Aparupa Poddar speaks in Lok Sabha on Demands for Grants for Ministry of Railways

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you Hon’ble Speaker Sir for allowing me to speak on Railway Budget. I thank my party also. For the first time after independence, India has dispensed with the separate Railway Budget. It has not gone down well with the railway fraternity. Communities, organisations and the activists said that Budget announced nothing that could shake off the lack of mood among the lakhs of passengers who use Indian Railway services daily. Rail is the lifeline of the common citizen.

With a heavy heart, I am very pained to say that I often travel in trains and railway station and tracks are very dirty with sticky smells. The cleanliness of the trains is very bad. The toilets are very dirty. Even the blankets which are given in the first class AC compartments are in not proper conditions.

In the Railway Budget it has been mentioned that stations will be provided with lifts and escalators; it is good. The reality is different. In many stations they do not work. It is mentioned that in next three years stations will be modified and upgraded. Arambagh and Tarakeshwar railway stations need to be upgraded.

Our Hon’ble Chief Minister and former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee thought to promote tourism and set up a corridor among the temples of Bishnupur, Tarakeswar, Kamarpukur – which is the birthplace of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Dev – and Arambagh to Bowaichandi (31 km as mentioned in her Railway Budget in 2010-2011) to change the social-economic scenario for the people of Arambagh. I urge the government to expedite the project and allot sufficient funds.

Sir, I request the Hon’ble Rail Minister to start the work of ROB of Kamarkundu and expedite the project and the demand of the subway of Chandanpur railway station which is the need of the hour for the farmers and people residing there.

Thank you.

 

Kalyan Banerjee asks a Supplementary Question on skill development of women

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, through you, I want to say that this job (skill development) is very laudable one and you are also putting in a lot of effort. I must appreciate that. Very recently, two weeks back, in my constituency at Dankuni, you have launched one project and I was invited there. I was very happy to see that.

While delivering his speech, the representative of the National Skill Development Corporation who was there made a categorical statement to the effect that those who will get the training and get the certificate, everyone will be given employment.

My question, through you, is whether this statement is correct? All those who get certificates from skill centres, will they be given employment? If that is so, how many persons have got these certificates and how many persons got employment?

Mriganka Mahato asks a Supplementary Question on Bharat Net Project

FULL TRANSCRIPT

My constituency Purulia is one of the most remote districts in South Bengal and most of the people living there belong to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC.

In district meetings most of the BDOs and Panchayat Pradhans complain that they cannot maintain the data of the centrally sponsored programmes like MGNREGS, PMGSY and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana because of the poor connectivity and poor signal strength.

My request to the Minister is that he should take up this matter in mission mode, particularly at the gram panchayat level, to have proper connection so that proper functioning of the centrally sponsored programmes can be maintained by the BDOs and panchayats.

 

Bengal Govt to develop new tourism circuits

The Bengal government has taken up a plan to develop new tourism circuits covering places of historical interest on priority basis, Tourism Minister Goutam Deb said.

The Tourism Minister told the Assembly last week that the state government has plans to develop a tourism circuit covering places in Bankura district like Bishnupur, famous for terracotta temples belonging to 17th and 18th centuries and Mukutmanipur, where the second biggest earth dam of the country is located.

The Minister said another circuit covering Plassey in Nadia, where the British won a decisive battle in 1757 and historical sites of Hazar Duari and Lal Bagh in Murshidabad was also being planned.

The state tourism department decided to start various degree and diploma courses on tourism and hotel management at various institutions across the state.

 

বাংলায় আরও নতুন পর্যটন সার্কিট তৈরি করছে রাজ্য সরকার

গত সপ্তাহে রাজ্য বিধানসভায় প্রশ্নোত্তর পর্বে পর্যটন মন্ত্রী গৌতম দেব বিধায়কদের জানান রাজ্যের ঐতিহাসিক স্থানগুলিকে নিয়ে একটি পর্যটন সার্কিট তৈরি করছে রাজ্য সরকার। এর মধ্যে থাকবে যেমন থাকবে বিষ্ণুপুরের শতাব্দী-প্রাচীণ টেরাকোটার মন্দির, তেমনই থাকবে মুকুটমণিপুরে পৃথিবীর দ্বিতীয় বৃহত্তম মাটির বাঁধ।

আরেকটি পর্যটন সার্কিট গড়া হবে নদীয়া জেলার পলাশী ও মুর্শিদাবাদের হাজার দুয়ারি-লালবাগ কে নিয়ে।

