Litigation Free village.George Pulikuthyil.

Mediation in Action. George Pulikuthyil.

Georges's story caught my eye in a very fine book called "Unsung" written by Anitha Pratap, and her real life stories in the book got a certain depth in stunning black & white photographs by Mahesh Bhat. 

I loved the fact that the book is dedicated to the children of India. I hope it finds a place in the libraries of our schools.
www.bookadda.com/books/unsung-anita-pratap-8190453505-...

Here is a story of George Pulikuthyil who is a hero in his own right.

He says, "My mission is to make justice administration a mass movement. Protection of human rights should be a part of peoples culture". 

He steps in where nobody will. There are many feats of Fr.George who dropped his prefix.  

He says "priesthood is a service not a designation. I believe in Gandhi's philosophy that the best way to worship is to oppose evil.I don't believe in religion anymore I believe in God".   

He works for many causes like Human rights abuses, gender injustice, caste discrimination, Domestic Violence, Dowry cases and protecting the rights of HIV patients, handicapped persons and children. 

He started the NGO called Jananeethi, to provide justice to the poor. It offers free legal aid and even fights cases in court for people who cannot afford. 

Few know that he took up investigations against Coca Cola's factory in Plachimada in Palakkad. Jananeethi published a report that exposed how toxic slurry was being used as fertilizer, poisoning the land and underground water. This was noticed by an Environment magazine from Delhi called Down to Earth.This followed a major expose by the BBC and other media. It led to the Kerala Government banning the sale of Coca cola.

George Pulikuthyil and Mediation.

In 2000, Thichur in Thrissur was declared India's first litigation free village. Teachers and students of Thrissur's Government Law College went around compiling all the disputes and court cases filed from the village. Thereafter, a committee of eminent persons heard the cases and resolved them by mediating between the parties. Almost ALL of the 264 pending cases were settled. People found it cheaper, quicker and less troublesome to settle disputes this way, instead of taking the police-lawyer-court route. Says George: "This is how disputes were resolved in olden days. It works because the whole community functions as a team."

Jananeethi provides legal support to people in the village whenever they need and imparts behaviour training and makes them sensitive socially and culturally.

www.jananeethi.org/jananeethi/directors/biodata/cvofcp.pdf