Part -V Extra Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs Department

Extra No. 15 © The Gujarat Government Gazette EXTRAORDINARY PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY Vol. LXVII ] FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2026 / PHALGUNA 22, 1947 Separate paging is given to this part in order that it may be filed as a Separate Compilation. PART V Bills introduced in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly The Following Bill which was introduced on the 13th March, 2026 by Shri Imran Khedawala, M.L.A. is published under rule 127-A of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Rules for general information. THE GUJARAT WELFARE AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES BILL, 2024. GUJARAT BILL NO. 15 OF 2026. A BILL To provide for the welfare and protection of life and properties of minority communities in the State of Gujarat and for matters connected therewith. It is hereby enacted in the Seventy-seventh year of the Republic of India as follows :- 1. (1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Welfare and Protection of Minorities Act, 2026. short title, extent and (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat. commencement. (3) It shall come into force at once. V- Ex.-15 15-115-2 GUJARAT GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, EX. 13-03-2026 [ PART V Definitions. 2. (a) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, ''Family Member'' means and includes a husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister or any other person with whom the deceased was residing. (b) ''Minority Community'' means a group of persons belonging to a community based on religion other than Hindus. Special care 3. The State Government shall take special care to protect the life and properties of minority to protect community from any attack or assault thereon and for this purpose the State Government may minority. arrange for special squads of police. Responsibility 4. (1) It shall be the paramount duty of the District Magistrate and Commissioner of Police or for communal District Superintendent of Police to maintain communal harmony and to keep a careful disturbance. watch and vigilance over the communal atmosphere in his district. (2) The District Magistrate and Commissioner of Police or District Superintendent of Police shall be responsible for any communal disturbance in his District and shall be liable for summary suspension during the pendency of the investigation about his vigilance. Offence and 5. (1) Any attack or assault on the life or properties of the minority community shall be a penalties cognizable offence under this Act and shall be tried in the Court of the Magistrate not therefor. inferior to the Judicial Magistrate of First Class and any person directly or indirectly involved therein shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for the term of not less than seven years. (2) Any person or any institution belonging to the minority community may lodge a complaint for any offence under this Act. Compensation. 6. The State Government shall pay as a compensation in cash and within three months of the incident, if it is a loss of life Rs 5 Lacs each, if it is a physical injury Rs 50,000 each and if it is a loss or damage of properties the actual market value of the properties lost or damaged during the communal disturbance or violence. Separate 7. There shall be set up a separate and full-fledged Department at the Sachivalaya level at Department. Gandhinagar entrusted for looking after and implementing the ways and means and the schemes of educational, cultural, social, economic and all-round development and welfare of minority communities and the Urdu and other languages of the minority communities. Power to make 8. (1) The State Government may, make rules for carrying out the purpose of this Act. rules. (2) All rules under this Act, shall be published in the Official Gazette and unless they all are expressed to come into force on a particular day, shall come into force on the day on which they are so published. (3) All rules made under this Act shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to rescission by the Legislature or to such modifications as the Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following. (4) Any rescission or modification so made by the State Legislature shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall thereupon taken effect.PART V ] GUJARAT GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, EX. 13-03-2026 15-3 STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS The lives and properties of persons belonging to the Minority communities deserve to be protected meticulously. India is a secular State and hence all communities are equal. In communal disturbances and riots the minority communities have generally to suffer. The District authorities in most of the cases are aware of the communal tension prevailing. They however, do not take prompt preventive measures, which result into heavy loss of lives and properties of the minorities. The summary action is, therefore, proposed against the District Magistrate and Commissioner of Police or District Superintendent of Police who is responsible for maintaining law and order situation in the District. The Government of a secular State should also look into the developmental and welfare activities of minority communities who are living economically, socially and educationally backward life since the Independence. During the communal disturbances or violence many persons of minority communities become victims either in the form of physical injuries or loss or damage of properties and have to live a pitiable life thereafter. It is therefore proposed to provide for payment of compensation in cash and immediately within three months of the incident in which a person of minority communities has to lose life or either suffer physical injuries or loss or damage of properties either in communal disturbances, anti-minority violence or police firing. This provision will help to provide some compensation or relief to the persons affected and it will also discourage the forces behind the communal disturbances or violence in the State. It is also proposed to set up a separate Department at Sachivalaya level for the welfare activities of the minority communities in the State on the line of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Government Department of Social Justice and Empowerment Department. The States of U.P. and West Bengal and some other States in India have also set up such Departments. For the all-round development of Gujarat and for the upliftment and welfare of the people of Gujarat, it is essential to maintain law and order and peace in the State of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation and great saint and propounder of non-violence. Hence this Bill. Dated the 10th January, 2024 IMRAN KHEDAWALA, Gandhinagar. M.L.A. MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION Clause 8 of the Bill empowers the State Government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act. The delegation of Legislative powers is essential and is of normal character. Dated the 10th January, 2024 IMRAN KHEDAWALA, Gandhinagar. M.L.A.15-4 GUJARAT GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, EX. 13-03-2026 [ PART V FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM For the implementation of the provisions of the Bill and for its efficient functioning, a financial provision for a recurring expenditure of Rs. 1.50 lacs is estimated from the Consolidated Fund of the State. Dated the 10th January, 2024 IMRAN KHEDAWALA, Gandhinagar. M.L.A. CHETAN PANDYA, Dated the 13th March, 2026 Secretary, Gandhinagar. Gujarat Legislative Assembly. ---------- Government Central Press, Gandhinagar.