Author: aitc

Sir, I would like to draw the kind attention of this august House that in spite of the fact that Tea is one of the most popular and low cost beverages in the world, owing to its increasing demand, tea is considered to be one of the major components of world beverage market. Above all, Indian tea is among the finest in the world owing to strong geographical indications. Yet, Tea gardens in Darjeeling Hills are suffering as never before. I humbly urge the august House to draw the kind attention of the Prime Minister to urgently provide financial help and set up an expert Committee to find a solution to the greatest Indian Industry’s revival.

Sir, the National Pension Scheme is a tragedy for retiring personnel. The pension under the current plan is just 15 per cent of the pension under the previous one. Asserting that the National Pension Scheme (NPS) is a catastrophe for retiring employees in their old age, multiple employees have also written to the Cabinet Secretary pleading for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). For instance, a Defence establishment official who recently retired after more than 13 years of service, according to the federation, would only receive 15 per cent of the assured pension he would have normally gotten under the OPS. After more than 15 years of service, another official with a base wage of Rs.34,300 received Rs.2,506 as a monthly pension, although under the OPS, he would have been entitled to Rs.17,150. The NPS personnel are worse off than OPS employees despite paying a monthly contribution of 10 per cent of their income throughout their whole employment. The NPS pension is static, and unlike the OPS, there is no Dearness Relief to offset inflation or price increases. There is an urgent need to address the employees’ concerns and take necessary steps to include Dearness Relief as a part of the pension
scheme and restore the old one. I, therefore, urge the Government to take steps to address these concerns. Already, most of the profitable Central Government concerns are going to be disinvested. So, closure of Central Government service and reduced pension both have put employees in deep distress and are affecting them badly.

Mr. Deputy Chairman, Sir, I thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak. Through you, I thank the Minister for being present to listen to our woes. This is a subject that affects all of us, but where the State of West Bengal is concerned, there are many other issues also which we would like to raise; we have been raising them, like the federal structure, North-East including Meghalaya, unemployment, price rise, misuse of the Central agencies and the border issues with China. Since you have given me this chance of speaking on this.The special issue of climate change affects the coastal States of India the most. As you know, the immediate effect is the rise in the sea-level. One of the most immediate effects is the rise in the sea-level that we have been hearing of projections of apocalypse for the last twenty-twenty five years. The way we are proceeding, much of it might come true. We see the effects of it in the Sunderbans. The Sunderban is a very special area which is, apart from being a world environmental site and a world heritage site, it is one of the great examples of how nature controls us. That Sunderban today is gravely threatened by dissipation of the ocean which is again caused by
climate change. At periodic intervals, the Bay of Bengal is subjected to cyclones of a type that only two other zones in the world receive–the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Coast, and the Philippines. We are ravaged and, that means, today, Tamil Nadu has been ravaged and tomorrow Andhra Pradesh will be ravaged, Odisha has been ravaged, and the Bay of Bengal–West Bengal and Bangladesh–is ravaged with full cyclones like a magnet. But, nevertheless, what stops the sea from invading West Bengal is the mangrove plantation that we have. On the mangrove plantations, we don’t find the seriousness that we require. Ten-eleven years ago, we had Alia, a super cyclone that left behind a lot of misery. And till today, we have not received the payments. We have pleaded again and again, throughout this year, that we need to replant mangrove plantation saplings and that we need to grow the mangrove plantations more. But, there is no reply. The Rural Development Scheme was the minimum that we expected, but did not come through. After that, I would like to draw your attention to the deadly impact on crops. This one will be common to you, to me and to all of us. You know what happened with this super heat this year, from the middle of April. The wheat crop got parched, shriveled up and the procurement has been about five per cent less. Wheat was at five per cent less than last year. I think it was four and a half per cent less than last year and I raised this issue again and again and it is a very dangerous thing. After that, the heat wave was followed by delayed monsoons. West Bengal is a victim of this delayed monsoon like many other States. What happens in a delayed monsoon for the paddy crop is that you are unable to cultivate it at the time that nature has given and you are forced to contract your contract activation period from a good 120-day crop to an 85-day crop and productivity comes down. This is all an effect of climate change and we better realize that we are all contributing to it. That is the worst part of it. We can’t blame the elements of nature all the time. I had mentioned to the hon. Food Minister about our food stocks and he told very emphatically that it is very satisfactory. I have reasons to believe that it is not as satisfactory because the procurement of kharif and the yield of rabi
is sensitive enough to worry. This is a national problem. So, we need not score points on each other. One of the World Bank’s Reports that came out, — the hon. Minister, I am sure knows about it, — which says, “the Climate Investment Opportunities etc., paints a picture that is very, very dangerous.” New Delhi had 47 degrees in April which was unprecedented. We have gone through extraordinary spikes in
temperature, but the World Bank predicts that this is only child’s play. Through the G-20 Climate Risk Atlas, they have said that heat waves across India were likely to last 25 times longer by 2036. Many of us hope to live till 2036. So, by 2036, — not me, I am not talking about myself, I am talking about Imran — we are likely to last 25 times more. I would beseech of the Minister that even if half the figure is true, if given by the JT Climate Report, what are we doing about it? Carbon emissions remain extremely high and the IPCC’s worst case emission scenario puts India at one of highest risk countries. We know everything about it. Up to 75 per cent of our workforce, which is 380 million people are exposed to what we call heat-exposed labour. Dr. Amee Yajnik just spoke about it. The point is, India has also the additional disadvantage, from this point of view, from generating one of the highest humidities in the world, being a tropical climate. So, it makes us worse than many others. The bottom line is that they say that about five per cent of India’s GDP is at risk. Will somebody please clarify; is five per cent of India’s GDP at risk? We talk about six per cent and seven per cent and quarrel for seven months, whether it will be seven per cent or 7.1 per cent! अगर इस बीच में5 परसेंट आ जाए, तो कहाँरह गए? 2 परसेंट! इसके बारेमेंभी बात करनी चािहए। So, we need to understand that we have to go through certain cold chain facilities and the cold chain facilities hardly cover five per cent, but without
this cold chain facilities, our pharmaceuticals and vaccines would be destroyed. Many of our high value crops would be destroyed and one
disruption, thanks to our heat wave, means perishment. What are the figures? They said that in Covid-19, India lost approximately 20 per cent of temperature sensitive medical products and 25 per cent of vaccines were destroyed due to broken cold chains.So, I am putting forward this picture before the hon. Minister who is well aware of this, but the response is what we see. I am coming to that part of it. There are reports how this year’s heat wave was affected. Sir, only in the first nine months, we have lost 2,775 lives! We have affected 1.8 million hectares of crop area! More than 4 lakh houses have been affected! Sir, India recorded extreme weather events for 241 days out of 273 days this year! We are not talking about tomorrow or the day after; we are talking about this year! We have gone through the extreme
weather events for 241 out of 273 days. Out of these, Madhya Pradesh went through the worst, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Assam. Sir, this is what we are going through. But, more than this, the cause of alarm that we have on this side of the House is that there is dualism in the Government. I cannot use the word ‘hypocrisy.’ It may be a little too harsh. There is dualism in the Government policy. While there is energy for development, there are certain energies even for environment which I don’t deny. But, there are, at the same time, events like 130 sq. kms. of the most ecologically fragile region of the Great Nicobar Islands being put to slaughter, put to slaughter, and, Sir, no one is bothered about it! So, we have, what I call, these erratic movements. You are doing something about environment here. I must say that the hon. Minister has done an excellent job at Sharm El-Sheikh by getting the Western countries, at least, to agree
to India’s proposal. I say it is good. But, at the same time, his Ministry is giving licences, his Ministry is permitting the slaughter of forest land! The most ecologically fragile Himalayas are being put in some sort of tourism! Sir, you cannot have dualism. You cannot use your left hand and right hand to negate each other. But, that is what is going on. If we make a list of number of deviations that this Ministry has made in the last 5-7 years on the issue of environment that would call for a special discussion and I would be happy to speak on that.Sir, the figures that I have mentioned are alarming and fossil fuels are the root cause of it. It is just about 170 years old. Much of the developed world used it 170 years ago, 150 years ago and we, in the under-developed part of the world, at that point of time, using it for the last
100 years. It is not the end of infinity. We are inviting the next ice age. The ast Ice Age came about 11,700 years ago. And, we are hastening the process towards the next ice age that is the least I can say. But, I am glad that, at least, the Government at COP-27 in Sharm El-Sheikh could come to some common understanding.I would submit, Sir, that special fiscal measures be introduced and special taxation measures needed if we want to build up the fund. Thank you.

