Lucknow boy to feature in 2017 edition of India Book of Records
City boy, Ashutosh Maurya, a student of BA second year, and his friends, Devesh Agnihotri, Pratibha and Shailendra Kumar – all from UP – have found a place in the India Book of Records, for completing the longest legal awareness walk. Speaking to HT, Ashutosh informed that their names would be mentioned in the 2017 edition of the book.
Ashutosh and his friends started the legal awareness walk from Lucknow’s globe park near High Court on April 28, 2015. The group travelled 600 kilometres and concluded the walk outside the Supreme Court in Delhi on May 27, 2015.
A letter from the India Book of Records reads that Ashutosh (and his friends) have been honoured with the title of record holders. They were all awarded certificates and mementos by the India Book of Records.
Talking about the walk, Ashutosh said, “We covered nearly 150 villages on our way. We talked to people about various laws and enlightened them about ways through which they could claim their rights. A large number of people were unaware of the existence of Rajya Vidhik Ayog (state legal commission) and the fact that they could be given a government lawyer to fight their case.”
Sharing his personal experiences, he added, “It was summertime and walking wasn’t easy in the scorching heat. We would start early in the morning and take halts at villages, spending an hour or two talking to people.”
He said that the biggest problem that the team came across was that many villagers complained of being trapped in fake cases.
“A large number said that they did not know how to get out of these fake cases in a legal way because of which many had to remain in jail for long periods. We listened to them and then told them about all possible steps Ashutosh and his friends came across a large number of villagers who said that they did not know how to get out of the fake cases that had been registered against them. “We listened to them and told them about the steps that they could take. We also gave them phone numbers and names of officials concerned,” he said.
We covered nearly 150 villages and talked to people about various laws. We enlightened them about various ways through which they could claim their rights. ASHUTOSH MAURYA, BA student
that they could take. We also gave them phone numbers and names of officials concerned so that they could get justice,” said Ashutosh.
He shared that he and his teammates first bonded over social media. Once they became friends, they decided to take up the challenge of spreading legal awareness among the masses.