Communal violence bill out, NDA to form own plan

Another pet project of the earlier UPA regime, the communal violence bill, has been put in cold storage by the NDA government. Now, the Centre will consult the states to formulate a national action plan to deal with communal violence.

Another pet project of the earlier UPA regime, the communal violence bill, has been put in cold storage by the NDA government. Now, the Centre will consult the states to formulate a national action plan to deal with communal violence.

Before becoming PM, Narendra Modi had termed the bill as a recipe for disaster.

At the fag end of the UPA regime, Manmohan Singh-led government had tried to push the bill by dropping several provisions that were considered controversial and thus opposed by the BJP.

The new draft of the bill made it neutral to all communities and reduced the role of the central government in case of riots.

The earlier version had put the onus of riots on the majority community. The BJP termed it as a threat to country’s communal harmony. But after opposition from the BJP and even some constituents of the UPA, the bill was not introduced in Parliament.

Sources said the home ministry is now planning to formulate a national action plan to deal with communal violence.

Besides dumping the communal violence bill, the ministry is also preparing a presentation for the Prime Minister for this week.

In the presentation, the ministry is likely to stress on the modernisation of police, tackling Maoism in Chhattisgarh, choking infiltration in Jammu & Kashmir and dealing with insurgency in the North East as issues of importance before the PM.