রাজ্য পর্যটন দপ্তর সিদ্ধান্ত নিয়েছে যে রাজ্যের বিভিন্ন শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানে হোটেল ম্যানেজমেন্ট ও পর্যটনের ওপর ডিগ্রী ও ডিপ্লোমা কোর্স চালু করা হবে।

Arpita Ghosh speaks on Demands for Grants of Ministry of Railways for 2017-18

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you Sir, aapne mukhe mauka diya, main aap ke abhari hoon aur main aapne party ka bhi abhari hoon ki humein mauka diya gaya. Pehle to hum Jagdambika Ji ko thoda correct kar de ki jab Mamta Banerjee, jo abhi hamare Mananiya Mukhya Mantri hai, Rail Mantri thi, tab hi PPP model mein pehli dafa yeh sab stations development huyi hain.

Is bar Railway Budget mein 12 points diye huye hain, us mein kahin bhi punctuality ke barien mein ek bhi shabd nehi hain. Abhi aap jante hain ki aksar bohot hi train late ho rahe hain, iske bare mein yahan pe kahin zikar hona chahiye tha mujhe lagta hain aisa.

25 stations ko redevelop kiya jayega. Hamare jo constituency hain, Balurghat, wahaan pe Gangarampur-Buniyadpur yeh sab areas develop hi nahi hua hain. Aisa maine aap ko bohot dafa chitthi diya hain, NFR mein diye hain, tab bhi aisa kuch nahi hua. Gangarampur bahut neeche reh giya, lok chadh nahi paate hain wahaan se. Yeh develop karne ki bahut zaroorat hain. Aap redevelop karne se pehle agar yeh soch le to behtar hoga.

Aksar mujhe Rail mein safar karna padhta hain, raat ko whole night travel kar ke jaate hain apne constituency. Rail ke cleanliness ki halat abhi bahut hi kharab hain, Sir. Aap agar dekh le to yeh bahut behtar rahegi. Yeh zyada taur dekhna bahut zaroori ho gaya.

Coach Mitra ke barein mein aap ne Mention kiye hain ki abhi jo bhi complain hain woh aage chalke yahan launch kiya jayega to log complain kar payenge.

Toh abhi tak toh jo system hain, usme koi aisa nahin hain ki complaint karne ke baad feedback mile. Toh yeh feedback kaise mile, logon ko kaise maloom pare ki mera complaint darj hua hain ki nahin, uske upar action ho raha hain ki nahin, iske upar agar aap zara soche toh behtar hain.

Metro Railway ke liye aap ek baat bataye hain which is very important, I believe. A new Metro Rail Act laya jayega that will facilitate greater private participation and investment in construction and operation. Aur bola gaya hain ki kuch naya policy le ke aayenge aap jiske upar kuch employment generate hogi. Iske bare mein yahan kuch charcha ho nahin paya, par mera question yeh hain ki, kya hum log privatisation kit arak ja rahe hain?

Railway aisa hain ki aam janta us par chadte hain. Agar Railway privatisation ki taraf jaate hain – kyunki IRCON ko dekhiye, IRCTC ko dekhiye, jinko aap stock exchange mein list kar diye hain – toh lagta hain ki aage chalke yeh private hathon mein chala jayega. Toh Government ki kya soch hain yeh janna bahut zaroori hain. Rail jaisa important cheez  agar privatisation ki taraf jayega toh hamari party zaroor iski virodh karegi, humlog isko support nahin karte hain, kyun ki Rail aam janta ke liye hain jo Government ke paas rehna chahiye.

Mera aur ek request hain. Purane bahut sanctioned projects hain. Jaise Mamata Banerjee jab Rail Mantri thi tab bahut saare projects di thi. Mere constituency mein bhi kuch projects the. Jab Trinamool ne government chor diya, tab woh sab projects bandh ho gayi thi. Usme se haal hi mein – maine aap ko bahut dafa likha hain – iss bar Balurghat-Hili project diya hain, jo bohut important hain. Buniyadpur mein ek wagon factory bhi hain jiska koi zikar nahin hai. Is bar bhi 1000 rupaye de kar chor diye hai. Aise karke agar purana  project  picche chala jayega aur naya project aage aate rahenge toh purana projects ka kya hoga?

