In her first speech as a member in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, philanthropist and author Sudha Murty highlighted two major issues: advocating for government-sponsored vaccination to fight against cervical cancer and promoting domestic tourism in the country.
Murty highlighted the significance of cervical cancer vaccination for the girls between the ages of Nine and Fourteen. “There is a vaccination which is given to girls, between the age of nine to fourteen, known as cervical vaccination. If the girls take that, it can be avoided… we should promote vaccination for the benefit of our girls because prevention is better than cure”, Murty addressed in her speech.
Image Source: India TV
She emphasized the importance of a mother’s role in a family. “When a mother dies it is counted as one death in the hospital, but for a family a mother is lost forever’.
Murty also highlighted the government’s potential to tackle large-scale vaccination campaigns or programs, referring to the Covid 19 drive. “The govt. has handled a very big vaccination drive during Covid so it may not be very difficult to provide cervical vaccination to the girls” she said.
As her second key issue, she proposed that 57 domestic tourist sites should be recognized as World Heritage Sites. These include the Bahubali statue in Karnataka, Shivaji forts in Maharashtra, Lothal in Gujarat, Lingaraja Temple, among others. “In India, we have 42 World Heritage sites, but 57 are still pending…. We should bother about those 57 sites” Murty pointed out.
She enhanced the importance of preserving India’s cultural heritage, mentioning landmarks like Srirangam temples and Mughal Gardens in Kashmir. “We always go and see the film shootings, but we never realize that they are not in the World Heritage Sites. The package should be done very well so that the people can come and see them. The package should be conveniently done so that we should have good toilets and roads so that the tourists can come. It will increase our revenue in our own country.” Murty explained.
While referring to other significant sites, Murty mentions an example of a group of ancient monuments in Sarnath , which go back to 2500 years, but are still not recognized as World Heritage Sites of the country.
The Rajya Sabha debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address saw several members, including BJP and opposition party members raising various issues in the house. During this discussion, BJP member Lahar Singh Siroya stated that the congress had allegations of a liquor scam against AAP, sparking reactions from opposition members.
NCP member Fauzia Khan said that the elections have given a clear statement that the citizens will not allow playing around with the constitution. She further said that issues like price rise, unemployment, rise in farmer suicides etc. have disappeared for the government.
