[BREAKING] Stipend scheme of ₹3,000 for young lawyers inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

A stipend scheme of ₹3,000 per month for young lawyers in Kerala was inaugurated on Saturday by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at an event organised by the Bar Council of Kerala and the Kerala Advocates' Welfare Fund Trust Committee. .Lawyers under the age of 30 years, with less than 3 years practice and an annual income of less than ₹1 lakh will be eligible to receive ₹3,000 per month. The State government had announced the scheme via a Government Order(GO) issued way back in March 2018 that sanctioned payment of ₹5,000 per month as stipend for junior lawyers..However, the same was not implemented for over 3 years which prompted a lawyer to approach the Kerala High Court with a petition espousing the grievances of junior lawyers.This had drawn the ire of the High Court which repeatedly pulled up the Bar Council for the delay in implementing the said order.In December 2021, the Kerala Bar Council notified the Kerala Advocates' Stipend Rules for payment of stipend upto ₹5,000 per month to lawyers with less than three years practice at the Bar and an annual income not exceeding ₹1 lakh.The Rules stipulated that the stipend may be disbursed from the Kerala Advocates’ Welfare Fund by the Trustee Committee which is empowered to do so under Section 9 of the Kerala Advocates' Welfare Fund Act, 1980. .After the said Rules were notified, the Trustee Committee made some recommendations to the State Government and on its basis another GO was issued in June 2022 for payment of ₹3,000 stipend for lawyers under the age of 30 years, with less than 3 years practice and an annual income of less that ₹1 lakh.This GO clarified that the annual income limit of ₹1 lakh is not applicable to those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes..Over 7 months later, the scheme was inaugurated on Saturday. Kerala High Court Chief Justice S Manikumar was the chief guest at the event and State Law Minister P Rajeeve and State Revenue Minister K Rajan were the guests of honour. .The event can be watched live here.