CPI leader Annie Raja on the anti-rape law in West Bengal

New Delhi [India]September 4 (ANI): A day after the Aparajita Women and Children (West Bengal Criminal Law Amendment) Bill was passed in the West Bengal Assembly by voice vote, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja on Wednesday said that the problem is not lack of legislation but lack of implementation of laws.

Speaking to ANI, Annie Raja said, “The problem is not the lack of such laws but the lack of implementation in our country. The Indian Parliament has passed many laws to protect the dignity and safety of women.” She added that every time an issue is blown up, a new law is made or amended to control the outrage of the people. She also said that another major obstacle is that the central government does not allocate budget to the state for the implementation of these laws.

“What we see is that whenever an issue is sensationalised and picked up by the media, laws are suddenly amended or enacted to control public outrage. After that, there is silence and the problem continues because the laws are not implemented. Another major obstacle is that no budgetary resources are made available to states for implementation of the laws,” said Raja.

The West Bengal Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was enacted following the tragic rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.

Addressing the Assembly after introducing the Women's Rights Bill, 2024, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the bill was being brought to protect the dignity of women and that there would be ripple effects if abuses were to occur in Bengal.

CM Mamata Banerjee said, “I wrote two letters to the Prime Minister but did not get any response from him. Instead, I got a response from the Minister for Women and Child Development but I also responded to her response and informed the Prime Minister. When the Judiciary Code Bill was passed in a hurry before the elections, I said that it should not be passed in a hurry; the states were not consulted in the process. I have often opposed it as the states had not taken any advice on this. The Bill should have been passed after a discussion with the Rajya Sabha, the opposition and all parties but that was not done. So today we are bringing this Bill to protect women. If Bengal is treated badly, it will have a spillover effect.” (ANI)