A BJP MP from Rajasthan was allowed to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill in the Parliament seeking to amend the Constitution. The bill suggested imparting \u2018religious education related to Hinduism\u2019 in state-funded educational institutions across the country where a majority of students were Hindus.<\/p>\n
The bill, which is listed to be introduced in Lok Sabha on August 4, is likely to raise hackles of the Opposition parties, many of whom are already trying to corner the government over the latter\u2019s alleged divisive agenda.<\/p>\n
Lok Sabha\u2019s Committee on Private Members\u2019 Bills and Resolutions which examines Private Member Bills before clearing them to be introduced in the Parliament recently accorded its approval to BJP MP from Kota (Rajasthan) Om Birla to introduce \u201cThe Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Insertion of new article 28A)\u201d in Indian Parliament\u2019s Lower House.<\/p>\n
Birla\u2019s Bill seeks to insert a new article 28A to the Constitution of India \u201cwith a view to provide that religious education related to Hindu religion shall be imparted in an educational institution wholly maintained out the State funds, if majority of the students studying in that institution are Hindus\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Bill also provides \u201cthat such religious education shall not be compulsory for non-Hindu students studying in such institution\u201d and also that \u201cno Hindu student studying in such institution shall be compelled to such religious education\u201d. While these clauses appear sufficient to quell any misconceptions about the proposed legislation, it is unlikely that the discussion on the Bill will not generate heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter considering all aspects of the Bill, the Committee recommend that the member may be permitted to move for leave to introduce the Bill,\u201d the Committee on Private Members\u2019 Bills and Resolutions led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai stated. Birla has been a three-time legislator in the Rajasthan State Assembly and is a first-time Lok Sabha MP.<\/p>\n
Article 28 of the Indian Constitution provides for \u201cFreedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions\u201d. While Clause 1 s under Article 28 states that \u201cno religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds\u201d, Clause 2 states that \u201cnothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by the State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution\u201d.<\/p>\n
Clause 3 under Article 28 states that \u201cno person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto\u201d.<\/p>\n
The chances of a Private Member\u2019s Bill getting passed in Parliament are usually remote. Since Independence, only a dozen-odd such Bills have managed to become laws. In fact, since Private Member\u2019s Business is usually allowed in the post-lunch session on Fridays, most of these Bills don\u2019t even reach the discussion stage. During the last Lok Sabha, as many as 300 Private Members\u2019 Bills were introduced and just four percent of them could be discussed, with the remaining 96 percent lapsing without a debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A BJP MP from Rajasthan was allowed to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill in the Parliament seeking to amend the Constitution. The bill suggested imparting \u2018religious education related to Hinduism\u2019 in state-funded educational institutions across the country where a majority of students were Hindus. The bill, which is listed to be introduced in Lok Sabha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1262,2066,118],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}