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Mediation is much more than a movement to de-clog the courts, said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud while adding that when the government which is the largest litigant, mediates, it sends a message that in the framework of law, the government is not an adversarial opponent to our citizens.

The CJI added that the motto of the Union Government and its agencies should be "mediate, don't litigate".

While speaking at the the National Conference organized by Delhi High Court's Mediation and Conciliation Centre, SAMADHAN, on the topic, "Mediation: At the Dawn of a Golden Age", the Chief Justice of India further observed that Mediation had an important message for us today as citizens.

"Are we losing the ability to talk to each other, engage in reason dialogue, and be good listeners and understanding the other's point of view..... We stand at the dawn of golden age of mediation. Mediation should not be considered just an alternate dispute resolution mechanism. One of the serious problems of the young today in our society is short attention spans. Mediation can thus encourage them to be active listeners.", he said.

The CJI added that law schools must encourage mediation training in their curriculums focusing on developing the skills necessary for effective mediation which would help young lawyers to build necessary skills for resolving conflict in an empathetic way.

Talking about Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), CJI said that building ODR mechanisms will go a long way in increasing our ease of doing business ranking and would in turn also help in saving the taxpayer's money used for Courts.

"We must focus at removing all such barriers that are coming in the way of the ODR's justice delivery process. One of the main challenges is the lack of awareness and such conferences are the only way to deal with this..", CJI remarked.

CJI Chandrachud delivered the presidential address at the event and launched the SAMADHAN mobile application.

Notably, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, who also spoke at the event on Friday announced that he proposed to set up the National Award of mediator's achievements.

The Attorney General has further proposed the setting up of the Attorney General's National Council of mediator's watch, to gather all the experiences of mediations across the country.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India, delivered the keynote address at the event and made suggestions to make mediation more affective in India.