Author: aitc

Thank you, Madam, for giving me a chance to speak. I also thank and express my deep regards to my Party, All India Trinamool Congress, and our leader, hon. Mamata Banerjee, to give me an opportunity to speak on Indian Railways. I will try to speak in my mother tongue, Bangla. In fact, we, the people of India, will always remember the long tradition of Indian Railways, the lifeline of our country and of our 140 crore population. “We proudly recall the significant contributions made by former Railway Ministers Shri Abu Barkat Ataur Ghani Khan Choudhury, Shri Lalu Prasad, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and others. We also fondly recall the extraordinary period when Ms. Mamata Banerjee used to be the Railways’ Minister. The reason behind the recent decline in the rich tradition of the railways, which serves as the lifeline of the country, is the attempt to privatize it. And mainly because of this, during this era of Modi Ji, since 2017 presentation of the Railway Budget has been dispensed with. There is no separate Railway Budget, no separate budgetary allocation, no grants. Who was that Railway Minister who focused on revenue generation in order to make the railways selfreliant that too by declaring a freight policy and by not increasing the prices of tickets in a poor country like ours? It was the hon. Ms. Mamata Banerjee. When Modi Ji and his acolytes are busy floating the stories relating to construction of bullet train line by spending Rs. 200 crore per kilometer, then who was that Railway Minister who had established a dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, through which daily essentials like rice, pulses, vegetables, edible oils, milk, etc. could reach the ‘we the people of India’ of this poor country by only spending a mere Rs. 25 crore per kilometer! What is more important in a third world country like ours? Who has done this work? The rare, exceptional Ms. Mamata Banerjee! Let the Bullet Train project happen, we have no objection at all. Everyone wants to live with their head held high. Who was that Railway Minister who had introduced the ‘Ijjat’ monthly pass worth Rs. 25 so that ‘we the people of India’ of this poor country could travel with dignity, with their head held high? It was the leader of the masses Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Who was that Railway Minister, who for the first time in history introduced the non-stop Duronto Express? Where people from all strata of the society could avail the AC and Non-AC classes of the fastest Duronto Express to travel to their destination? It was our favorite, always on top of speed, Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Who was that Railway Minister who acquired the sick wagon factory Burn Standard and Braithwaite, revitalized the wagon making Public Sector Undertaking Jessop? It was the constructive administrator Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Whereas, in the opposite, Modi Ji wants to destroy by his attempt at privatizing all the profit-making industries like the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, workshops at Liluah and Kancharapara. Who was that Railway Minister who had introduced a scheme allowing for Group D employees of the railways to travel once a year with their families and introduced free passes for his purpose? It was the leader of the ‘Maa-Mati-Manush’, Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Who was that Railway Minister, who in 2009 itself readied a Vision Document, 2020 for the lifeline of the country and has also signed an agreement with the IIT, Kharagpur? Who made the people dream that one day metro railway could ply beneath the river Ganges? Who could have allocated budgetary grants for such an advanced modern idea? The foreteller, farsighted Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Who was that Railway Minister, who had given the Kolkata a complete Government status by declaring it as the 17th Zone of the Indian Railways? Modi Ji and his ilk who are the architect of introducing privatized metro systems in all the metropolitans but Kolkata, can’t even think of it even in their dreams! It was the nationalist leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee. I am sorry for this information. I will try to share with you some figures. It is simple arithmetic, Madam. I will try to share with you some figures. It is simple arithmetic. Under the UPA, Kerala received 1.43 per cent of the funds given by the Parliament for the Railways which have dropped to 1.17 per cent under the NDA. Under the UPA, Tamil Nadu received 3.38 per cent of the funds given by the Parliament for the Railways which have now dropped to 2.59 per cent under the NDA. West Bengal received 16.85 per cent of the funds given by the Parliament for the Railways under the UPA which have now dropped to 5.46 per cent only under the NDA. I want to challenge the hon. Railway Minister that if you want to prove the figures quoted by me as wrong, kindly authenticate the same. How would mere speeches, false promises, eye wash and jumlas work? Under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, work is yet to begin in any of the 135 stations. Even the tendering process has not begun. Despite having a target of upgrading 453 stations by 2024-25, work has begun at only one station. The loco pilots are being compelled to work 36 hours at a stretch without any sleep. This poses not only a threat to their own lives but also puts the lives of crores of passengers in risk. I would have to discount the minimum rights of the female loco pilots as they do not even get to use the washrooms while being in the pilot cabin. The Ministry of Railways had last year declared that there were 58,000 Group-C vacancies. 