Sandesh24x7
New Delhi : In a swipe at the Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal government over the Kolkata rape-murder case, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said while the Centre had adopted a strict attitude towards crimes against women, “many states” were not making sincere efforts in this direction.
Addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram, Rajnath Singh spoke at length about the government’s efforts towards women’s health and women’s safety against the backdrop of the gruesome rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital.
The Defence Minister called the incident “heart-wrenching” and “disgraceful” even though he refrained from directly calling out the Bengal government, which has been under the pump over allegations of a cover-up.
“Considering the atrocities and crimes against women in the country, despite all the changes, it seems that a lot remains to be done. Our government has adopted a strict attitude towards crimes against women, but many states are not making sincere efforts in this direction,” Singh said.
He also stressed that the Narendra Modi government had amended the law to bring a provision for the death penalty for heinous crimes like rape.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced the colonial-era IPC earlier this year, has a provision for the death penalty in cases where rape results in the death or vegetative state of the victim.
The veteran BJP leader also credited PM Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign for the improvement in gender ratio in states like Haryana. He also said the abolition of triple talaq came as a big relief to Muslim women.
“After independence, women were denied agency and the opportunity to be active contributors to the development of this country. But the situation is now rapidly changing. For example, you can see that the share of women is increasing in the armed forces of the country,” he asserted.
Recalling his tenure as the Union Home Minister between 2014-2019, Rajnath Singh said he had issued an advisory to all the states to fill up one-third vacancies with women in the security forces. “Today, the participation of women has increased in all police forces and paramilitary forces,” he said.
“Many obstacles to the entry of women into the Armed Forces have been removed. In all three wings of the armed forces, we have ensured increased participation of women. Women are also being given admission to Sainik Schools,” the Defence Minister said before signing off.
