Rajendra Agrawal is an Indian politician and a member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Meerut constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been elected as a Member of Parliament from the Meerut-Hapur constituency for three times since 2009. He is the Chairman of the Committee on Government Assurances and is also a member of Panel of Chairpersons of Lok Sabha. He was the Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Citizenship Bill, 2016.
Agrawal has been an active parliamentarian with a high attendance of 98% when the National Average is 80%. He has participated in 172 debates of the Parliament when the National Average is 67.1. He has also asked 298 questions and proposed 8 Private Member's Bills. Agrawal has raised some vital issues in Parliament including setting up of High Court Bench in Meerut, issues concerning water pollution, education, healthcare etc. Agrawal is currently the Chairman of the Committee on Government Assurances and the member of Panel of Chairpersons, Lok Sabha. He has also been the Chairperson of the Joint Committee on the Citizenship Bill, 2016.
Private Member Bills
Agrawal has introduced a number of Private Members' Bills in Parliament over some very important issues. Some of the bills that he has introduced are:
The Code of Criminal Procedure Bill, 2018 : The Bill seeks to make stalking a non-bailable offense in line with the Justice Verma Committee recommendations. The Committee recognized stalking as a crime and recommended it to be made a non-bailable offense. But in contrast to the Committee recommendations, in the Criminal Law Act, 2013, enacted subsequently, the first offense of stalking was made bailable while any subsequent offense was made non-bailable. The bill aimed to amend the same.
The Compulsory Teaching of Environmental Education in Educational Institutions Bill, 2018: The Bill seeks to make it mandatory for environmental education to be taught as a compulsory subject at all levels of education. The Honourable Supreme Court of India in its directive of 1991 had made it compulsory for environment education to be included in the school and college curricula. But it was observed that the Supreme Court's directive has not been implemented effectively so far.
The Constitution Bill, 2018 : The Bill made it mandatory that at least one-third of the total number of Ministers in the Council of Ministers should be women. Women represent almost half of the country's population but have a marginal proportion in influential and decision making roles of Government, both at the Union and at the State level. Although Indian Constitution has guaranteed equal opportunities for women in all walks of life through the fundamental right to equality, yet women's visibility in the power structure is severely limited. The bill aimed towards fielding women in power wielding institutions so that inequality in power structure can be bridged.
The Designation of States as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill, 2017: The bill provides for designating certain states as Sponsors of Terrorism and withdraw trade and economic relations with the same, along with putting legal, travel and economic sanctions on the citizens of such state.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2016 : The bill aims to create a uniform education system having a common syllabus and school curriculum for all stages of elementary education across the country. It also promoted value-based uniform education system across all schools.
The Special Financial Assistance to the National Capital Region Bill, 2016: The bill aimed to provide for special financial assistance to the National Capital Region for the purpose of harmonized and balanced development of growth-oriented infrastructure in all areas of National Capital Region.
The High Court at Allahabad Bill, 2016: There has been a long pending demand to establish a permanent Bench of the High Court in western Uttar Pradesh since 1955. Jaswant Singh Commission also recommended the establishment of a permanent Bench of Allahabad High Court in western Uttar Pradesh. The bill, therefore, seeks to provide for the establishment of a permanent Bench of the High Court at Allahabad at Meerut.
Imprisonment
From July 1975 to April 1977, Agrawal was imprisoned for about 21 months under D.I.R & M.I.S.A. He has also faced several short-term imprisonments for Ayodhya and other social causes.