Dusri baat yeh hai ki aapne bullet  train ka zikar kiya hai, bohut badiya hoga agar bullet tran India mein chal sakti hain toh. Mere constituency mai ek/do train hain, rail lines kam hain. Is meh bullet train kahaan seh aayegi yeh sab problem hai agar aap dekh payein toh behtar rahega.

According to my knowledge jo humara metro rail hai, is bar metro rail ke project mein paisa diya gaya hai kuch. Metro ka jo bhi problem tha State Government ne resolve kar diya hai. Yeh humari maang hai ki agar aap metro rail ki projects ko expedite karein toh behetar rahega aur agar koi bhi problem reh jaye toh usko resolve karne in koshish karenge. East-West Corridor ka kya hua; is mein aapka ka kya soch hai, is ka zikar nahi hai. Aage jaake iska zikar ho to behtar rahega.

Is bar jo Rail Budget aur General Budget ko jod diya gaya hai, is ke peeche kuch kaaran toh hoga. Humein aisa koi kaaran samajh mein nahi aaya par ek chinta vyakt kar rahi hoon ki Railway ki privatisation karne ke liye hi yeh Budget se mila diya gaya hain; alag budget bandh kar diya gaya hai. Aisa nahi hona chahiye; aisa humara soch hain ki asal result kya hain yeh agar aap yeh sadan ke samne vyakt kare ke kyun Railway Budget ko General Budget ke sath mila diya gaya hai yeh saamne aana bahut zaroori hai.

Mere ek colleague ne aur ek request kiya hai ki Bishnupur-Tarakeshwar rail line bhi thoda jaldi se complete ho gaya toh bahut badiya hoga.

Aur aakhir mein aur ek baat. Meri jo constituency hai Balurghat, woh bahut hi backward hain. Mamata ji ne bahut sare projects diye the; woh projects agar aap phir se soch ke de dete hain toh hum bahut abhari rahenge.

Safety ke liye aap logon ne mention kiya hai Rs 1 lakh crore paanch saal main denge. Rs 20,000 crore every year, jis mein se Rs 15,000 crore government se ayegi aur Rs 5000 crore railway generate karegi. Yeh kahaan se generate karegi, kaise generate karegi is ke barein main aapka kya policy hain? Safety policy kya hai?

Safety bahut important hai. Ladkiyon aur mahilaon ke saath joh battameezi hoti hain trains mein us pe dhyan denge toh hum aap ke bahut aabhari rahenge.

Dhanyavad. Thank you very much.

 

Dinesh Trivedi speaks on Demands for Grants of Ministry of Railways for 2017-18

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you very much Sir. Main apni party ko bhi bohot dhanyabad dena chahta hoon jinone mujhe yeh mauka diya. Humne kal hi Holi manaya. Sabse pahele sab sathiyo ko aur desh wasiyon ko Holi ki bahut bahut mubarakbad. Mamata Ji isko bahut acche shabdon mein kehte hain ki Maa, Mati aur Manush. Woh hi humein disha dikhatein hain.

Aur humne kahaan sathiyon, hum sab rajniti mein kyu hain? Kyuki sabse bada hain desh. Humare sabki niyat yeh hi hain, niti alag ho sakti hain, humara jo debate hota hain shayad woh niti ko leke hota hain, niyat sabki ek hoti hain ki desh kaise aage bade. Desh rahega toh hum rahenge, aur desh ke liye sab kurban. Aur yehi baat main kehna chahta hoon.

Yeh aisa desh hain jiska parichay kya hain? Himalaya. Kya aap Bharatvarsh ki kalpana kar sakte hain Himalaya ko apne samne na rakhte huye? Hindustan ki ek aur parichay hain – Ma Ganga. Aur tisra parichay hain hamari Bharatiya Railways. Yeh tin aisa parichay hain jo desh ko jodti hai.

Aaj jo escalators etc lage hain uski nibh kaheen na kaheen Mamata Ji ne lagai hogi, ke unke budget mein pass kiya hoga, process thoda der se chalta hain magar hum sabki ek hi akanksha hain ke iss prakar se rail mazboot bane aur usske age kuch nahin. 14 March, 2012 mein main ne yeh hi kaha tha “Desh ki ragon me daurti hai rail, Desh ke ha rang ko jodti hai rail, dharm, jati-pati nahi janati hai rail, chote-bade sabhi ko apna manti hai rail”.  

