1.3bn indians accepted recent verdicts wholeheartedly: mo di
PM Modi highlights steps taken by central government in its bid to ensure gender justice
NEWDELHI: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said “1.3 billion Indians” have disregarded apprehensions and “wholeheartedly” accepted recent critical judicial verdicts which were subjects of global discussion.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the International Judicial Conference 2020 – ‘Judiciary and the Changing World’ at the Supreme Court, Modi spoke about recent crucial judgements.
“In recent times, there have been some critical judicial judgments and decisions which have been the subject of global discussion. Before these judgments were delivered, several apprehensions were being expressed about the consequences. But look what happened! 1.3 billion Indians wholeheartedly accepted the judicial verdicts,” Modi said.
The PM also said that economic and infrastructure development can go hand-in-hand with environmental protection and India’s growth is testimony to that. India has grown from the 11th largest economy to the 5th largest in the last five to six years, and its forest cover has expanded substantially, Modi said.
“Thus, India has shown that infrastructure development can happen simultaneously with the protection of environment,” he said in his inaugural address at the International Judicial Conference 2020 organised by the Supreme Court of India.
Foreign dignitaries including Robert John Reed, president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and Susan Kiefel, Chief Justice of Australia, are attending the two-day conference.
The PM, in his speech, highlighted steps taken by the government in its bid to ensure gender justice. The enrolment of girls in educational institutions exceeds that of boys for the first time in India and this, the PM claimed, is on account of successful government schemes such as ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’.
The government has brought about many changes for empowerment of women including the appointment of women in military service, changes in the selection process of fighter pilots and freedom of women to work in mines at night, Modi said.
India, the PM said, is among the few countries in the world which sanction paid maternity leave of 26 weeks to women.
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was also present at the function, commended the steps taken by the PM with regard to women’s rights.
Gender justice, he said, is at the core of India’s constitutional ethos and the PM had taken the lead in empowerment of women in India. “Our Prime Minister was bold enough to permit that women Indian Air Force pilots will also fly fighters planes and this was complemented by the recent judgment of Supreme Court where Indian women army officers were given the right to command. These are great initiatives of women empowerment,” Prasad said.
Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said the Constitution makers in India studied various models from different parts of the world and tailored India’s Constitution to fit the country’s diversity.
The central government’s top law officer, attorney general KK Venugopal, in his speech on “taking poverty to the courts” highlighted the role of the government and the SC in reducing poverty in the country in pursuit of the goals of a welfare state set out in the Constitution. He said India had moved beyond the traditional concept of fundamental rights and made living conditions a facet of right to life.