3 out of 4 parts of those vacancies fall under the safety and security categories. There has been a budget cut of 22% in customer amenities, passenger amenities. The allocation has been reduced to Rs. 12,000 crores from Rs. 15,500 crores. How would people get clean bedroll, toilet, railway coaches, rail stations, etc.? The Railways have failed to generate even internal revenue. Net earnings of the Railways have remained marginal in 2022-23 and 2023-24. For the current financial year, the Budget Estimates were revised downward by 52 per cent. What is unfortunate is that the Vishwagurus-Mahagurus change their attires 4-5 times in a day and their rail ministers fail to keep their promises. Is it good? The crux of the matter is, that revenue of the railways would have to be increased. In order to make the railways self-reliant through the increase in revenues, privatization is not the solution nor is increasing the prices of platform and other tickets. Instead, impetus should be given on freight policy. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) is one of the largest infrastructure projects from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal, which stretches to about 1839 kilometres, announced by the former Railway Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Starting from Punjab, the works for the first two segments have been completed 12 years ago. However, works for the third segment is yet to be completed. This segment connects Son Nagar in Bihar with Dankuni, West Bengal. Had this been completed, it would have benefited the people of this country, the railways itself, would also have increased its revenues. But the same is not being done. Towards privatization, hawkers are being displaced. As a result, lakhs of self-employed unorganized workers are being rendered unemployed. Moreover, in corporate style, large shops selling expensive goods are being set up at railway stations. But will this lead to an increase in revenue? 80-90% of the daily travelers are from poor, middle-class backgrounds. Can they afford such expensive items on a daily basis? Contractual workers who have worked for the railways for 25-30 years are being made to sit out on account of the Gem portal. They are being deprived of their Central Minimum Wage, PF, ESI, gratuity, bonus illegally. In order to increase railways’ revenue, you must shun arrogance and avail the policies of Ms. Mamata Banerjee. It would be beneficial for you only. The unutilized lands and air space should be commercially utilized to overcome liabilities with assets. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation should introduce special routes and packages encompassing certain selected tourist spots and religious places across the country. This would lead to an increase in the revenue and the railways, in turn, would strive towards self-reliance. Optical fiber cable network can be laid along with the railway tracks and be utilized commercially. This would increase the revenue and would also help spreading IT across the nook and corner of the country. Efforts need to be undertaken to connect ports with railways. States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bengal which are having marine ports should be connected with rail links. This will help increase freight traffic and will also usher in a new era for industries and businesses. Railways’ revenue will also increase. I repeat Sir, again I am saying, please shun your arrogance. Hon’ble Railways Minister, please shun your arrogance. Admit your mistakes. You are declaring deadlines in an arrogant manner but are not being able to meet those. You should focus on your work first instead of jumlas and then do the talking. I would like quote a line from a poem of the late People’s Poet Shri Pratul Mukhapadhyay: “When would that lad appear in our country who would emerge as more of a worker but the one who make tall talks”. You should follow your predecessor railways ministers. You should learn from them. Increase the revenue of the railways. Make the railways self-reliant. Establish the railways as the life line of the country. This is my 3 rd term. For the last 12-13 years, I have been a witness to so many debates, discussions. But for the first time, I am witnessing such attitude from the treasury bench. This is not right. I condemn this. You want to win in Bengal. Come, win politically fighting and competing with the development of Ms. Mamata Banerjee. Fair deal! But rigging the voters’ list, increasing the number of voters like in Delhi and Maharashtra, stopping the release of legitimate due of about Rs. 2 lakh crores won’t do any good. You would deprive people of their salaries/wages and defame Bengal on the floor of the House by misrepresenting facts. This is not right. From Nirmala Sitaramanji to Annapurna Madam, from Dharmendra Pradhanji to Ashwini Vaishnavji, all have given misleading, incorrect information regarding Bengal. They are not even authenticating it. We have all the documents. We have all the papers containing the correct information. Most importantly, how is Bengal getting 1st prize in all the departments from the Union Government? You must not forget that this arrogance had led to your downfall from 303 seats to 240 seats. If this continues, you will come below 200 seats. You must return to truth. Else ‘we the people of India’ will teach you a lesson. Remember, it is the people who have the last word.

