ISSUE

Rajasthan all set to introduce
The Rajasthan Dharam Swatantra Bill 2005
DKR

The Home Minister of Rajasthan Shri Gulabchand Kataria has said that the communal situation in the State in the last one-and-half years has largely remained under control.

Consequently the ethos of communal peace, harmony and friendly environment is prevailing in the State. He said that the Rajasthan government is going to introduce the Rajasthan Dharam Swatantra Bill 2005 in the next session of the State Legislature.

Talking to Organiser Shri Kataria informed that in comparison to 22 incidents of communal disturbance in the year 2002 only four incidents have occurred in Rajasthan in the last one and half year. This indicates an outstanding decline in the number of such communal incidents since 2002. In 2002 the State had to face about 62 incidents of communal tensions, where as in the last one-and-half years the number of such communal incidents had fallen to about half of the previous years.

Total literacy rate in Rajasthan is 60.41 per cent and 56.63 per cent Muslims are literate. Male literacy rate in Rajasthan is put at 75.70 per cent and 71.31 per cent male Muslims are literate. The total female literary rate in the State is 43.85 per cent and 40.79 per cent female Muslims are literate.

Shri Kataria said that the State government has been very alert and sensitive as far as crimes against women, the poor and the deprived strata of society are concerned. That is why, he added, the ?public order crime rate? in comparison to 10 per lakh for the year 2000 has declined to 2.7 per lakh this year. The Home Minister informed that the draft of the Rajasthan Dharam Swatantra Bill 2005 has been finalised. It makes provisions for preventing religious conversions by force, coercive means or offering allurements.

Focusing on the significance of education for different classes of society, Shri Kataria claimed that the State government is trying its best to provide equal opportunities to every class and strata of society. Consequently, total literacy rate in Rajasthan is 60.41 per cent and 56.63 per cent Muslims are literate. The male literacy rate in Rajasthan is put at 75.70 per cent and 71.31 per cent male Muslims are literate. The total female literary rate in the State is 43.85 per cent and 40.79 per cent female Muslims are literate.

Shri Kataria said that universalisation of primary education is the motto of the State government and efforts are being made constantly to achieve this goal. The State has almost achieved the goal of opening up schools for children within a distance of one kilometer. Recently, from July 15 to August 15 an intensive campaign was initiated for school students and about 13.5 lakh children were registered for formal education. The chief objective of the State is to check drop out rates and encourage girl education. The government has been providing nutritious food for school students under the mid-day meal scheme.

Effective and attractive schemes have been introduced for school students so that they attend the full session. Drinking water and other facilities like toilets, etc. are being made available to promote education. Curriculum books are distributed free of cost to students of class 1 to 12. Schools run by the Rajasthan Madrasa Board are distributing English and Mathematics books free of cost to their students. The State government is also running a library at Gram Panchayat level for the benefit of students.