Sudip Bandyopadhyay raises demand for funds for minority development

Minorities in West Bengal form 28.1% of the total population, which roughly amounts to 2.57 crore. The present State government has increased the budgetary support for development of minorities fivefold from Rs 472 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 2383 crore during the current fiscal year.

We met honourable union minority affairs minister Najma Heptullah ji at her residence few days back with a delegation. We discussed several issues in details

1. Scholarships: During 2014-15, the Ministry approved 20 lakh applications. During 2015-16, a record 28.45 lakh students have applied for various scholarships.

MoMA is requested to sanction all the applications under different scholarship schemes for the current year.

2. MSDP (Multi- Sectoral Development Programme): During 2015-16, less than Rs 100 crore (Central share) has been released against proposals worth Rs 415 crore. It is requested that the balance may be released for smooth running of the scheme.

3. Clusters of Minority Concentrated Areas Outside MCBs: Proposals for approval of Minority Clusters under MSDP are still pending. Approval may be expedited.

4. Cybergram: The State has requested MoMA to sanction funds under this scheme of digital literacy in 372 uncovered madrasahs. So far, MoMA has sanctioned only 243 madrasahs out of 615 Government aided madrasahs. The balance may be releases as per the proposal.

 5. Skill Development Schemes: The State Government has undertaken a project of Skill Development Programme with a project cost of Rs 86.46 Crore under MSDP. As per the decision adopted in the 89th Meeting of the Empowered Committee. Rs 6.02 crore administrative cost, sanctioned for this purpose, has not yet been released by the Ministry. This requires to be looked into.

Sir, as one of the States with largest minority population in the country – Bengal has the third largest minority population after Jammu and Kashmir and Assam – I would appeal to the Central government extend full cooperation to the state government in the development of minorities.

Pratima Mondal demands backward district status for Cooch Behar

The Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) Scheme covers 250 districts in 27 States. It is an unique Central Fund as it puts the Panchayats and Municipalities at the forefront of planning and implementation, and gives them free rein to use the funds, as long as it fills a development gap and the identification of the work is decided with people’s participation.

In rural areas, 56% schedules castes/schedules tribes, 40% OBCs are beneficiaries of this scheme. One of the parameters of identifying a district as backward is based on the number of SC/ST population. The district of Cooch Behar in West Bengal has a population of which 50.11% comprise of people from Scheduled Castes.

However, Cooch Behar has not been identified as a Backward District. The district is basically agrarian but modern agricultural techniques have not been adopted on a large scale. Hence, this sphere needs special attention. Agricultural marketing also needs to be improved with proper development of rail, road, cold storage, markets, etc.

Also, credit facilities are not smoothly available to the MSE sector. A 15% tax rebate on setting up of new industries, which Backward Districts are entitled to, would greatly help in the development of the area and raise the standard of lives of the people.

I would urge the Government to include Cooch Behar, and other districts in the country which have more than 50% SC/ST population in the BRGF scheme for all-round development of the district and to improve the lives of the people. I would also like to bring attention to the worrying fact that West Bengal is still owed 40% of Central funds for BRGF over the last five years.

TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar introduces Bill for Transgender Welfare in LS

Months after the Rajya Sabha, in a rare move, voted in favour of a private member’s bill guaranteeing rights to transgenders, the Lok Sabha today took up a similar private member’s bill, moved by Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.

The Transgender Persons (Welfare) Bill 2015 calls for a Transgender Persons Welfare Fund administered by a board with representation from state governments that will provide social security to transgender persons. It proposes that every transgender person will be entitled to freely express his/her gender identity and be considered a third gender, and that they will have access to education and vocational training; the rights to personal liberty, dignity, freedom of expression; rights against violence, right to health facilities and also the right to marry.

Talking about her Bill, Ghosh Dastidar said, “It is high time that we recognised the needs of these special kinds of people. Since Parliament is the place where we can legislate for providing for all their requirements and guaranteeing them their rights, I brought this bill. West Bengal is among the first states in the country that, as far as my knowledge goes, recognised their needs and set up a transgender board to ensure those rights.”

Arpita Ghosh speaks on The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015

Sir, we welcome this Bill because yeh user-friendly hain, yeh cost-effective hogi, aur disposal of cases jaldi hogi abhi. Yeh bahut hi zaroori tha hamare liye. We have seen such litigation bahut dino se chalta raha. But abhi yeh jo aayi hain iske sabse behtar baat mujhe lagi ki iska jo time-bound limit kar diye hain. 12 mahina mein khatam hogi, plus 6 mahina aur badaya jayega agar court ko lage ki iski zaroorat hain. Aur price ke bare main jo Minister soche hain – ki extra paisa dene pa case jaldi niptaya diya jayega – iske liye hum bahut abhari hain kyunki sabko lagta hain  ki extra price dene pa kaam jaldi hogi.

