Zenith Society for Socio-Legal Empowerment

Works on grassroot legal empowerment of Adivasi, Dalit, and other marginalised communities

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About

  • Headquarters

    Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh

The Zenith Society for Socio-Legal Empowerment builds capabilities of community members through an ecosystem of resources, skills and tools of law to Read moreidentify and voice its struggles and act towards designing innovative justice solutions. The organisation is based in one of the most crime-prone areas - the Chambal Gwalior region, where the unequal structures (class, caste and gender) result in violent crimes and extreme discrimination. Justice is inaccessible to the marginalised communities, particularly the Adivasi and Dalit communities in this region, due to a lack of understanding of rights, inability to exercise and enforce their rights, and failure of the state to deliver justice. It has three main approaches to work: legal aid, building justice-making capabilities and grassroots storytelling.

Impact

With the efforts of community volunteers, Samudayak Adhikar Kendra Malanpur, one of Zenith’s programmes, successfully completed more than 1772+ claims and created a direct monetary impact of 1,68,56,000. Shivpuri Youth Forum leads an environment campaign called "Shivpuri Jalashay Sanrakshan Abhiyaan," with an attempt to restore the rich biodiversity and natural ecosystem of Shivpuri through collective action. It also successfully runs the Kalam Library - a library and counselling centre which provides a reading space for the youth to learn and engage with the aid of materials, newspapers and digital access to resources. The forum's vision is to build local resources and spaces, enabling equal access to opportunities and nurturing young leaders within the community. A legal resource centre has also been set up for law students & young lawyers in Shivpuri. With the support of the Anil Divan Foundation. The centre has a remarkable collection of over 1500 books. It also features insightful commentaries on national and international laws.

Programs

  • Samvidhi Sashaktikaran Kendra, Shivpuri

    Undertakes research projects and provides legal aid to secure land rights for the people, especially the Sahariya Adivasis. The land rights centre handles issues pertaining to forest rights, bhoodan land, displacement, and encroachment. It has extensively used the RTI to promote transparency and accountability at the District level and has focused on finding local justice solutions through strategic interventions in the administrative and judicial forums.

  • Samvidhi Sashaktikaran Kendra, Gwalior

    Provides legal support to navigate through the criminal justice system in one of the most crime-prone areas, Gwalior District (NCRB 2020). Here, crime rates against women are the second highest in the state. It works with women, children, Dalits and Adivasis to secure justice in courts and other forums. In collaboration with the Government of Madhya Pradesh through the Mahila Bal Vikas, it has set up legal aid desks at the Women's Police Station, Child Welfare Committee and the Juvenile Justice Board. It has also extensively worked on prison rights, setting up weekly legal help desks inside the Gwalior Central Jail.

  • Shivpuri Youth Forum

    The Shivpuri Youth Forum (SYF) is a youth-led collective aimed at empowering and engaging young people in meaningful activities. Established in 2014, it provides a platform for local youth from Shivpuri to connect, discuss ideas, and tap into their creative potential. The platform not only provides a reading space but also organises cultural events, workshops, and debates, fostering a space for growth, expression, and breaking stereotypes. SYF leads an environment campaign called "Shivpuri Jalashay Sanrakshan Abhiyaan," with an attempt to restore the rich biodiversity and natural ecosystem of Shivpuri through collective action. It also successfully runs the Kalam Library - a library and counselling centre which provides a reading space for the youth to learn and engage with the aid of materials, newspapers and digital access to resources. The forum's vision is to build local resources and spaces, enabling equal access to opportunities and nurturing young leaders within the community.

  • Clinical Legal Education

    Zenith aims to enhance grassroots legal empowerment by transforming law schools into platforms for social engineering. The organisation recognizes the limitations of current clinical legal education and proposes new pathways for involving law students in real-world cases to sensitize and prepare them for addressing social issues effectively. By engaging youth deliberately and meaningfully, Zenith seeks to build a robust system of learning by doing, enabling students to become change agents in any educational or professional setting. The Community Legal Empowerment initiative intends to equip young law students practically, fostering their capacity for change-making, social justice experimentation, and the creation of a network of Law School based Legal Services Clinics.

  • Samudayak Adhikar Kendra, Malanpur

    Provides a means for labourers and migrant workers to avail of basic entitlements and schemes hassle-free and affordably. Located in Bhind’s industrial belt in Malanpur, SAK acts as a one-stop worker’s facilitation centre to avail basic entitlements and schemes for a large majority of informal workers in the area. Support to avail basic entitlements such as Aadhar, Pan, E-shram, Ayushman, BOCWL Card, and Provident Fund. Information and application for Government schemes are also facilitated.

Leadership Team

  • Abhay Jain

    Co - Founder

  • Swapnil Shukla

    Co - Founder

  • Bhawna

    Lead, Design and Communication

Demographics & Structure

  • No. of Employees

    6-20

M&E

  • Internal, External Assessors

    No

Policies

  • Ethics and Transparency Policies

    No

  • Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy

    No

Political & Religious Declarations

  • On Affiliation if any

    No

  • On Deployment Bias if any

    No

Registration Details

  • FCRA

    Not Available

  • CSR Registration Number

    Not Available

Location

Other Details

  • Type & Sub Type

    Non-profit
    Society