Bengaluru, May 4 -- President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday underscored the transformative potential of mediation in providing a speedier and more inclusive justice delivery system, and said that mediation was a key instrument to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047. "That is why the legislature enacted a comprehensive law in the form of Mediation Act 2023. The legislation was reflective of the traditional alternate dispute redressal systems such as panchayats that had worked so well in India," Murmu said while she was delivering the keynote address at the first National Mediation Conference that also marked the launch of the Mediation Association of India. Just as panchayats offered an alternate dispute resolution system, mediation provides a more nuanced alternate dispute redressal system in accordance with legal provisions. Mediation also embodies the Gandhian principle of dispute resolution, she said. "India has a rich tradition of resolving disputes outside courts. The panchayat system was a pillar of social harmony. Unfortunately, colonial systems undermined this legacy. The new law bridges that gap," Murmu said. Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna was also present at the event. "...I must acknowledge that mediation is yet to reach homes and villages... India, in one way, has been slow to arrive at mediation and understand its importance. Our goal must be to show every litigant, every citizen that mediation is not a lesser form of justice but a wiser form of it," he said. Ayesha Arvind...