Sir, despite the recommendation for online examinations by the Radhakrishnan Committee, the Government has decided to continue with the pen and paper mode for NEET UG 2025. I want to know this from the Government, through you, Sir. Could the Ministry elaborate on the rationale behind this decision and outline any interim measures being adopted to safeguard the examination process against potential malpractices?

Sir, it is unfortunate that in response to the question laid on the Table, the Ministry has declined to answer saying that this matter is sub judice. So, what I am going to do is, I am going to try and make it easier for the Ministry to answer this question, remove anything that might be sub judice even potentially. Sir, this issue pertains to the Shompen and Nicobarese Tribes who are affected by the Great Nicobar Project. We are talking here about a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group which does not have any representation in this House and, therefore, they have led isolated life throughout. They don’t have contact with outside world. So, I just request 30 seconds of your time to introduce my question and then I will ask my supplementary in one line. Sir, the Shompen and Nicobarese Tribes are traditional native to the Great Nicobar Islands and they were displaced during the 2004 Tsunami when it hit their island. After that, they were temporarily resettled and then they requested that they be taken back to their native lands. That has been a long pending demand of these tribes. Even today, the Shompen and Nicobarese Tribes depend on the native island for plantation, for foraging and the land is also very sacred to them. Sir, my specific question is this. Can the Ministry confirm — this is not sub judice — that the Tribal Council of Great Nicobar has constantly opposed the de-notification of the villages of Chingenh, Kokeon, Pulo Pucca, Pulo Baha and In-haeng-loi for the Great Nicobar Project? And, what has been the action taken by the Ministry on the letter of the Tribal Council of Great Nicobar dated 22nd November, 2022, withdrawing the NoC given to the Great Nicobar Project, because they claim that the NoC was obtained after giving them false information? Sir, there is a bit of contradiction here because I asked in my question, ‘the Tribal Council has revoked the NOC.’ It doesn’t matter based on what the hon. Minister said. He said, ‘an Empowered Committee was appointed to examine this issue.’ I have a question. He said that this Committee has included representatives of his Ministry as well. Sir, as a part of this Committee’s proceedings, a vide report documenting the opposition and objection by the tribal communities to the Great Nicobar Project was submitted by very famous anthropologist called Dr. Vishvajit Pandya to the Committee. My question is in two parts. Part one is: Will the hon. Minister please state whether Dr. Pandya’s video report documenting the opposition of local tribes to the Great Nicobar Project was taken on record by the Empowered Committee? If yes, and I am going to request this: Will the hon. Minister kindly provide Government’s assurance that the submissions received by the Empowered Committee, the detailed minutes of the Committee meetings and Dr. Pandya’s video report will be tabled on the floor of the House? That is my first part. My second part, is this. The House must know that there are only 229 members of the Shompen Tribe exist in this world. That is how vulnerable they are. In the recent Lok Sabha election, it happened that only 7 members of the Tribe cast their vote. My question and humble request is that if you want to protect the right of the Shompen Tribals to vote and also for the rest of the Indians, I believe, this House should have a discussion on the duplicate voter ID issue at the earliest. In the next election, along with all other Indians, an urgent discussion should be allowed in the House on the issue of duplicate EPIC.

One minute, Sir, please. One minute, Sir One minute, Sir; let me finish. Even if you do not allow us today, there are, at least, seven or eight Opposition Parties that want it. In that spirit, Sir, why do you not take up a discussion under Rule 176 next week? Let us have an open discussion on this subject. We are being very reasonable. You may take up a subject on EPIC Voter Cards; we would sit down and discuss… One minute, Sir. I am making a positive suggestion. Sir, we are not here to disrupt the House. We request you, we request the Government; next week, let us have a discussion on this very important issue of duplicate voters. Thank you.