Yeh soch bahut achhi hain ki kaam kaise jaldi kiya jain, kyunki abhi Government bahut soch raha hain ki kaise aur zyada investment aaye (aura a bhi rahi hain) aur isi time agar aisa rules nahin aayegi toh hamare aage ke liye achhi nahi hogi. Toh hamein lagta hain ki bahut jaldi yeh Bill pass hona chahiye.

Yeh appoinemnt of arbitrators mein jo impartiality ki enton hain yeh bahut zaroori hain, kyunki hum dekhe hain ki yeh connections rahne se kaam theek se saltaya nahin jaata hain. Toh Minister ka yeh soch bhi bahut badiya hain.

Cases shall be disposed as expeditiously as possible and endeavour should be made to dispose of the matter within a period of 60 days – yeh bhi bahut hi zaroori tha kyunki yeh dekha giya hain ki defaulters bahut hote hain aur yeh bhi dekha giya hain ki Central Government sabse zyada default ki hain. Toh humein asha hain ki is bare mein Minister saab sochenge aage kisko isko handle kiya jayein.

Aur ek baat kehna chahti hoon – abhi jo panel of judges hote hain who mostly retired judges se chuna jate hain. Toh agar kuch non-legal experts (like from international arbitration centres) liye jaaye toh achha hogi. Kuch naya arbitration centres kholne ki zaroorat hain, kuch naya training centres kholne ki zaroorat hain, jo exixting training centres hain usko thora modification ki zaroorat hain, kyunki arbitration case jitna jaldi niptaya jayega hamare desh desh ke liye utni hi achhi hogi.

Toh mujhe yeh asha hain ki Government doosri tarha se sochegi appoints ke bare mein, kaise zyadatar log arbitration ke kshetra mein hain aur joh paraye jaata hain wahan agar yeh arbitration ki topic laya jain toh behtar rahegi. Minister saab abhi hain, toh main asha karti hoon ki government sochegi. Humein lagta hain ki Govenrment yeh johg steps le rahi hain yeh aage jaa ke hamare desh ke liye  bahut achhi hogi. We really welcome once gain ki yeh steps itne din – 10 saal – baad aaye hain. Toh isko jitna expediate kiya jayegi, utni hi achhi hogi. Implementation is the most important thing. Law toh humlog bana lenge, lekin jitni jaldi implementation hogi utni hi hamare liye faideman hogi.

Thank you very much.

Trinamool raises issues of public importance in the Parliament

Members of Parliament belonging to Trinamool Congress today raised issue related to public importance in both houses of the Parliament. Leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Dr Ratna De Nag spoke today about call drops issue and arsenic poisoning, respectively, while in the Upper House, Nadimul Haque raised the issue of appointment of Chief Information Commissioner during Zero Hour.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay raised the issue of call drops which is currently a major concern for people. “For a call of 15 minutes duration, the line gets disconnected at least 15 times,” he said. “Has the Government taken any step to collect money from private companies for call drops and how much money has been collected so far,” he questioned.

Click here for the full transcript and video of his speech

Also in Lok Sabha, Dr Ratna De Nag made a Zero Hour mention about arsenic poisoning. She said that 96 out of 640 districts have arsenic deposits and arsenic is entering our food chain. “Over 3 lakh people have arsenic related disease of which 30% are poor,” she said adding that the government must bring a policy to ensure arsenic poisoning is contained and arsenic does not enter our food chain.

Click here for the full transcript and video of her speech

In the Upper House, Nadimul Haque spoke on the appointment of Chief Information Commissioner. He pointed out that till date 33000 cases are pending before the CIC and the delay in appointment of CIC has laid to denial of information on higher offices. Why is the Government not appointing CIC expeditiously, he wondered while urging that in future the government must appoint the CIC well in advance before the term of sitting commissioner ends.

Click here for the full transcript and video of his speech

Sudip Bandyopadhyay raises the issue of call drops in Lok Sabha

Madam I want to raise an important issue and want to draw the attention of Hon’ble Minister also. The call drop issue has become a very sensitive issue throughout the country. Madam, while talking for 10-15 minutes on the phone, the line is gets disconnected for at least 15-17 times. The service provider may be Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, Reliance and even BSNL and MTNL also.

I want to draw your attention to the fact that the private groups had been asked to pay a fine of Re 1 to the customer for every call drop. Has the government taken any such step to collect or to pay this amount to those customers who are using these telephone lines? How much money actually has been collected for this?

