Centre for Social Justice invites applications for its 2-year YPPLE 2026 cohort.
About the Centre for Social Justice
Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is a leading socio-legal organisation working to strengthen access to justice for marginalized communities across India through grassroots legal empowerment, paralegal training, community mobilisation, and rights-based advocacy. The organisation plays a significant role in building community-based justice systems by training barefoot lawyers, supporting paralegal workers, and strengthening local dispute-resolution frameworks.
Over the years, CSJ has developed innovative legal empowerment models that connect vulnerable populations with institutional justice systems. Its work spans areas such as citizenship rights, labour entitlements, social security access, gender justice, and legal identity documentation. Through partnerships with community leaders, lawyers, and grassroots institutions, CSJ has contributed substantially to expanding participatory justice mechanisms in underserved regions.
The Young Professionals Programme for Legal Empowerment (YPPLE) reflects CSJ’s long-term commitment to nurturing the next generation of socially engaged professionals capable of working at the intersection of law, policy, and community empowerment.
About the Programme
The Young Professionals Programme for Legal Empowerment (YPPLE) 2026 is a two-year immersive fellowship designed for early-career professionals interested in advancing access to justice through grassroots engagement and legal empowerment initiatives.
The programme provides selected participants with an opportunity to work closely with paralegals, community leaders, and social justice lawyers engaged in field-level legal empowerment work. Participants will gain exposure to real-world justice delivery challenges and contribute to initiatives that strengthen legal awareness, documentation access, and institutional accountability mechanisms.
YPPLE is structured as a multidisciplinary programme that brings together participants from law and allied professional backgrounds including management, communications, journalism, art, and design. The programme emphasises experiential learning through field immersion, collaborative research, and engagement with community-based justice institutions.
Participants will develop a practical understanding of how legal empowerment interventions operate in rural and semi-urban contexts and how community participation strengthens access to rights-based entitlements.
Nature of Work Responsibilities and Exposure
Selected fellows will work closely with grassroots paralegals and field coordinators supporting communities facing barriers in accessing legal identity documents, welfare schemes, and justice institutions. This engagement will help participants understand the structural challenges affecting marginalized populations in interacting with formal legal systems.
Participants will undertake field visits across programme locations and support documentation processes related to citizenship rights, labour entitlements, gender justice concerns, and social protection schemes. Exposure to such field-level realities strengthens the ability to analyse legal exclusion from a socio-economic perspective rather than a purely doctrinal framework.
The programme also involves participation in research assignments related to access-to-justice initiatives, legal empowerment strategies, and policy implementation gaps. Fellows may contribute to documentation exercises, training modules, and collaborative knowledge-building initiatives designed to strengthen grassroots legal capacity.
Mentorship from experienced social justice practitioners forms a core component of the programme. Fellows will receive structured guidance on community engagement methodologies, participatory legal literacy strategies, and rights-based advocacy approaches.
Participants will further collaborate with interdisciplinary peers, enabling cross-sector learning in communication strategy, policy design, and community-based institutional strengthening.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must satisfy the following requirements:
Graduates or post-graduates from recognised institutions
Open to candidates from Law, Management, Communications, Design, Art, Journalism, and related disciplines
Strong interest in access-to-justice initiatives and community engagement
Willingness to travel extensively for fieldwork
Ability to work in diverse and challenging grassroots environments
Commitment to pursuing a long-term career in social justice and legal empowerment sectors
Candidates demonstrating prior experience in community engagement, development practice, or rights-based initiatives may be preferred.
Skills Benefits and Learning Outcomes
Participants will gain extensive exposure to grassroots justice delivery systems and develop practical skills in community-centred legal empowerment approaches. The programme supports development of interdisciplinary competencies that combine legal awareness with communication strategy, research, and institutional engagement techniques.
Fellows will strengthen their ability to design and implement access-to-justice interventions while learning documentation and field research methodologies relevant to public interest law practice. Exposure to participatory governance frameworks further enhances understanding of how legal rights translate into actionable entitlements at the community level.
The mentorship component of the programme provides professional guidance from experienced practitioners working in the legal empowerment ecosystem. Fellows also benefit from peer learning within a multidisciplinary cohort.
This programme is particularly valuable for candidates interested in long-term careers in public policy, legal aid systems, development practice, community lawyering, and rights-based advocacy.
Duration Mode Location and Stipend
Programme Duration: 2 years
Cohort Start: April 2026 and July 2026
Mode: Field-intensive programme with community engagement and travel requirements
Location: Multiple field locations across India (as assigned by programme coordinators)
Stipend: ₹45,000 per month
Important Dates
Application Deadline: April 10, 2026
Applicants are encouraged to apply well before the deadline due to limited intake.
Who Should Apply
This programme is particularly suitable for:
Law graduates interested in access-to-justice initiatives
Professionals seeking grassroots legal empowerment experience
Candidates planning careers in public interest litigation support systems
Development sector professionals interested in rights-based frameworks
Researchers working on citizenship, welfare access, and legal identity issues
Individuals committed to long-term engagement with social justice institutions
YPPLE offers a structured pathway for early-career professionals seeking field-based exposure to participatory justice systems in India.
Click here to apply
Click here to download the brochure
Applicants should carefully review programme expectations before submitting their application. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stage of the selection process.
