Create awareness on unscientific practices, customs in district, says Tarksheel Society

A day after Rajya Sabha member Sanjiv Arora moved the Prevention of Black Magic, Witch Hunting and Superstitious Practices Bill 2024 in parliament, the demand for curbing these practices has gained fresh impetus in the district.

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Sumit Singh, a senior member of the Tarksheel Society, an NGO working to create awareness against unscientific practices and customs, while appreciating the move by Rajya Sabha member Arora said, “A committee should be constituted to enforce and implement the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995. According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rules, a committee will meet once in two months to look into complaints brought to its notice by individuals/organisations or can take a suo moto notice of violations of the provisions of Cable TV Network Rules.” He said despite repeated memorandums to the state government and district administration demanding implementation of the Act, nothing has come out.

The government and its various departments have failed to promote science among citizens, rued retired professor Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Parminder, who is also a member of the Association for Democratic Rights (ADR), an organisation promoting scientific beliefs in society.

Consequently, there is a mushroom growth of those who claim to resolve the problems of those in distress through occult power and other unscientific means, he said.

He said advertisements on local channels, in vernacular dailies and hand-outs, were replete with such claims to create an impression on

gullible minds.