Ability of rare earth carbides to readily undergo hydrolysis in both acidic and basic media to release free hydrogen and other hydrocarbon gases has not been explored fully in the presence of applied voltages, especially in the realm of electrocatalytic water splitting. For instance, the in-situ transformation of La_xC_y to La-(OH)₃ offers possibilities and may provide necessary pathways for a potential electrocatalyst for H2 evolution. In this study, using a precursor derived approach, amorphous lanthanum carbide was synthesized through pyrolysis of lanthanum modified 2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol at 1200 ˚C under argon atmosphere. The amorphous La_xC_y/C aids the nucleation of highly active nanocrystalline La-(OH)₃/C leading to improved catalytic activity. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) studies on lanthanum carbide in highly acidic conditions (0.5 M H₂SO₄) under an RRDE setup at 1600 rpm demonstrated an onset potential of 118 mV vs RHE. Further at the overpotential of 218 mV vs RHE it delivered a current density of 10 mA/cm2. In alkaline 0.1 M KOH, the same current density is achieved at the overpotential of 273 mV vs RHE. Also, Nyquist plots demonstrated a low charge transfer resistance of 50 Ω at an applied voltage of 400 mV indicating facile kinetics. It was observed that the presence of free carbon through the precursor derived route gives the necessary conductive pathways for in-situ transformed nanocrystalline lanthanum hydroxide to perform well as a HER catalyst.