Madam, as I speak on behalf of my party, AITC, I want to mention that education is the basic building block of every society. It is the single best investment that countries can make to build prosperous, healthy and equitable societies. But, unfortunately, ‘education for all’ still remains a distant dream in our country. Since decades, discussions and demands for allocation of 6 per cent of GDP on education continue. Union expenditure on education in the Budget has been 0.37 per cent of the GDP, much below the set target of 6 per cent of the New Education Policy 2020. Ensuring equitable access to quality education is one of the greatest challenges facing the country. Eighty per cent of our youth are unemployed. One in every three youth is neither in education, nor in employment nor in training. Ninety-three per cent of the workforce contributing to more than 50 per cent of our GDP is employed in the unorganized sector, with no job security or social security and are being deprived of statutory benefits. Now, as we discuss education, — hon. Minister is here — I want to mention that without any consultations with the State Governments, the NEP has been forcibly thrust upon the States. Our State Government was forced to start the four-year graduation course with interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary framework so that students of the State don’t lag behind or suffer as far as the all India perspectives are concerned. But the huge infrastructure and expenditure that the State Government is incurring is not borne by the Central Government. Leave aside the allocation for meeting such huge expenses, the Union Government is completely silent about the areas from where this huge expenditure will be met. The persistence of the Governor as Chancellor has caused numerous problems in the governance of State Universities. While State Governments fund these universities, Governors wield substantial power without corresponding accountability. This creates a dual authority system with conflicting demands. Disagreement between Governors and State Governments, particularly, in Opposition-ruled States, lead to delays in appointing VCs causing administrative paralysis. These delays affect areas such as appointment of staff, implementation of projects and even awarding of degrees. Now, some Governors rely on political interference, often prioritizing the Centre’s political agenda over the university’s autonomy and interest. Allowing Governors appointed by Centre to control State institution compromises the principle of federalism. State Universities should be fully accountable to State Governments only elected by the people. The Search Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India, Shri U.U. Lalit, had made some recommendations. In spite of those recommendations, the Governor of West Bengal has only appointed 14 permanent Vice-Chancellors out of the Government-run and 31 aided Universities. “For a considerable period of time, attempts are being made to establish direct contacts with the Vice Chancellors of the State Government-aided universities bypassing the State Government. Those Vice Chancellors who are not maintaining direct contact are being unethically removed from their respective positions by the Chancellor. As a result, the higher education system in the State is on the verge of collapse.” In the recently published UGC Draft Regulations, all powers for appointing Vice-Chancellors of State-run and affiliated universities have been vested in the hands of the Chancellors. The Governors, who are the Chancellors, are completely ignoring the elected State Governments. Literally, all powers are centralized in the hands of the Union Government, though education is not in the Union List. The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, a Centrally-sponsored Scheme with a fund-sharing ratio of 60:40, has seen the State of West Bengal achieve one of the best performances, yet it is being deprived of its share. The Minutes of the Programme Approval Board of Samagra Shiksha reveal that the Government of India has recommended a budgetary outlay of Rs 2,629 crore for 2023-24 for the State, out of which the Government of India’s share was Rs 1,745.78 crore. Out of this amount, only Rs 311.29 crore has reached the State, with no other funds being released. Despite repeated communications from the State Government, the Government of India has not released any funds. The Government of India did not release its share of Rs 1,433.71 crore in 2023-24 and has made zero allocations for 2024-25 to date. It is worth mentioning that the Government of India has not released a cumulative amount of Rs 3,180.31 crore during 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively to the State of West Bengal. The Government of West Bengal, under Madam Mamata Banerjee, is instead releasing State share of 40 per cent as well as additional allocations to the Samagra Shiksha Society to ensure timely payment of wages and salaries to Samagra Shiksha employees, composite grants to schools, and other student-centric incentives. The non-release of funds by the Government of India, despite clearance from the Ministry of Finance in favour of the State of West Bengal, is a clear sign of deprivation of our people and violation of their right to education, as enshrined in the Act framed by Parliament. We are now learning from the media that due to the non-signing of the MoU by the Government of West Bengal for the PM SHRI – PM School for Rising India Scheme — which is a separate scheme with separate guidelines, budgets, and SNA accounts, the fund release under Samagra Shiksha has been stopped. The State has raised objections to this scheme, named PM SHRI, despite a fund-sharing ratio of 60:40. Furthermore, there is no mention in the Samagra Shiksha guidelines that signing