Sir, yehi hamari bhavna hain ki Rail kis prakar se aage bade. Sab se pehle jo zikar ho raha tha ki Rail ki tarakki zaroori hain aur uske liye hum koi mauka nahi chodte. Rail ki jo karamchari hain, unke balboote se aaj Rail jahan par hain; iski neev hain Rail ki karamchari. To aaj tak ki uplabdhiyaan main Rail ke karamchari ke naam karta hoon aur har ek karamchari ko main jhuk ke pranam karta hoon. Aap hi ke wajay se Rail aj bulandiyon par pahunchi hain.

Is saal ek aitihasik budget tha kyun ki dono budget ko ek saath milaya gaya. Sir, beech mein ek Convention Committee ki baat huyi thi. Ab itihaas ke panno mein hum jaye to 1924 mein jo Convention Committee – Separation Convention Committee – huyi uska ek itihaas hain. Samay mere paas bohot kam hain to main uspe nehi jaoonga, magar, 1898 se 1924 mein Rail ko ek bohot zyada profit huyi thi – Rs 103 crore. Uske baad Angrezon ko laga ki bhai yeh to kamdhenu gai hain, tab se unhone alag kiya ta ki unhe paisa mil sake interest mil sake.

Finance Minister ne Budget pesh karte hue kaha ki ‘The merger of the Railway Budget is a historical step. We have discontinued with The Colonial Practice Previlances 1924’. Sir, mera is mein ek alag manna hain, aur mera manna hain ki jab tak aap Railway ke paribhasa ko badlenge nehi, tab tak Rail jis prakar se aage badni chahiye us prakar se aage nahi bad sakti.

Main yeh kyun keh raha hoon? Railway ka definition kya hain Sir? Railway ka definition hain aur main paragraph five of ‘The Concept Paper of The Rail Department of Authority of Indian Railways’ January 2016 padh raha hoon. Aur woh kya kehta hain? “Indian Railway is a Department of Government of India, it is also a commercial organisation that has to operate on some business principle, apart from recovering the cost, it is imperative to generate revenue streams educate to generate surplus, required for capital investment and for future expansion, periodic renewals of asset upgradation of infrastructure and providing for safety related works.”

Sir, yeh paribhasa colonial hain, jab tak yeh paribhasa ko aap nahi badlenge, tab tak Rail ki tarakki nahi ho sakti; Sir, aap puri duniya ke Rail ko aap le sakte hain, Rail aapne aap revenue generate kar ke growth nahi kar sakti. Wo alag vishay hain us bishay par main baad mein aaonga, par Cabinet Note bhi yehi kehti hain ki, ‘it will continue to be a Department run commercially undertakings.’ To us bishay ke charcha main baad mein karoonga, magar jab tak woh paribhasa aap nahi badlenge.

Rail ki paribhasa kya honi chahiye? The Railways should be that infrastructure which will add a half per cent to the GDP, and it will be a catalyst. Apne aap mein profit nahin kar sakti hain, bahut mushkil kaam hain. Aur khas kar ke Hindustan, jahan itne gareeb baste hain, aur wahi poore Hindustan ki takat hain. Woh aap ne chunav mein bhi dekh liya. Magar yeh paribhasha colonial hain. Iss paribhasha ko aap ko badalna hi parega.

Kyunki yeh demand ka vishay hain, toh mein thode aankhron mein jana chahunga. Bahut baar aankhre bahut boring lagte hain, political speeches achhi lagti hain. Kyunki aankhre ka sawal hain, mujhe padne main dilchaspi aati hain.   

Sir,pehli baat toh, main Bangal ki taraf nazar rakhoonga. Humare ongoing projects Rs 40,000 crore ke barabar – ongoing, jo abhi hain; pichle projects ko toh hum saath nahin le rahe hain. Aap ne paise diye hain, uss liye hum shukrguzar hain – aap ne sirf 15 per cent diye. Sir, iss se kya hota hain ki gati bahut dheemi ho jati hain, aur jab gati bahut dheemi ho jati hain tab uske daam badh jati hain, aur phir kehte hain ki aap paise diye.

Sir, mein ullekh karoonga – bahut saare projects hain – metro projects kitne hain, aur metro projects ke baad jab aap kahenge, toh ek toh hain aap ka Joka ko le ke BBD Bag. Hamara khud ka kshetra, Barrackpore – bahut saari samasya thi, wahan land ki bhi samasya thi. Mein Mamata ji ko dhanyavaad dena chahta hoon, Prabhu ji ke saath baithkar jitna bhi jatil mamla tha, woh jatil mamla sab suljha diya.ab gati aap ke haath mein. State Government ki taraf se sab mamle suljha diye. Toh Sir, 15 per cent yadi dete hain toh bahut bahut hi kamzoor par jayegi aap ki speed. Ab iss ke baad.

