Its is an honour to be appointed as the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment of Alt Sarkar . Thank you Hon’ble PM Vidyut for bringing me on board. My department does not generate taxes and when the economy isn’t doing well, its the likeliest of ministries to get a fund clipping. I am here to change that. We need to revisit what social justice means in today’s contexts. There have been many historical wrongs due to the caste system that is allowed to thrive even today. We shall overcome these fault lines, in time, through solemn reflection. For starters, I intend to review the roles of various existing commissions constituted under the ministry. Their functions will be modernised and their operations synced with other departments. The effectiveness of all existing scholarship schemes will be reviewed by an expert panel and a course correction will be done keeping their cultural sensitivity in mind. An R&D division will be set up to develop robots for manual scavenging but that’s only a half measure.The need of the hour is to review our zoning laws that lead to clogged drains in our so-called world-class cities,inter-ministry cooperation is needed to achieve this. A technical division with ties to various prominent universities will be set up to study/document traditional knowledge of all tribes as part of their empowerment and they will have rights over their knowledge and how it will be used. Alcohol and Drug addiction should not be just viewed as a social issue. The need for the hour is medical attention to the substance abuse gripping the country and treating addiction as a health issue. Steps will be taken to ensure that mental health is viewed as a social issue as well as a health issue. There is a need to revisit the rulebook governing all rehabilitation centres in the country. Will bring in separate legislation to legalise medically administered euthanasia for senior citizens, it will be studied and implemented. As a minister, I will make sure your voices are heard, feel free to reach out to my departments, the ministry is at your service.
