Maharashtra to enact AP's Disha Bill for women safety

Amaravathi: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh met AP Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha and Minister for Women and Child Welfare Taneti Vanitha at secretariat at Velagapudi village in Guntur district on Thursday. The Maharashtra delegation discussed the AP Disha Bills that were passed in the AP Legislative Assembly recently. Later, the delegation also met with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is mastermind behind bringing the Disha Bill.

Speaking on the occasion, Deshmukh said Maharashtra is also planning to enact Disha bill in their State. "First of all I congratulate the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as well as Home Minister Sucharitha for enacting Disha Bill and initiating the Disha activities in the State. On the same lines, we are going to enact the Disha bill in Maharashtra for the heinous crimes against women," said the Minister.

Sucharitha opined that the Disha Bill is a very important one and could be implemented in every State. "Maharashtra Home Minister and Officials came to understand the objective of Disha Bill to implement it in their state," the minister said.

Damodar Goutam Sawang, Director General of Police, AP said Maharashtra state Home Minister, DGP, Addl Chief Secretary and senior officials visited the State to understand the various Disha initiatives taken by AP Government in the last two months. The Disha bills have been passed, not only the bills but also the whole criminal justice system with regards to women safety, crime against women, various initiatives have been put in place, he added. They have come to understand them to get to know about various initiatives in an effort to replicate similar initiatives back in Maharashtra. "For us also its a proud moment that we were able to arouse that kind of interest from other States. We were able to share what we have achieved so far and the interaction gave us further insights. This discussion would lead to benefitting us to get more perspective with regard to various measures for human safety.", he said.

Delhi and Orissa also expressed interest in the Disha Bill earlier and sought details from the State government.

The prestigious Disha Bill, 2019, prescribing stringent punishment for crimes committed against women, has been evoking interest among the other states in the country.