Mein ab aankhre pa aaonga jo hamara Railways Demands for Grants 2017-18 ka Vishay hain. Sir, mujhe thori fikr hain. Manoj ji, mujhe fikr yeh hain ki – main aankhre ke saath kahoonga – ki jo aap ne passenger revenue for financial year 2017-18 ka kiya hain,main uss par aap ka nazar gaur farwana chahoonga. Percentage of growth in the Budget Estimate 2016-17 is (-)1.74. Percentage growth over RE 2016-17 is (+)4.40. Suburban is (+)0.92%, non-suburban is (-)0.66%.

Sir, iss mein humko ek baat yeh kehni hain ki aap jab comparison karte hain toh Budget Estimate ka saath Budget Estimate karte hain. Yahan aap jab comparison karte hain aur kehte hain 4.4% hamara badega toh ab Revised Estimate se aap compare karte ho to budget estimate ho gaye revised estimate. Kam hogaye aur phir aap forecast karte hai zyada ka aur kehte hai itna percent bada woh percentage barta hai aapka revised estimate se. So, growth over budgeted estimate 2016-17 was minus 4.61 percent matlab itne passenger ka aapne revenue kum hua. Aap BE 2016-17 ko BE 2015-16 se compare kare non suburban ka toh minus 5.14 percent ka aapka ghata hua.

Sir issue kya hai? Issue yeh hai, Sir ki when there is a continuous decline in BE to BE figures jab aap woh compare karte ho last two years  and actual have also shown decline. How is your forecast for 2018 showing an increase of 0.20%? How is this possible, Sir? ye possible nahi hai. Dil ko bhailane ke liye yeh khayal acha hai ghalib magar ye mujhe kehi na kehi aakro main kami lagti hai. Similarly average road is not increased and passenger kilometre is also going down. The projected increase is only 0.2 percent in 2017-18 over RE 2016-17. How will the railway achieve a financial increase of 4.4 percent over RE 2016-17?

Yadi aap fare increase karte hai toh parliament ko kehna parega. Will there not be a diversion of passengers? Sir aaj kal kya hora hai passenger number kum hora hai woh jaa rahe hai ya toh air mein nahi to Volvo bus mein. Ab dekhiye last year se compare kare toh air traffic 24 percent bade hai aur last 6 saal main dus crore passenger plane se jane lage.

Sir, paanch cheezon se aapko paisa ata hai – ek toh fare se aata hai, parcel aur luggage revenue se ata hai, postal se ata hai, postal van charges, ticket checking se aata hai aur special train se ata hai. Sir during 2016-17 BE was projected to increase 34 percent increase in revenue of BE of 2015-16 magar kya hua aapne project toh kiye tha 2016-17 showed the increase of only 8.41 percent. During 2017-18 BE has been  projected at a modest of 5 percent over BE of 2016-17 but 30 percent over revised estimate jiska zikar main pehle kar raha tha.

Aap revised estimate ka sahara le kar dikha rahe hai ki bahut bara increase ho raha hai magar yeh mujhe lagta hai ke kahi na kahi gumrah ho raha hai. Sir issue kya hai issue yeh hai ke in the past 3 years Indian Railways fell short of its budget estimate in the segment parcel  by 25 percent. Isn’t the expectation of this vast increase only a wishful thinking?

Sir, parcel traffic is decreasing day by day. The Ministry of Railways should justify if there is any chance of its increasing and how are they going to increase it. Postal vans are also reducing due to the diversion of postal mail to courier services. The Indian Railways has not been able to harness e-commerce. E-commerce ka bahut ek bara hissa hai jo Railways ke paas ja sakta tha. Aaj woh road pe ja raha, air pe ja raha.

