Jharkhand is all set to include itself in the league of States where stringent anti-conversion law is in place. The Cabinet has cleared the Bill for this purpose which in all likelihood would be tabled in the Monsoon Session.
Informing about the decision taken on Tuesday, Cabinet Secretary SS Meena outlined some of the provisions of the proposed Bill. “The Bill has been named as Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Bill, 2017. As per the Section-3 of the Bill if any one found indulged into religious conversions by adopting forceful or fraudulent means then punishment up to three years and/or fine up to Rs 50,000 can be given by the court,” said the Secretary.
In case the religious conversion of any person belonging to the Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, woman or minor takes place then as per the provisions made into the Bill, the convict can get four years of jail term and/or fine up to Rs1 lakh.
Notably, Chief Minister Raghubar Das, had during a public meeting, announced about intentions of the Government to prevent “rampant religious conversions taking place in the State”. Being predominantly a tribal and backward State cases of conversion for the sake of money or other benefits are said to be high.
If the Bill is passed, Jharkhand would become seventh State after Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to implement Freedom of Religion Act.
In another important decision the Cabinet approved Jharkhand Aadhaar based Targeted Financial and other Benefits and Services Bill, 2017. The legislation after getting approval of the Assembly would allow the State Government bringing monetary benefit schemes financed by it under the UID-based linkage system. Services such as PDS, old age pension or scholarships can be linked with Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries in order to stop pilferages.
Also, long pending proposal for housing for MPs and MlAs of the State also got through when the Cabinet allocated 35 acre of land for their society at Chuttu Mauza of Kanke. The land would be given at the rate applicable in 2004.