NLUO recently adopted three villages in the district of Cuttack under Project Kutumb. The objective is to make necessary interventions in these villages to accomplish the relevant sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• Other activities: The University promotes a culture of community outreach and intervention under various other programmes like Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Pro Bono Club, NSS etc. Further, University led programmes like the Annual Flower Show are also used as a platform to build a connect with the community and understand them and their issues.

Best Practices at NLUO

Title of the practice: Promoting legal aid and outreach activities

Objectives of the Practice: The objective is to make clinical learning as a part of the pedagogy to make the legal knowledge imparted to the students socially relevant and nurture the idea of serviceability to the people.
The Context: It is observed that most people in the society, particularly the marginalised sections of the society are unaware of their legal rights and are unable to deal with grappling issues faced by them in their day to day lives. This leads to the need to address legal, social and other problems. Through the legal aid activities and clinical activities, the University attempts to instil public responsibility in the students.
The Practice: The Legal Aid Society of the University makes remarkable contribution by extending help through legal aid clinic situated at Dompada village (Cuttack), conducting legal awareness drives, donation drives etc. The outreach programmes and activities include community education, community advocacy, distribution of pamphlets etc. The University also offers a compulsory programme on Clinical Legal Education as a part of the course curriculum in which students work on areas ranging from land rights to prison advocacy, prison rights etc. Through this programme students are sensitized about the ground level social and legal issues faced by people in their vicinity. This encourages them to identify meaningful solution to the issues through application of legal knowledge and skills. Additionally, students are also encouraged to undertake pro bono lawyering as a part of their practice.
Evidence of Success: The Legal Aid Clinic has undertaken several initiatives including organising legal aid camps and facilitation of receiving benefit from the social service schemes in collaboration with the District Administration.
Students have undertaken some remarkable initiatives as part of their field visits and clinical programmes. On two instances, students have filed a Public Interest Litigation petitions addressing issues of public importance. Some alumni of the University have started their own NGO named Zenith in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh focussed on conservation of fresh water lakes in their vicinity. Furthermore, the alumni are associated with other national and international NGOs.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: In terms of outreach, the extent of outreach has been severely affected due to onset of the pandemic. Also, it has been observed that students face certain language and cultural barriers during their visits to local communities. There is a need for training and sensitization of students for better social interaction. Further, greater financial resources are required to expand the scope of clinical activities and activities under the ambit of legal aid.

Title of the practice: Promoting holistic development of students and strengthening mental health of the students.

Objectives of the Practice: The objective is to improve students’ participation in activities that contribute to their social well-being and emotional well-being.
The Context: In addition to the professional skills, the human values play an important role in holistic development of human being.
Lack of social interaction in real world due to social media platforms coupled with academic pressure to perform better has resulted in isolation of students in real world. This is one of the reasons why mental health of students is at a constant risk which needs to be addressed.
The Practice: Students are encouraged to attend sessions on stress management, confidence building etc. conducted on monthly basis by YourDost Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd. A certified counsellor/psychologist visits the campus twice a month, and staff and students are encouraged to avail counselling services of the experts. Additionally under the NLUO Mentorship programme, faculties (mentors) are advised to engage in discussion with their mentees and ensure their overall well -being. Further, in regular intervals activities like yoga classes, dance classes, Zumba sessions, open mic sessions are organised in the campus that have a therapeutic effect on the distressed minds.
Evidence of Success: Feedback collected from students indicate that they have been satisfied with the University initiatives with regard to mental health and overall well-being of the students.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Greater mobilisation is needed to make students seek help at the right time, and engage in counselling.

Title of the practice: Friends Beyond Species – Society for Advancement of Animal and Environmental Welfare

Objectives of the Practice: To promote and protect the rights of all sentient beings, especially the most neglected ones who cannot fend for themselves. To instill in students compassion towards non-human animals and responsibility towards protecting the environment.
The Context: It was disheartening to notice some students’ hostility towards stray animals in the campus. There was an immediate need to address this issue. It was also observed that steps needed to be taken to prompt residents of the campus to switch over to eco-friendly and sustainable choices in their day to day activities. As students of law they are encouraged to be instruments of change and therefore, they get together to work towards creating a better world for sentient beings along with a sustainable future.
The Practice: To sensitize and raise awareness the Society organizes regular sensitization drives, Nukkad Nataks, poster-making competitions. Further, to foster research in the area of animal and environmental welfare, the Society has hosted Ms. Maneka Gandhi to conduct a National Conference. Additionally, a national-level essay competition, a full-fledged blog is run under the aegis of the Society. At the ground level, the animals on campus (mostly dogs) are all vaccinated, trained to be human-friendly, and fed and bathed regularly. The Society has also made a proposal to the administration for a Green Campus, suggesting various ideas of implementation, such as banning of plastic straws, reuse of reading material and submission of softcopies of projects to save paper, etc.
Evidence of Success: The Society has published an edited volume on the theme of wildlife conservation. It has also seen an overwhelming response for the Conference and competitions organised. Furthermore, the students and staff on campus have developed more tolerance and compassion towards the presence of non-human animals on campus.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Due to the pandemic, outreach activities and sensitization drives have been affected. The Society needs greater support from the stakeholders, of financial as well as physical and emotional nature.

