Bhubaneswar: In a major move to reinforce social security for the legal community, the Odisha government has doubled the financial assistance for advocates with 30 years of professional experience, raising the relief payout to Rs 9 lakh from the earlier Rs 4.5 lakh.
It was formally notified by the Law Department through an amendment to the schedule of the Odisha Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 1987.
Announced by Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, the updated welfare slab restructures support across all tiers of experience, offering meaningful support to advocates and their dependants, particularly families confronting sudden financial hardship after the loss of a practising lawyer.
Under the revised norms, legal practitioners with 20 years of experience will receive Rs 6 lakh, while those with 10 years and five years of practice qualify for Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh, respectively. To ensure a basic safety net for younger professionals, advocates with fewer than five years at the bar will also be eligible for a Rs 1.5 lakh death benefit payable to their families.
The decision follows sustained advocacy by the Odisha State Bar Council. In August, the council submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Mohan Majhi seeking the higher ceiling, arguing that an intermediate 40 per cent revision earlier in the year, which had lifted the maximum from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6.3 lakh, did not adequately reflect the doubling of the government’s annual contribution to the fund from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.
The proposal was examined by the Odisha Advocates’ Welfare Fund Trust Committee, after which the Law Department issued the necessary notification exercising its statutory powers.
Bar Council leaders have welcomed the notification as the fulfilment of a long-standing demand.