Sir, thank you for allowing me to ask a supplementary. ‘Project Lion’ is something that is very close to our hearts. I would like to ask the Minister that how much fund has been allotted for this project, and is there any plan to increase this allocation?

Sir, the first question that I would like to ask is this. The Public Service Broadcasting is now being mandated on all TV channels of India. Public Service Broadcasting was the mandate of Prasar Bharati. Now, has Prasar Bharati failed? This is my first part of the question. The second part of the question is: Why is this mandate? Why are you monitoring? Why is punishment being imposed for a good cause
like Public Service Broadcasting? Sir, I did not say that Prasar Bharati had failed. I had asked the hon. Minister whether he finds Prasar Bharati lacking? I had asked three questions and none of the replies have been given. Sir, my second question is: Why did you issue it?
Now, you are telling me what has been done. I had asked whether Ramayana and Mahabharata would fit in Public Service Broadcasting and whether this Public Service Broadcasting can be adjusted or fresh programmes need to be done. None of these have been replied to.

Sir, I have a point of order. Sir, I have a point of order on these Rule 267 notices which seven Members have submitted. The hon. Chairman had requested last time that any Member submitting a notice under Rule 267 should refer to the rule to be suspended. Sir, I have two points to make for your consideration. Number one, I have a list here of the last three Rule 267 notices accepted by the hon. Chairman. The three are, demonetisation on the 16th of November, 2016; –in the last six years, there has been none — the farmers’ suicide in April, 2015, that is the second last one; and the third last one is attack on secular fabric of our country, 18th of December, 2014. The precedence of these last three Rule 267 notices is that none of them needed to link it with a rule, none of them. I have two points only. They were supposed to say why these three are important issues. These three were taken up. My second point is, since the hon. Chairman has been asking, I have also done some study and I want to share it with the House, what the rule is, the common rule for accepting any Rule 267 notice is Rule 29. Sir, kindly look at Rule 29, which is about the List of Business. The Rule clearly states that. What all these Members are asking the Chairman to do is to apply Rule 29, which gives him the prerogative to change this List of Business. In other words, drop the Zero Hour and bring up these subjects. So, what is the issue, Sir? Please clarify and let us know. Thank you.