My opinion is that this is a problem – I think whole house will agree with – that has caused tremendous anxiety across the country. Why is the government not taking up the issue on the floor of the House so that we can elaborately discuss it? I would be happy if somebody responds on behalf of the the government. Give us a response on how we are planning to solve the call drop problems which are prevailing in the whole of the country.

Thank you Madam.

Ratna De Nag speaks on arsenic contamination in food chain

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for allowing me to speak.

It is a matter of astonishment for me to know that arsenic poisoning has spread to 12 states.

Arsenic groundwater contamination was first detected in West Bengal in 1983. By 2020 its spread was reported from Ganges-Brahmaputra alluvial region covering Jharkhand, Bihar and other states. At present 96 out of 640 districts have high contents of arsenic. Most disturbing news at present is arsenic poisoning has entered the food chain through our farm products.

A committee of secretaries in a report to government estimated that 7 lakh people have been affected by arsenic with around 3 lakh people have been arsenic related disease. Thirty per cent of these 3 lakh people are poor and malnourished. A policy of action should be put in place immediately to ensure that arsenic contamination is not entered into the food products in these 12 states.

Under these circumstances, Madam, I would strongly urge the Hon’ble Minister to address the issue of arsenic poisoning and get rid of arsenic contents in our food and farm products.

Thank you, Madam.

Arpita Ghosh speaks in Lok Sabha on The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015

Main aapke abhari hoon aur meri party Trinamool Congress aapke abhari hain ki is vishay pe mujhe bolne diya giya hain. Pehle toh bolna chahti hoon ki I welcome this Bill from my party; that this is a really good step commercial ek court alag sa aa jayegi kyun ki civil court jo hain aur jo High Courts vagera main, jo criminal courts hain, wahan pe itne saare pending, abhi Kirtoi Azada saab bol rahe they kitne saare pending hain, ki humlog chauka jaate hain ki kab yeh clear hogi. Aur aam aadmi ke liye bahut hi musibat wali baat hain, saach mein jo, jo Kirti Azad saab ne bol rahe they baar baar, hamare liye bahut musibat wali baat hain, isi liye logon zyada tar jaana nahin chahte court me, usko aage se saltana chahte hain iss liye corruption bhi barte hain, ki bahar main salta lo bhai, agar court mein jayenge toh zyada din time lagega. Yeh commercial court jo banne ki baat ho rahi hain bahut hi behtar hain.

Par abhi jo pending civil suits hum dekh rahe they, bahut saare hain. Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, Himachal Pradesh, abhi itne saare hain. 1 crore ki jo maang hain sirf usi ka khali hain… hum dekh rahein they ki Delhi ka 12,653 pending cases hain. Toh yeh 1 crore ke liye commercial dispute pending cases hain khali Delhi ke liye hain. Abhi Bombay hain, Calcutta hain, madras hain, Himachal Pradesh hain.

Abhi toh yeh bahut hi achha ki hamare pass ek dusri court aa jaye. But the thing is, jo batein ho rahi hain, ki judges chahiye, jo sahin tarah se yeh proper judgements kar pay eta ki commercial disputes ke liye microeconomics ki upar unka kuch training bahut hi zaroori hain aur continuous training training bahut zaroori hain ta ki who commercial dispute ko thik se nibha paye aur jaldi se uska koi anjaam de paye. This should be a time-bound judgement kyun ki hamare yahan job hi judgements aate hain yeh saalo saal chalet hain. Toh abhi Kirti Azad saab bol rahein they ki unhi ki upar ek baara saal chal rahein hain. Toh yeh saalo saal jo judgements para rehte hain, toh yeh abhi bahut hi zaroori hain ki koi bhu judgement should come out as a time-bound judgement. Yeh Government ko mera request hain ki yeh mantra saab soche ki kaise time-bound judgement hamare yahan aa jaaye jo aana bahut hi zaroori hain.

Iss bare main we should keep it in mind that trained judges should come according to the need. Huge backlogs are there, huge backlogs. Abhi usko bhi kaise niptaya jaayein iske bare bhi humein sochna chahiye ki kaise kiya jaayein. Aur yeh jo abhi dekh rahein they, papers bhi dekh rahein they kyunki mera subject yeh hain. Mujhe pehlein hi bol dena chahiye ki I am from science background dfinitely, so I am not a lawyer but humlog aam aadmi, jaise humlog aam janta hain, dekhte hain, jo public ke liye bahut hi musibat wali baat ho jati hain. Yeh commercial court mein chota chota Vishay mein – ki ghar ka kuch ho giya hain, yeh court mein chala jaate hain, yeh saalo saal chalet hain, toh paisa kidhar se aayega. Sach mein, yeh commercial court agar Government really interested to set up such commercial courts, they should first think ki kaise isko hum logon ke liye attractive karein, ki log jayein aur judgement miley unko, ta ki hum pocket se paisa dete dete jab fakir ho jayein uske baad koi judgement aayein, mar jatein, bahut saare cases hain jahan pe log zinda bhi nahin hain, aur uske baad judgement aata hain.

