Demand for strict law to prevent forced conversion of tribal communities

A demand was made in the Rajya Sabha on Friday for a stringent law to prevent forced and induced conversions of tribal communities.
BJP's Samir Singh Solanki raised the issue during Zero Hour, saying that tribal communities were being forcibly converted to other religions in different parts of the country, with various allurements and inducements being offered to them. He said that people were being forced to change their religion by offering them jobs or other allurements.
He said that to prevent this, an amendment to the Constitution was needed and a stringent law should be enacted. The BJP member said that by preventing forced conversions, the tribal culture and traditions could also be protected.
He also referred to a recent Supreme Court judgment which said that a person who converts to another religion would not be eligible for reservation benefits.
RJD's Sanjay Yadav raised the issue of exorbitant airfare hikes during the Pahalgam terror attack last year, from Srinagar to various destinations.
He said that whenever the country faced any disaster or crisis, airlines took advantage of the helplessness of air travelers and charged them exorbitant fares. He said that after the Pahalgam terror attack, air travel fares from Srinagar, which were between Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000, were hiked to Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000. He said that at such times, it was the responsibility of the government to serve the people in crisis, but the opposite was happening here: profiteering during disasters.
Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien demanded a ban on screen time and increasing mobile phone usage among youth and children, saying that children in the country spent an average of eight hours a day on their phones, affecting their health. He said that excessive mobile phone usage deprived children of proper sleep and made them irritable. Quoting a study, he said that thousands of children committed suicide every year due to this. He said that measures should be taken to reduce mobile phone usage among children. He said that a comprehensive discussion should be held at the government level to formulate a plan to tackle the issue. He informed that 68 countries had banned mobile phones in schools.
Biju Janata Dal's Subhashish Khuntia raised the issue of the dilapidated condition of the Ashoka Hotel in Puri, Odisha, and demanded its restoration to its former glory. He said that this had also affected the tourism potential of the state.
BJP's Laxmi Kant Vajpayee said that the RERA law was completely failing in Uttar Pradesh and was unable to provide relief to people. He said that builders deliberately went bankrupt and took advantage of the loopholes in the law to escape. He said that common people who invested their hard-earned money in these projects were the ones who suffered the most.
Aam Aadmi Party's Vikramjeet Singh Sahni expressed concern over the sale of substandard medicines in more than 20 states and demanded a ban on these medicines. He said that these medicines had adverse effects on people's health.
The MP said that India exported medicines to almost 200 countries worldwide, and the export of these substandard medicines also affected the country's image. He demanded that the Drug Control Act be made more stringent.
BJP's Sanjay Seth drew the attention of the Upper House to the country's continuously increasing population, saying that stringent laws were needed to control population. He said that this law should focus on limiting the number of children per family to two.
He further said that families that adhered to this law should be provided with various incentives. The BJP member clarified that India had only 2.4 percent of the world's land area, while it was home to 18 percent of the world's population. He pointed out that the US and Russia had many times more land area than their population.
He said that the law should have stringent provisions, regardless of religion or caste.