Pune: If you are passionate about the rights of the marginalised sections of society and would like to learn more, then ILS Law College has just the right course for you. In a unique initiative, the law college has tied up with NGO Samabhavana Society to start a certificate course covering the rights of gays, transgenders, sex workers and surrogate mothers, among others.

The course will start early next year. This is the first time that the college has tied up with an NGO for any course. Called Certificate on Human Advocacy Resource and Management, the course is open to all above 18 years. It will not only have theory discussions with legal experts, sessions on understanding rights issues and the latest judgments, but also a forum where people from the communities in question will come and share their stories with students.

The course will be conducted over six weekends for three hours each day. In the end, ILS Law College and Samabhavana Society will jointly issue the certificate. "This was the first time an NGO approached us for starting a course on this subject," said Dr Sita Bhatia, associate professor, ILS College and course coordinator.

"The understanding of these issues isn't strong enough. Since we have NGO volunteers coming and telling us about the things that they face on the field, we hope to create better awareness about these communities as well as sensitise people."

Jasmir Thakur, secretary of Samabhavana Society, said the course would cover what remains to be done in the field.

"It will discuss the latest laws and judgments, lacunae in the law and ways to work around it. We will discuss how live-in couples can apply for joint home loans but gay couples can not. Grey areas in surrogacy, adoption and lacunae in juvenile justice act are some of the issues that will be discussed," said Thakur.

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