Sir, forecast for the goods traffic is also not very good. Sir, the freight forecast for financial year 2017-18 – percentage growth over 2016-17, is 0.19% only. Aur percentage growth over RE , phir aap ne RE laga diya, woh aap ne dhikaya 8.5%. Growth forecast for freight traffic (physical), that is, metric tonne, Sir, the percentage growth over 2016-17, you have shown as a 0.69% increase. Percentage growth over 2016-17 is (+)6.5%. But actual mein yadi hum dekhe, yadi hum BE ko BE se compare karte hai toh 2016-17 mein (-)2.5% over BE of 2015-16. Sir, iska matlab yeh hai ki asal jo hai aap ka passenger kam ho raha hain, revenue kam ho rahi hain, aap ka freight bahut bahut  kam ho raha hai. Sir, conclusion ke dwar pe yeh hain ke this is the first time in Railways recent history where originating tonnage has decreased over the previous year. Yeh kabhi nahi hua tha. Kyunki  India is a growing economy, logh kahin na kahni, shayed road par ja rahe hai, aur kuch ho raha hai. Coal ke movement nahi ho rahi hai.

Sir, earnings per millions of freight traffic has remained static for the last 2 years. Yadi do saal se aap ke traffic static hain, toh Sir yeh toh bahut hi mushkil kaam hain, aur jo aap projection kar rehe hain Sir, if your operating ratio is 94.57, mujhe pata nahin  kahan se aayega. Mere paas Sir aankhre hain end of December tak. Yeh Railway ke aankhre mere pas  hain. Usme dikathe hain ki operating ratio is 110 (109.60 or something like that) kyonki 110, matlab aap ko Rs 100 kamane hai toh Rs 110 ke lagaat lagani paregi. Toh kahin na kahin, Sir, woh economy aap ke Railway ki charbarah rahi hain, ushi ki aur mein apka dihaan aakarshan karna chahoonga Sir.

Sir, the Railways has reached a stage where the internal resource and revenue funds is mainly 11%. Sir the internal revenue is only funding 11%.Budget outlay of 2017-18 of 1.31 lakh crore. It only looks at the trains the Railways is funding from outside. Sir, isme extra budgetary resource hain, aap ka borrowing hain, aap ka debt hain.

Sir the Railways revised net revenue estimate of 2016-17 stands at Rs 7,695 crore, compared with the Budget Estimate of Rs 18,210 crore. Matlab aap ne socha Rs 18,000 crore milega. Apne revise kiya to Rs 7000 crore, a decline of 58% yeh bohut gambhir samasya hai.

Sir the railway revenue from 2017-18 is estimated as 1,78,350 crore which is 9% increase from revised – again they are taking revised. Sir the Railways Surplus has been on the decline – decline by 20% of the estimated. Aapka jo flexi fair hai usse apka revenue kam ho rahi hai, aap figures par chale jaaeye yadi yatri ko Rs 3000 AC ka vara dena hai toh woh toh budget airline meh Rs 2000 ya Rs 2500 rupaye meh pahunch jaega; apka bohut nuksaan ho raha ha.

Sir, aakhir meh aapne kaha hai sources of Rashtriya Railway Shuraksha Kosh. Sir main yeh pucchna chahta hoon yadi koi airline maan lijiye kehti hai yeh humara safety fund hai aap uss airline meh jaenge kya? Kyunki safety is your responsibility; you can’t say this is a separate safety fund. That is the railway’s responsibility, if tommrow any airlines say this is a safety fund yadi humara tyre kharaab ho gaya safety fund meh paise honge toh hi tyre badlenge nahi toh tyre nahi badlenge. Is that acceptable?

Aajkal itne saare accidents kyu huye? Itne accidents historically nahi huye, is accidents ka kaaran yeh hai ki aapke paas depreciation – jo purane assets ko change karta hai har saal aapko Rs 25000 crore rupeya uss depreciation – mein daalne chahiye. Us depreciation ko chhor kar, yeh naya rail kosh fund chalu kiya hai. This is nothing but a depreciation fund. So i am asking that if you do not give depreciation to change the railways from Rs 25000 crore, if you all are only giving Rs 3000 or 5000 crore, then I think it is a dangerous situation.

Sir aakhir mein main dohrana chahunga jo maine 14 March 2012 ko kaha tha:

 

‘Rail gaadi ki chuk chuk meh aam aadmi ki dhak dhak hai,

Railway gaadi ki chuk chuk meh aam aadmi ki dhak dhak hai,

Rail gaadi ki barkat meh hi desh  ki barkat hai,

Railway gaadi ki chuk chuk meh aam aadmi ki dharkan hai,

Rail gaadi ko kuch dular ki zarurat hai thodi rahat thodi chahat thodi pyaar ki zarurat hai, Kyuki Railway gaadi ki chuk chuk meh aam aadmi ki dhak dhak hai’.
Bahut bahut dhanyawad.

