The bill was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. (File)

Jaipur:

The BJP government in Rajasthan will introduce a bill in the upcoming assembly session to stop forceful religious conversions in the state, Parliament Minister Jogaram Patel said on Saturday.

The bill was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

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

“The district will look into whether or not it’s a forced conversion,” he said, adding that if it turns out the conversion isn’t forced or under any temptation, then the applicant will be allowed to go ahead with it.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs said, “The government has decided to introduce a bill in the upcoming assembly session to stop violent religious conversion in the state. The bill has provisions for punishment in various categories, from one year to 10 years , with penalties for forced conversion of an individual or group.” Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa said nine policies, including a new MSME policy, one district one product policy, tourism unit policy, mining policy, M-Sand policy and investment promotion plan, were approved in the cabinet meeting.

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