Bengaluru: Indicating that the state government was at last kick-starting the process of taking forward the controversial Anti-Superstition Bill, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said it would be discussed in the Cabinet on Wednesday.
Responding to the 51 pontiffs , who met him, led by Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swamy of Nidumamidi Math and Jnanaprakash Swamy of Urilinga Peddi Math and pleaded for implementation of the Act at the earliest, he said that his government was committed to ending blind belief and superstition. But a Cabinet sub-committee constituted to draft the rules had delayed in submitting its report, he explained.
Later, talking to reporters, Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swamy claimed the delay in submitting the draft rules was due to differences among members of the committee.
“But now the members have agreed to keep aside their differences for the smooth passage of the Bill and the Chief Minister himself has committed to implementing it. The government must post the draft Act on its website to get people's opinion on it,” he suggested.
The seer claimed the rules had already been vetted by experts from two universities and a former judge of the Supreme Court, Shivaraj Patil and all that the Cabinet sub-committee had to do was go through the report and give it its okay.
“Some practices in all religions have been banned by the draft rules. Once implemented, the Bill will check exploitation of the poor who are easily conned owing to their superstitious beliefs,” he said.
Noting that Bill had already been delayed by a year, he hoped there would be no further delay in passing the Anti-Superstition Act.