 

Saugata Roy speaks in Lok Sabha on The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016

Full Transcript

Sir, I rise to speak on the Enemy Property Act 1968 and Public Premises Eviction Of Unauthorised Act 1971.

I give the BJP credit for creating an All-India record in the sense that this is the fifth Ordinance on this issue since 2016. From 1952 till date there has been no Law on which there has been five Ordinances, one after the other. If this is not an example of Ordinance Raj, I do not know what Ordinance Raj is. May be the Minister will give an explanation has to why as many as five Ordinances were necessary.

Sir, basically I have nothing against the contention of the Bill which we will discuss later. But, it has a strange history. This Bill was debated in this House in March and I mentioned then that this Bill is actually to take care of the properties of one particular enemy. Who is that person? That is Raja Of Mahmudabad. He was one of the big landlords of UP. He was a friend of Jinnah and he went to Pakistan after Partition. In 1968, after the Ordinance was passed, his property – much of which is in the city of Lucknow – became enemy property.

Enemy property was there in all states; in our state West Bengal maximum number of enemy property was there. What happened is that the custodian of enemy property was appointed, he took all the property under possession and started disposing off. He invited, in turn, applications from people who had lost their land or property in East Pakistan so that they would be given compensation – not full compensation but 25 % ex-gratia compensation.

A strange case happened in the case of Raja of Mahmudabad. His son came to India and became a citizen of India; then he went to the Supreme Court and claimed all those properties which were declared enemy properties; he even became MLA twice.

He claimed that the properties that belonged to his father should come to him. Supreme Court gave a judgement saying that the property should be returned since the son of the Raja of Mahmudabad was indeed an Indian citizen. Now, if that would happen property worth thousands of crores would pass to the hands of the son of Raja of Mahmudabad in the main area in Lucknow: Hazratganj, where most of the shops are situated. If he started evicting the tenants all the big shops there would be teared down and then there would be tremendous civil turmoil in Lucknow. That is why this Bill was brought.

In March we had said that we had no objection to this Bill; we had at that time said that since this Bill has certain legal implications it should be referred to a Standing Committee. Madam, you in your wisdom, and the government in their wisdom, decided not to do so and the Bill went to Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha formed a Select Committee to go into the Bill. We – the Lok Sabha members who are directly elected – were deprived of the chance to scrutinize the bill and give our inputs on the Bill.

The Select Committee in Rajya Sabha went into the Bill. They made certain amendments and that’s how this new Bill came has now come to Lok Sabha. There are certain important changes. Earlier, it was said that as far as this Bill is concerned, there would be no jurisdiction of civil courts. Now that is remaining but what the government has added after suggestions from Rajya Sabha is that they have said that now there will be recourse in High Courts. Within 60 days, one can apply to the High Court and if within 60 days they cannot apply, then another 60 days is allowed with the permission of the High Court. Now this is reasonable. I think this is something which was raised earlier and this giving of opportunity to go to the High Court – as they say, “any person agreed by an order of the Central Government under Section 18 within a period of 60 days from the date of communication or receipt of the order may make an appeal to the High Court on any question of fact or law arising out of such order.” This is comprehensive. After this the Bill has become much better, and so we have no difficulty in passing the law.

I again say – initially in March also I had said – that we are totally in agreement with the object of the Bill: to see that the descendant or inheritor of any person became an enemy and whose property became an enemy property does not inherit that property. With special reference to the property of the Raja of Mahmudabad, whose property is in Lucknow, Muzaffarnagar and other places. So with these words, I support the Bill.

However, the government should not have taken the Ordinance route. They should not have created a ‘world record’ by bringing five Ordinances. They should have tried to find a solution by which the House can pass a law without taking a recourse to Ordinances.

 

Saugata Roy asks a Supplementary Question on the availability of coronary stents

FULL TRANSCRIPT

This is a welcome step to notify the selling prices of the coronary stents used in angioplasty, because there has been a loot by doctors, corporate hospitals and by importing companies. So much so that in West Bengal our Chief Minister brought a special legislation to prevent this loot by the corporate hospitals.

The stents surely went out of the grip of the common people. Some hospitals are still charging more money for the stents by putting it in some other head. I want to ask the Hon’ble Minister how does the government propose to ensure the quality of the stents, both manufactured in India and imported, on various parameters like mechanical strength, chemical properties and drug-eluting stents.

