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Will the Minister of Planning be pleased to state:
a) whether the Government has any data on transgenders, homosexuals and other severely ostracised members of society below poverty line? If so, the details thereof;
and,
b) whether the Government would consider a thorough revision of its plan to specifically describe how it plans to undertake the eradication of poverty among all Indian citizens including from the categories mentioned above?
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Thank you very much, Madam. It is pertinent to point out here that out of 23 districts in Bengal, 14 have been declared Open Defecation-Free districts and out of 38,000 villages, 33,525 villages have been declared Open Defecation-Free villages with the active initiative of our Chief Minister.
Through you, Madam, I would ask the Hon’ble Minister, has the Ministry tried to find out, since the programme came into being, the impact of the programme on the health of the people? Have the toilets been made disabled-friendly? If yes, the details thereof.
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Sir, My Point of Order is regarding Rule 180 (B). Special Mentions. Everybody must get a chance, specially our colleagues in the last row.
My point is, the MPs are representing a State. When they give a Special Mention, they want to bring out something important, which may be related to the State and the Centre. But many of these Special Mentions are being rejected at the level of the under-secretary.
This concerns everyone in the House. Special Mentions are being rejected under Rule 180 (B) (2). This is a serious issue.
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West Bengal Government has fully exempt tea gardens from agricultural income tax for the years 2018-19 and 2019-2020. There are 2.72 lakh workers in Bengal’s tea gardens and 8 lakh dependants living in tea gardens. The Bengal Government is committed to ensuring the welfare of tea garden workers and has allocated more than 1000 crore since 2011 for this. The West Bengal Government gives 35 kg rice at Rs 2 per kg, provides electricity and water supply to tea gardens, and raised their wages.
In the midst of politically motivated trade unions strikes, tea garden owners have gone to court to declare their tea garden as ‘abandoned’. As a result, workers are suffering. The West Bengal Government is proactively taking action against organisations who are not paying Provident Fund and gratuity. The lease of abandoned tea gardens which had been shut down are being cancelled and auctioned.
On the other hand, the Centre has failed to fulfil its promise of taking over 7 tea gardens. The promise was made by a Union Minister during 2016 Assembly election campaign. Tea estates in other parts of the country such as Assam need urgent attention of the Union Government. Other states and Centre must take inspiration from the Bengal model to uplift the conditions of tea farmers. Many tea workers still work at low wages and poor working conditions. The Centre must work towards ensuring better working conditions for tea workers to promote the industry.
The July 21 Martyrs Day rally (Ekushe July Shahid Dibas) is organised by All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) in remembrance of the 13 political activists shot dead by police in Kolkata during a protest march led by Mamata Banerjee on that day in 1993.
The current Chief Minister, who was a firebrand Opposition leader back then, had organised Writers’ Chalo Abhijan (March to Writers’ Building), demanding that the voters’ identity card be made the only valid document to verify voters in order to stop the rampant ‘scientific rigging’ perpetrated by the Left Front Government. Writers’ Building was then the State Secretariat.
Bloody history
The party workers gathered at five different points across Kolkata on that fateful day. They began marching towards their destination along Brabourne Road, when they were stopped by a large contingent of police officials near the office of the Tea Board, barely a few minutes away from Writers’ Building. The police force started beating up the crowd mercilessly in order to drive them away from the vicinity of the State Secretariat.
The youth activists, who were peacefully marching, refused to stop and walked ahead. Many rounds of teargas shells were fired but the supporters kept moving forward. The police went berserk and did not even spare Mamata Banerjee while beating the youth activists black and blue. People started running across Curzon Park. Then phe police opened fire, killing 13 supporters and leaving hundreds severely injured.
Since then, an annual rally has been held on this day every year, dedicated to the memory of these 13 martyrs.
