Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said the accused in cases of rape, molestation and other crimes against women would be barred from government jobs in the state.

Ahead of the Assembly elections due this year-end, the Congress leader made as many as 15 announcements in his address during the state-level Independence Day programme at the Police Parade ground in Raipur.

He announced the inclusion of the Chhattisgarhi language and tribal dialects as subjects in primary classes as well as information on artificial intelligence and machine learning in the school curriculum, free bus pick-up and drop facilities to government college students and the state Sahitya Akademi Samman award for litterateurs.

The chief minister hoisted the Tricolour and received a guard of honour from the joint parade of various units of security personnel at the venue.

“It is our top priority to ensure the safety of women, their respect and protect their dignity. We have decided that those accused of molesting girls and women, raping them and other (offences against women) will be banned from government jobs,” Baghel said.

Keeping in view the role of modern technology in building a Nava (new) Chhattisgarh, the government will include information about state-of-the-art technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things in the school curriculum from the next academic session so that children can prepare themselves for future technology, he said.

Baghel said students of Classes XI and XII in government schools located in remote areas of Chhattisgarh would be provided free online coaching from renowned institutes of the country for the preparation of medical, engineering and competitive exams.

For this purpose, online coaching class facilities will be set up in all development blocks of the state, he said.

Baghel said students of government colleges would be provided free bus pick-up and drop facilities between their homes and colleges.

PTI