Title of the practice: Promoting child rights and working towards child welfare

Objective of the practice: The objective is to support and strengthen existing institutions for children and in doing so, plug existing gaps between the community and the government in the state of Odisha.
The Context: NLUO has declared the year 2023 as the ‘year of the child’. In the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is increasing need to look at various aspects of child well-being, particularly in an economically backward state like Odisha.
The Practice: There is a dedicated research centre, Centre for Child Rights, for conducting research and training programmes in the field of child rights and child welfare. The centre has been engaged in preparing research reports, booklets and FAQs, case compilations under child related laws etc.
Further, under the ongoing Project Kutumb, teams of students and teachers from NLUO will be engaged in gathering data related to survival, development, protection and participation of children from the University’s 3 adopted villages and furnish them to relevant government offices for necessary action. Apart from that, NLUO’s teams will conduct various programmes in collaboration with state agencies for generating awareness and encouraging children’s participation in their development.
Evidence of Success: The research centre has successfully conducted training programmes for various state government officials. The centre also conducted a judicial colloquium on juvenile justice which was attended by over seventy international and national delegates. UNICEF has been supporting the various activities of the Child Rights Centre. The Centre had also bagged funding from ICSSR for a research project on changing dynamics of child related legislations. Such stories of institutional support from different agencies bear testimony to the success of the activities.
Problems encountered: Further research in the community to identify child well-being related problems requires more funding and capacity building of researchers.

Title of the practice: Promoting legal aid, community intervention and initiatives  

Objectives of the Practice: The objective is to make clinical learning as a part of the pedagogy to make the legal knowledge imparted to the students socially relevant and nurture the idea of serviceability to the people. The idea is not just to impart legal knowledge but also ensure overall well-being.
The Context: It is observed that most people in the society, particularly the marginalised sections of the society are unaware of their legal rights and are unable to deal with grappling issues faced by them in their day to day lives. This leads to the need to address legal, social and other problems. Through the legal aid activities and other community intervention programmes, the University attempts to instil public responsibility in the students.
The Practice: The Legal Aid Society of the University makes remarkable contribution by extending help through legal aid clinic situated at Dompada village (Cuttack), conducting legal awareness drives, donation drives etc. The outreach programmes and activities include community education, community advocacy, distribution of pamphlets etc. Community interventions are also carried out through other student run activities like the Pro Bono Club, the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, the NSS etc. Promoting community intervention encourages students to identify meaningful solution to the issues through application of legal knowledge and skills. In addition to legal interventions, the University has also organised health camps with the support of volunteers, doctors and nurses. Apart from that, a mediation awareness programme and door to door mediation campaign has also been organised in nearby villages.
Evidence of Success: The Legal Aid Clinic has made many necessary interventions before various governmental bodies and agencies like the Child Welfare Committee, the Odisha Human Rights Commission, the Permanent Lok Adalat etc. and got favourable results for the aggrieved. The success stories of the cases can be found here

Further, students have undertaken some remarkable initiatives as part of their field visits and clinical programmes. On two instances, students have filed a Public Interest Litigation petition addressing issues of public importance. Some alumni of the University have started their own NGO named Zenith in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh focussed on conservation of fresh water lakes in their vicinity. Furthermore, the alumni are associated with other national and international NGOs.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: In terms of outreach, the extent of outreach has been severely affected due to onset of the pandemic. Also, it has been observed that students face certain language and cultural barriers during their visits to local communities. There is a need for training and sensitization of students for better social interaction. Further, greater financial resources are required to expand the scope of clinical activities and activities under the ambit of legal aid.

Title of the practice: Promoting holistic development of students and strengthening mental health of the students.

Objectives of the Practice: The objective is to improve students’ participation in activities that contribute to their social well-being and emotional well-being.
The Context: In addition to the professional skills, the human values play an important role in holistic development of human being.
Lack of social interaction in real world due to social media platforms coupled with academic pressure to perform better has resulted in isolation of students in real world. This is one of the reasons why mental health of students is at a constant risk which needs to be addressed.
The Practice: Students are encouraged to attend sessions on stress management, confidence building etc. conducted on monthly basis by YourDost Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd. A certified counsellor/psychologist visits the campus twice a month, and staff and students are encouraged to avail counselling services of the experts. Additionally under the NLUO Mentorship programme, faculties (mentors) are advised to engage in discussion with their mentees and ensure their overall well -being. Further, in regular intervals activities like yoga classes, dance classes, Zumba sessions, open mic sessions are organised in the campus that have a therapeutic effect on the distressed minds.
Evidence of Success: Feedback collected from students indicate that they have been satisfied with the University initiatives with regard to mental health and overall well-being of the students.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Greater mobilisation is needed to make students seek help at the right time, and engage in counselling.

Title of the practice: Financial incentive for research and publications

Objectives of the Practice: To promote the mission of the University i.e. advancement of research, scholarship and diffusion of knowledge in the field of law, the University extends financial support and incentives to faculties.
The Context: As an academician, teachers constantly require to update their knowledge and hone their research skills in the areas of their specialization and interest. A necessary outcome of such research is quality and scholarly publications that add to the existing pool of knowledge. It is thus important to incentivise faculties to conduct dedicated research.
The Practice: Financial support to the faculties is provided in form of travel grants for attending conferences, seminars and workshops, both national and international. Additionally, under the NLUO Publication Incentive Regulations, 2022, cash incentive is provided to faculty members to promote the culture of quality research and publications. To ensure quality, every faculty publishing an article in a UGC CARE listed journal is provided an incentive of ten thousand rupees per publication and publication in a SCOPUS indexed journal/book is provided an incentive of fifteen thousand rupees per publication.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Limited time frame to test the success of the financial incentive model.