Parliament Diary: No proposal to criminalise marital rape

Minister of Home for State Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday said there was no proposal to criminalise sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 18 years of age. “Sections 74, 75, 76 and 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, provide for a sufficiently adequate remedy which include penal consequences protecting the right and dignity of a woman within the institution of marriage,” Kumar said to a question asked by TMC’s Sagarika Ghose.

29.2% conviction rate under UAPA

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai has said the conviction rate under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, was 29.2 per cent in 2019, the latest year for which data is available. Rai said in 2019, there were 1,226 cases registered under UAPA, 1948 arrests and 34 convictions.

Over 10% rise in rural literacy

Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha that rural literacy rate (for seven years and above) rose from 67.77 per cent in the 2011 Census to 77.5 per cent as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24. This is an over 10 per cent rise. He said the gender gap in rural literacy rate has also declined considerably. In 2011, rural literacy rate among males was 77.15 per cent and females 57.93 per cent. This has improved to 84.7 per cent and 70.4 per cent, respectively, in 2023-24.

45% rise in drugs cases in 5 years

Cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act between 2018 and 2022 saw a 45 per cent rise, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha. Cases rose from 63,137 in 2018 to 72,721 in 2019, 58,906 in 2020, 78,331 in 2021 to 1,15,236 in 2022.

Animal population rising

Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh said animal population in India rose from 306.6 million in 1956 to 536.76 million in 2019. This is a more than 75 per cent rise in 63 years. The increase, the minister said, has been 49 per cent for cattle and buffaloes together for this period.

(By Aditi Tandon)