NEW DELHI: Facing a staff crunch, the Union law ministry has decided to hire lawyers with up to eight years of law practice to work as consultant for its ongoing scheme of setting up the 1,023 Fast Track Courts (FTCs) for speedy disposal of rape and POCSO cases. These officers will be tasked with scaling up project planning, bringing policy changes and accountability in disposal of cases of heinous crime against women and children.Appointed on contractual basis on a monthly salary of up to Rs 1,00,000, these officers will monitor on monthly basis progress of cases in FTCs and coordinate regularly with the registrars general of High Courts to ensure that the 100 days timeline of completing the trial of such cases are followed.These contractual officers will work in the judicial department of the law ministry under a joint secretary and will provide support in planning, coordination and monitoring activities in the functioning of fast track courts.These consultants will also closely coordinate with registrars of HCs for addressing issues, if any, relating to the High Court concerned. Research papers presented by these officers will be used by the ministry to bring in required intervention through policy changes. Participation of civil society groups has also been indicated to identify bottlenecks within the system and in exploring efficient solutions for expeditious disposal of cases.The Law ministry has set a target of one year, spread over 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, to complete trial of all these pending cases by setting up 1,023 FTCs across the country. The government has asked each of the High Courts and state governments to on-board the scheme. Many of the states are already running FTCs for trial of POCSO related cases.A comprehensive plan drawn by the law ministry to fast track disposal of all pending rape and Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases within a year has revealed that more than 96% of the total 1,66,882 pending rape trials are POCSO Act cases.