BJP MPs urged to make use of new feature on PM Narendra Modi app

New Delhi : BJP MPs were on Thursday urged to make use of a new feature on the official app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which facilitates direct connect with him. A presentation about the new feature on the app was given at the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary meeting by Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh.

"There is a new mechanism -- New India Connect -- in the NaMo app which entails direct connect with the Prime Minister. Union Minister Jitendra Singh apprised about it," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters.

The app enables the Members of Parliament to apprise the Prime Minister about the work done in their states and constituencies.

Kumar said Modi called for a consensus in passage of the instant triple talaq Bill, on which Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave a presentation at the meeting.

Kumar said consultations had begun with parties to get the triple talaq Bill passed in the Upper House after it is cleared by the Lok Sabha where the government has a majority.

Prasad told the meeting that the Bill proposes to declare pronouncement of talaq-e-biddat (three pronouncements of talaq at one go) by Muslim husbands void and illegal in view of the Supreme Court verdict.

He said that the illegal act of pronouncing talaq-e-biddat will be a punishable offence and there is provision for subsistence allowance from the husband for the livelihood and daily supporting needs of the wife as also of the dependent children. The wife would also be entitled to the custody of minor children.

He also said that talaq-e-biddat has been banned in many Muslim-majority countries and took a dig at parties opposing the Bill.

Sources said Modi also urged members to make greater use of technology to reach out to people about the work done by them.

The Prime Minister also greeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on his birthday by garlanding him, offering him sweets and presenting him a shawl.