VIJAYAWADA, DEC 11  :   Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday released Rs 7,98,95,000 towards the second tranche of YSR Law Nestham for the year 2023-24 benefiting 2,807 junior advocates.

An amount of Rs 30,000 each, covering the period from July to December 2023, would be credited directly into their bank accounts.

Releasing the amount virtually with the click of a button at the Camp Office here, the Chief Minister said that YSR Law Nestham was introduced as per his Padayatra promise.

The government would extend financial support to junior advocates during their initial three years after enrolment in the bar. It would help them settle down in their profession, he said.

Under the programme, the Government would pay a total stipend of Rs 1.8 lakh to each junior advocate in a period of three years.

Reddy said that instead of paying the stipend of Rs 5000 every month, the Government has decided to pay the amount every six months as it would provide better utility for advocates and better monitoring.

So far, the Government has extended Rs 49.51 crore as financial assistance to 6,069 advocates after launching the scheme, he said, asking the junior advocates to extend their support to the poor when they settle down in profession.

The Chief Minister said that the Government also set up Advocates Welfare Trust with Rs 100 crore as corpus fund to help them in different ways. It had extended financial help of Rs.52 lakh to 643 lawyers during Covid-19 pandemic times besides providing Rs.11.56 crore loans to 7733 lawyers and medi-claim benefit of Rs.11.41 crore to 14,840 advocates.

Several junior advocates across the State have also interacted with the Chief Minister and thanked him for extending financial support. Most of them said that the financial help has been useful to them in preparing for the competitive examinations.

Chief Secretary Dr KS Jawahar Reddy, Law Secretary G. Satya Prabhakara Rao, senior officials of the Law department and senior advocates were among those present.(UNI)