Jaipur. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that atrocities on women will not be tolerated at any cost in Rajasthan. The state government has taken strict steps to stop incidents of harassment and crime against women and there will be no slackness in dealing such incidents. He said that special teams would take immediate action and investigation in cases of heinous crimes to ensure early justice to the victims.
Shri Gehlot was addressing the 21st National Meet of National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) on Friday at Ravindra Manch, Jaipur. He said, “The state government has made strict laws against mob lynching and honour killing. We are waiting for the union government to approve it.” He said the government was committed for empowerment of women. To move a step in this direction, the State Assembly passed a resolution in favour of reserving one-third seats for women in Lok Sabha and state Vidhan Sabhas.
The Chief Minister said that empowering women and making them self-reliant would ensure development of the society. Also, it was necessary for women to shed away veil on their face. “Males should come forward and support ending this tradition of putting veil,” he said. He added that former Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi had set an example in woman empowerment. Similarly, political representation was given to women by making 73rd and 74th amendments in the Constitution on initiation of former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi.
Shri Gehlot advocated the ‘freedom of expression’ and said that ‘dissent’ should never mean ‘treason’. He said the need of the hour today was that the country followed the ideals of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. The country should move forward according to the spirit of the Constitution so that every person gets social and economic justice. He said that the youth were being misguided through social media, which was not fair for a healthy democracy.
Social worker and former Member of Parliament Shri Atul Kumar Anjan said the common culture and common inheritance was the basis of this country. He said the ideas and ideals of Gandhiji were relevant yesterday, today and would remain so even tomorrow. He said that women should get equal participation in country’s economy also.
National President of NFIW Ms. Aruna Roy said that in Rajasthan the government took steps to strengthen the Right to Information Act and provided equality and rights to the women. She said, “India is a secular country and it should be taken forward as per the Constitution and the principles of Gandhiji.”
National General Secretary of NFIW Ms. Annie Raja, executive members Ms. Revati, Ms. Bhanwari Devi and Ms. Nisha Siddhu also addressed the gathering. Social activists, officials of organization from various parts of the country and others were present on this occasion.
