Religious conversion data not maintained centrally, government tells Lok Sabha

The issue of religious conversion is primarily the ‘concern’ of the state governments, therefore no data related to it is maintained centrally, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

Responding to a question on the ‘foreigners’ involved in religious conversions, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said ‘public order’ and ‘police’ are state subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

“The issue of religious conversion is linked to public order and hence is primarily the concern of the state governments and Union Territory administrations,” Meghwal said in a written reply.

“No data related to religious conversion is maintained centrally,” he added.

The minister noted that many states have enacted special laws for prohibition of conversion from one religious faith to other by the use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means.