PUNE: It began as an initiative to spread legal awareness among the masses. Started by five students of the BVP New Law College over a year ago, this 50-member group, that calls itself CARVA, now wants to be recognised as a socio-legal organisation.

Law students, engineers and MBA pass-outs, CARVA comprises an assortment of students and youths. It has conducted interactive sessions and talks on various issues in seven districts of Bihar, Jabalpur and Indore in Madhya Pradesh, and Nagpur, Pune and a few rural heartlands in Maharashtra.

Teenagers in Bihar and collegians in Maharashtra were informed about child rights, consumer protection laws, cyber laws, the Right to Information Act and legislations related to women. "We have tried to cover all the important topics because, be it women or children, all are under some or the other risk, right from child trafficking to molestation," said Anubhav Kumar, one of the founding members of CARVA.

CARVA members also take guidance from the Bar Council of India and senior lawyers practising in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. "We felt the need to reach out to the people and tell them about their rights, especially at the grassroots level. The aim is to ensure social justice by employing easy and lawful methods and provide an easy access to justice to the downtrodden and under-privileged population," said Rahul Sharma, a fourth year law student and one of the five founding members of CARVA.

The members spend time with under-privileged children at various NGOs and donate clothes and gifts.

CARVA is now in the expansion mode. "Along with legal aid, we are now offering medical assistance to the needy. In fact, we are in the process of registering CARVA as an NGO," Anubhav said.

The group is also planning to collaborate with the National Commission for Women. "The idea is to reach rural women with the help of the Bar Council of India, as well," Anubhav said. And, in February next year, CARVA will also approach the National Legal Services Authority to reach out to inmates of remand homes and jails in Pune and Bihar.

In February itself, CARVA will launch a magazine, Voice. "It will be a quarterly in-house magazine and the first edition will cover all our activities so far. In fact, we also wishes build a network with students from other law colleges in the city," said Ashish Mishra, another active member of CARVA.