What is the government doing to prevent the loot?

I do not know why it took three years for the Modi Government to limit the prices of stents. This was a big racket. There is a shortage of stents in the market. Has the government conducted any study on the type of stents required?

(Interruptions)

 

Arpita Ghosh asks Supplementary Question on spreading awareness about Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana

Thank you, Madam. I would like to use this opportunity to highlight that in my State West Bengal, our CM Mamata Banerjee has already started fair price medicine shops. Madam, my question to the Hon. Minister is by when would the mandated 3,000 fair price shops be opened by the Central Government?

My second question is whether the Govt is contemplating to form any committee to involve MPs in spreading awareness. People must be aware for the benefits of the scheme. Is the Minister thinking anything on these lines?

New factories can now be set up on lands of defunct ones

The West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Assembly on Friday that will allow the use of lands of closed or partly-closed factories to set up new ones. The main aim of introducing the amendments in the Bill was “unlocking the closed factories, value addition by creating necessary infrastructure that will attract investment and improve the socio-economic condition as it will generate job opportunities.”

While introducing the Bill in the Assembly, Partha Chatterjee, the state Parliamentary Affairs minister, took a dig at the erstwhile Left Front government for their policy of taking away lands from people in the name of industrialisation. He said when that when the Left Front government was grabbing land from farmers, it was Mamata Banerjee who led the movement against such acquisition.

Partha Chatterjee clearly stated that his government’s policy is not to take away land from people for any project. “It was the Left Front government who acquired the multi-crop land,” he said. He said that it leads to a question that where new factories will be set up if no land is acquired.

“The Chief Minister had started a process to identify land that was lying unused for years. It could be either of closed factories, partly open or sick factories. “New factories could be set up in the unused land,” he said. However, tea gardens have been kept out of its ambit.

Infrastructure for poultry farm diary, warehouses, logistic hub, bio-technology park, agro industry, industrial park and financial hub could up in the land lying unused of other closed industries. Most importantly, there will be no real estate development in the unused land of the closed factories.

 

বন্ধ কারখানার জমিতে শিল্প গড়তে পাশ হল বিল

শিল্পের জন্য জমির সংস্থান করতে বন্ধ কলকারখানার জমিকেই হাতিয়ার করতে চলেছে রাজ্য সরকার। এ ব্যাপারে আইনি বাধা কাটাতে বিধানসভার চলতি অধিবেশনে একটি সংশোধনী বিল পাশ হল শুক্রবার।

মালিক ও শ্রমিকের স্বার্থ অক্ষুন্ন রেখে বন্ধ রুগ্ন কারখানার জমিতে নতুন শিল্প স্থাপনের রাস্তা খুঁজতে একটি মন্ত্ৰীগোষ্ঠী (জিওএম) গড়েন মমতা।
এই বিলে শিল্পের পরিকাঠামো গড়তে ও বন্ধ কারখানার জমি ব্যবহারের রাস্তা খোলা হচ্ছে। শিল্প ও শিল্প পরিকাঠামো সংক্রান্ত ১২টি ক্ষেত্রের জন্য বন্ধ কারখানার জমি বিনিয়োগকারীদের লিজ দেওয়ার ব্যবস্থা হচ্ছে।

এই বিলে ১২টি বিষয়কে চিহ্নিত করেছে সরকার। এগুলি হল ,মিল ,ফ্যাক্টরি অথবা ওয়ার্কশপ ,গোশালা ,পোলট্ট্রি ,ফিনান্সিয়াল হাব ,গুদাম ,ইন্ডাস্ট্রিয়াল পার্ক অথবা হাব অথবা এস্টেট , কৃষিজ শিল্প , বায়োটেক পার্ক,বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র অথবা ট্রান্সমিশন বা ডিস্ট্রিবিউশন স্টেশন / সাব স্টেশন ,ফিল্মসিটি ,পর্যটন প্রকল্প ,ফুডপার্ক , পোর্ট ,এয়ারপোর্ট ও শিপইয়ার্ড , এবং ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিং , মেডিকেল,ম্যানেজমেন্ট কলেজ /বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়। ভূমি আইনের ১৪-জেড ধারাটি সংশোধন করে দু-বছর আগেই এই ১২টি ক্ষেত্রকে আইনের অন্তৰ্ভুক্ত করা হয়েছে।