New Delhi: Modern state-of-the-art weapons for the central armed forces, ‘elimination of Left wing extremism’, strict implementation of laws and technology to deal with corruption, expedited disposal of old cases — these are some of the promises the BJP has made in its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, released Sunday.
“We will further equip the armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces with modern state-of-the-art weapons, equipment and technology to aid the swift disposal of any current and emerging threats,” the manifesto read.
Furthermore, the ruling party, in its ‘Modi ki guarantee Sankalp Patra’, mentions that in order to improve the current conviction rate in India, the BJP will launch a ‘National Forensics Mission’ to strengthen the country’s forensic infrastructure. The manifesto also pledges to implement robust cyber security policies to regulate and monitor “Bharat’s cyber protection agencies and infrastructure”.
On the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the manifesto assures that the party will implement it to confer “citizenship to all eligible persons”.
Terrorism, e-courts & border security
“In the last ten years, we have taken a firm stand on protecting our country and citizens from the threats of terrorism and naxalism. We have followed a zero tolerance policy on terrorism. We remain committed to keep our country and citizens safe,” the manifesto says.
The BJP also mentions how the “surgical strikes of 2016 and the air strikes of 2019 are examples of our dedicated efforts towards countering terrorism”.
The party has claimed that there has been a 50 percent reduction in ‘Left-Wing Extremism-related violence’, zero major terror attacks since 2014, and that the revocation of Article 370 has reduced violence in Jammu & Kashmir significantly.
The 14 February 2019 Pulwama attack — when a suicide bomber had rammed a car loaded with explosives into a CRPF bus — had left 40 CRPF personnel dead.
“The gross neglect by previous governments resulted in poor infrastructure in border areas. We have corrected this grave error and started constructing roads, railway, telecom towers, optical fibre cables and electricity networks. We will accelerate development of robust infrastructure along the Indo-China, Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Myanmar borders. We will introduce technological solutions on fenced portions to make fencing smarter,” the manifesto says.
On handling the drug menace, the party has assured that it will leverage big “data analytics, artificial intelligence, drones and satellite imagery to detect and dismantle drug trafficking networks effectively”.
The BJP also says that it will work with states to transform the police force into a tech-savvy, tech-trained and tech-equipped unit through the police modernisation scheme.
The party has also assured that it will accelerate the e-Courts Mission Mode Project in order to complete the digitisation of all court records and for easy access to court proceedings online, and that it will also expedite disposal of old cases through fast-track courts.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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