The list of the persons who died on July 21, 1993:
Srikanta Sharma
Bandhan Das
Dilip Das
Asim Das
Keshab Bairagi
Biswanath Roy
Kalyan Banerjee
Pradip Roy
Ratan Mondal
Murari Chakraborty
Ranajit Das
Abdul Khalek
Inu
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Thank you, Chairman Sir, for allowing me to speak during the Zero Hour. This is a very important issue for our state, Bengal, particularly for the southern part of the State. The Government of India had accorded techno-economic clearance to the Kaliaghai-Kapaleshwari-Baghai Basin Drainage Scheme on January 28, 2010, which was to be built at a cost of Rs 650 crore. Then the Planning Commission accorded sanction to the project on March 9, 2010. Till date, it was the accepted rule for such a project for the Central Government to provide 75 per cent of the sanctioned project and the State Government to provide 25 per cent. Of the Rs 650 crore, till date, only Rs 325 crore has been provided, which is surprising. The amount though has been utilised fully.
Therefore, I am drawing the attention of the Hon’ble Finance Minister and the Hon’ble Water Resources Minister, through you, to the fact that this flood control and flood management project is not getting the financial support of the Union Government. How is it possible that a project which was sanctioned in the 11th Plan Period, and continued as a spillover project, is not getting the financial support of the Central Government for the last two-and-a-half years? The reasons are unknown. As a result, the project is half complete and the people are suffering, and the objective of the flood management programme is being frustrated.
So I want to know, through you, Sir – and I demand a statement from the Water Resources Minister and the Finance Minister – what are the reasons for depriving Bengal by not providing the fund for the Kaliaghai-Kapaleshwari-Baghai Basin Drainage Scheme, which should be given to the tune of 75 per cent of the total fund? I request you to give direction to the Hon’ble Finance Minister and Water Resources Minister on this issue.
The Banglashree Express bus service between Kolkata and the district headquarters was flagged off by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today.
The air-conditioned Volvo bus service has been named such by the Chief Minister herself. The buses were flagged off in front of Nabanna. The decision to start the bus service was taken last March.
Twenty-two trauma care air-conditioned ambulances and 13 mechanical wrecker vans were also flagged off along with the buses.
The State Transport Department has already introduced 300 buses and there are projects in the pipeline to introduce more. In the beginning of June, five air-conditioned Volvo buses were introduced from Kolkata (Esplanade bus stand) to different places in north Bengal.
During the inauguration programme, the Chief Minister gave a short speech. Here are the highlights of her speech:
The State Environment Department has decided to have a total of 11 automatic air quality-monitoring stations by December for Kolkata and its surroundings.
Three are already running at Victoria Memorial and in Ghusuri and Padmapukur in Howrah district.
The new ones in Kolkata will come up at Maddox Square, Deshbandhu Park, Basanti Devi College, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences, IIM in Joka, Beadon Square, Administrative Training Centre in Salt Lake, police camp opposite Rabindra Bharati University and Police Training School, Barrackpore.
In the districts, such stations will be set up at Chinsurah, Bisva Bharati University, IIT Kharagpur.
Kolkata already has 17 air-monitoring stations but the automatic ones will be much more accurate.
Source: The Times of India
Soon, another vegetable is going to be added to Bengal’s export list – yam stem, or kochur loti in Bengali.
A popular vegetable among Bengalis, kochur loti has managed to create a certain market in Europe. Taking advantage of that, the State Government has decided to facilitate large-scale export of the vegetable.
The Government is encouraging growers to grow more yams. It is also planning to construct more modern packhouses so that the exportable items can be properly stored, as the standards for exports are very high.
Already yams (the roots, which are also popular as foods) are being exported to USA in record quantities. Efforts are now also being made by the Government to get permission for the export of yam stems to that country.
With the help of some major initiatives, the Trinamool Congress Government has made Bengal a major source for the export of fruits, vegetables and fish across the world – Europe, USA, the Gulf countries, south-east Asia, Japan, etc.
The exports of fruits and vegetables together have increased by 57 per cent. Taking only vegetables, exports have increased by 67 per cent.
Source: Sangbad Pratidin
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during her recent district visit to Purulia, announced the starting of helicopter services to the district. This is a big step in the promotion of industry in Purulia.
The service would be under the aegis of the State Transport Department. A successful pilot flight was conducted on July 3 from Kolkata to the Charra Airfield, 8 km from Purulia town.
The airfield had long been abandoned. It was used during World War II by the US Air Force. Now, under the initiative of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee the Charra Airfield would again be actively used.
Source: Aajkaal