the MoU for PM SHRI is a precondition for releasing funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, which is designed under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The new Centrally-Sponsored Scheme has been framed with a funding pattern of 60:40, creating pressure on States to accept the scheme’s priorities, which may not align with State Government priorities. Now, the ideas of the ruling class, Madam, are the ruling ideas in every epoch. The class controlling the means of material production also controls the means of mental production. This is evident. When I heard Mr. Ghanashyam Tiwari speaking, I remembered these words, as the NEP 2020 emphasizes promoting critical thinking, scientific temper and constitutional values. We have cut down on several key topics in our curriculum. We have removed the periodic table, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, the theorem of Pythagoras, and Michael Faraday’s contributions to our understanding of electricity and magnetism. Despite protests from thousands of scientists across the country, the NCERT has not taken heed. In 2018, the then Minister of State for Higher Education, Shri Satya Pal Singh, sparked controversy by demanding the removal of the Theory of Evolution from school curricula, citing that no one has seen an ape transform into a human being. Other political leaders from the ruling dispensation defended his statement on social media. The National Council of Educational Research and Training has decided to omit the chapter of the Periodic Table saying that this is a rationalization exercise. I want to know from the hon. Minister: What does this rationalization exercise mean? Does it mean omitting the Periodic Table from the curriculum? The Council has also deleted chapters ‘Democracy and Diversity, Popular Struggles and Movements, Political Parties, and Challenges to Democracy.’ Madam, I now come to a very important point, that is, of educational institutions run by the minorities. There are 54,000 educational institutions run by the Christian community in our country. About seven crore of students go to these institutions every year. About 70 to 75 per cent of the students are not Christians. They are from different communities – Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and even Atheists. Why does the Government want to interfere with the administration of these institutions and intimidate these institutions? There are many Ministers in Modiji’s Cabinet. I can name many of them who have been to these institutions. It is a long list, but I will give only one name. The president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the hon. Leader of the House, Shri J.P. Nadda, went to St. Michael’s, Patna. He is the right person to share what a great education he had at this minority-run institution! . Let me finish. Okay; sorry, I correct it. Now, how is India described? India was described by our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in his Discovery of India. What does it say? It says, “Nehru invokes the very evocative idea of the palimpsest. In ancient times before the discovery or invention of paper, the palimpsest was either a tablet of stone or a wood on which every victor would erase the past history and write his own convenient version. But India is a typical palimpsest, an ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written previously.” This beauty of India will continue despite all attempts to erase away all our glories. I have a minute left. So, lastly, I want to mention the Uttar Pradesh Government. The Uttar Pradesh Government has revised the syllabus and in the revision of the syllabus, the Uttar Pradesh Government has excluded Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore has been excluded from the syllabus of the Uttar Pradesh Government. An elected State Government has every right of doing it. It is their prerogative. They probably think that Rabindranath can be replaced by Ramdev. I have no problem. The UP Government thinks that Rabindranath can be replaced by Ramdev. The true polymath, accomplished musician and artist, . Madam, I crave your indulgence; I will take a minute more. The true polymath, accomplished musician and artist, an electric philosopher and a passionate political activist, Rabindranath, advocated the integrity of education and culture. The people who are dropping him from textbooks are the ones who are dictating that we cannot eat fish on particular days of the week. Ancestors of Rabindranath and of us have been eating fish for five thousand years. It is in our DNA. The problem is, Madam, some people do not understand the pulse of the Maa, Mati or Manush. Maa, Mati, Manush means mother, land and people. Alongwith Maa, Mati, Manush comes Maa, Mati, Manush and Mach, that means, Maa, Mati, Manush and Fish. I will just quote a line of Tagore. They have deleted Tagore. It was Tagore who said,“I am the poet of the world. Each and every sound that originates in any corner of the world will be reciprocated will be reciprocated with the tune of my flute.”

Sir, solar energy is extremely important for the NorthEastern States owing to our fragile ecology. I would like to reiterate what Mr. Baishya said. The challenges we face in the North-Eastern States are that it is a land-intensive sector. There are so many Sixth Schedule Areas in the North-East. So, land becomes a problem. I am sure hon. Minister is aware of it. The second thing is this. It is so remote that cost becomes much higher; add to that the problem of low solar insulation. So, all these put together makes it unviable for DISCOMS to actually buy power from NorthEastern States. So, I would like to ask the hon. Minister: Is there any way that you can encourage the DISCOMS to buy more power from the solar projects in the North-Eastern States?