Toh aisa time-bound judgement hona chahiye, chahein commercial court banaiye ya kuch bhi banaiye. Civil, criminal courts mein itne saare judgements parein huye hain, abhi usko commercial courts mein kuch transfer kiya bhi jayein, agar proper judges nahin honge, agar proper judgement nahin aayega, time-bound nahin hoga koi kaam, toh hamare liye faidaman nahin rahega. Yeh Government jab yeh achhi step le rahin hain ki commercial courts aayenge aur ek appellate division bhi hoga, district courts ho jayega chota chota, who sab thik hain. Lekin judges itna kahan se aayega, whether they can be trained or not, how could they be trained, jo judges hain usi mein se aap utha ke commercial courts mein bhijwa denge? Agar who hoga, toh idhar pending bar jayega. Toh iske liye pehle sochna zaroori hain ki commercial setup is very good, we are really welcoming that, but the thing is that we should think of trained judges to be appointed there, in commercial courts, in appellate divisions, in district courts, ta ki hamare judgements jaldi aayein. Hamari sabse zyada zaroori hain yeh jaldi aana chahiye.

Aaj Nirbhaya case ke bare mein baat chal rahin thi, tab mujhe yaad aa raha tha, koi bhi cases hamara para rehta hain, paar rehta hain. Isko kahin pehle Government ko deal karna chahiye kaise judges aayenge, jo serying judges hain doosre civil courts mein, criminal courts mein, usko na la ke, kaise chun ke,  microeconomics par jiska kaam hain, joh commercial disputes pe kaam kar sakte hain usko bulake, aur the people who are coming up, usko kaise utilise kiya jaaye, Government ko isko alag ke sochna chahiye. Mujhe lagta hain ki time-bound judgements agar aa jayegi tph hamare liye, hum sab ke liye, yeh Bharatvarsh ke liye yeh bahut hi welcome decision ho jayegi. Thank you very much. Hum itna hi janna chahte hain Mantri saab se ki yeh judges ke appointments ke baarey mein kya soche hain. Mujhe lagta hain ki who kuch alag baat karenge isme. Thank you very much. Namaste

Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks in Lok Sabha on the CBI raid at Delhi CMO

In a federal structure in a democracy how can the office of a Chief Minister be raided by the CBI? Why would the Chief Minister be kept in dark about a raid on the Principal Secretary? What we are saying, Madam is that like Narendra Modi ji, the State governments and Chief Ministers are also elected by public mandate. So each State Government is in their position with public support and according to the constitutional system and procedure. It gives us much pain when we hear that a Chief Minister’s office is being raided, his Principal Secretary is being taken up without intimating the Chief Minister.

Regarding the raiding of files, the Delhi Government is saying that all those files are cricket-oriented files; they are Delhi Cricket Association files. Let it be investigated; let there be a Joint Parliamentary Committee if necessary, that they should investigate all such issues.

Madam, these issues should be discussed on the floor of the House in detail. Once CBI was called ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’. Now it has become GBI – ‘Gujarat Bureau of Investigation.’ The Joint Director of CBI, Additional Director of CBI,  may kindly be investigated, whether they have been very recently been appointed from the Gujarat cadre of IPS or not. And whether there is any official with the same title as Mr Modi.

So this signifies how the CBI is being misused. Venkiah-ji, you told yesterday how the Prime Minister cannot be condemned because the CBI is an independent body. No, CBI is answerable to the PM. So, they cannot do anything without his knowledge. The CBI’s raid on the offices of a democratically-elected CM is a blot on the federal structure of our democracy.

 

Delegation of Trinamool MPs meet Union minister of Minority Affairs

A delegation of Trinamool MPs today met the Union minority affairs minister Najma Heptullah to raise various issues regarding the upliftment of the minority communities in Bengal.

Leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay and Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien led the delegation.

The delegation included Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Sisir Adhikari, Dinesh Trivedi, Idrish Ali, Ratna De Nag, Mumtaz Sanghamita, Pratima Mondal, Aparupa Poddar and Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, and Nadimul Haque.

The meeting was cordial. The delegation brought the minister up to date with the developmental initiatives taken by West Bengal government for upliftment of minorities. They told the minister that Bengal is the best among states in minority development.

The minister assured that she will visit Bengal soon in the new year.

 

Key issues were raised in the meeting:

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