Rajasthan to introduce bill against forceful religious conversions in upcoming Assembly session

Jaipur: The BJP government in Rajasthan is set to introduce a bill in the upcoming Assembly session to stop forceful religious conversions in the state, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel said on Saturday.

The bill was approved in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bajanlal Sharma.

Patel said the bill proposes that if someone wants to convert to another religion, the person will have to give an application to the district magistrate 60 days in advance.

"The district magistrate will examine whether or not it is a forceful conversion," he said, adding if it is found that the conversion is not forced or under any temptation, then the applicant will be allowed to go ahead with it.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, the state parliamentary affairs minister said, "The government has decided to bring a bill in the upcoming assembly session to stop forceful religious conversion in the state. The bill has provisions of punishment in different categories, from one year to 10 years, with penalties for forceful conversion of an individual or in groups." Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa said nine policies, including a new MSME policy, one district one product policy, tourism unit policy, mines policy, M-Sand policy and investment promotion scheme, were approved in the Cabinet meeting.