“Problem is not lack of legislation, but implementation”: CPI leader Annie Raja on West Bengal anti-rape bill

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

Speaking to ANI, Annie Raja said, “It is not because of the lack of such legislation, the problem is the lack of implementation of legislation in our country. The Indian Parliament has passed so many laws to safeguard the dignity and safety of women.”

She further added that whenever an issue gets sensationalised, to control the outrage of the people, a new law is either made or amended. She also said that another major obstacle was the lack of budget allocated to the state by the centre for the implementation of this legislation.

“What we are seeing is whenever an issue is sensational and is picked up by the media, then suddenly, to control public outrage, amending or making a new law happens. After that, everything becomes silent and the problem exists because of the non-implementation of the laws… Another major block is no budgetary allocation to states for implementation of legislation,” Raja said.

The West Bengal assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024, that comes after the tragic rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

Speaking in the assembly after tabling of the Bill 2024, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the bill is being brought to secure the dignity of women and that if Bengal is abused, it will have a ripple effect.

CM Mamata Banerjee said, “I had written two letters to the Prime Minister, but I did not get any reply from him; rather, I got a reply from the Minister of Women and Child Development, but I also replied to her reply and informed the Prime Minister. When the Code of Justice Bill was passed in a hurry before the elections, I had said that it should not be passed in a hurry; the states were not consulted in this. I had opposed it many times as no advice was taken from the states in this regard, it should have been passed after discussing with the Rajya Sabha, the opposition, and all the parties, but this was not done. That is why today we are bringing this bill to secure protection for women. If Bengal is ill-treated, then it will have a spillover effect.”