Tag: Member of Parliament

Trinamool tells President that country is now under Super Emergency

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Meeting the President for the third time since demonetisation, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs accused the Modi government of having imposed a “super emergency” by launching the exercise and engaging in “vendetta politics” by arresting two party lawmakers after it opposed the “draconian” move.

Speaking to reporters after marching from South Avenue to Rashtrapati Bhawan to protest against the note ban, the MPs also held Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the death of 120 people, caused allegedly by the move, and sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention as the situation had turned “grim”.

The 30-member delegation, comprising MPs Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Dola Sen, Dinesh Trivedi, Arpita Ghosh, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sisir Adhikari among others, also submitted a memorandum to Mukherjee.

 

Memorandum to the President

Hon’ble Rashtrapati ji,

Six days after announcing demonetisation on 8 November 2016, the Prime Minister had asked for fifty days to meet the objectives of demonetisation and end the suffering caused to ordinary citizens. The people of this country have now borne this acute crisis for over sixty days and the situation has only got progressively worse.

120 lives have reportedly been lost because of demonetisation. We are deeply pained that this Government has not as much as acknowledged the loss of these innocent lives. The brunt of these irresponsible measures is being borne by India’s least fortunate and most honourable people – farmers, textile, construction and plantation workers, small business owners, trading communities, fishermen, housewives, students and large sections of the middle class.

In spite of a good monsoon, farmers were prevented from purchasing seeds and necessary inputs at the peak of the rabi sowing season. Food shortages and rural distress are looming large on the horizon. Everyday we are witnessing cash-starved farmers making distress sales or even throwing away perishable produce.

As you are aware, only 7% of India’s workforce is employed in the organized sector. Demonetisation has impoverished a vast majority of the 415 million workers who earn a daily wage through agriculture, construction, small-scale manufacturing and retail. Over 25 crores daily-wage workers have suffered loss of work. Micro and small-scale industries are reporting 35% job losses and 50% decline in revenue. As factories have shut, workers are returning to their villages in an unprecedented reverse migration. If restrictions on cash withdrawal are not removed immediately, job losses will increase manifold in the coming months.

We find it alarming that people’s right to withdraw their own money has been suspended indefinitely. Despite repeated requests, the Government has shared no timeline for the removal of restrictions on cash withdrawals. As the restrictions continue to be in effect, honest and upright citizens of this country are being prohibited from accessing their hard-earned money. Propriety demands that the Government explain under which provisions of law these restrictions on withdrawals have been imposed.

From the day of the draconian announcement of demonetisation and throughout this ill-conceived and poorly implemented exercise, this Government has served to deceive and ambush its own citizens. New and inconsistent notifications have been issued almost everyday, withdrawal limits and deposit deadlines altered with no prior notice, and financial incentives for digital transactions roll-backed at whim. Arbitrary and irresponsible conduct of this nature has shaken the people’s trust in the government irrevocably.

It is appalling that this Government has resorted to the politics of vendetta to conceal its own incompetence and inefficiency. Anyone who has opposed demonetisation has been branded anti-national, corrupt, a supporter of terrorism or a hoarder of black money. The Government is blatantly misusing power and using state agencies to stifle opposition and silence critics. This deplorable and vindictive politics dishonours the sacred principles of our constitutional democracy and is detrimental to national interest.

Sir, as the custodian of the Constitution of our country, we appeal to you to intervene to take care of our people and save them from harm. We look to you, Sir, to bring an end to this unprecedented super-emergency.

 

With regards.

Yours truly,

<Signed by Trinamool MPs>

BSF training Narayani Sena in Cooch Behar: Trinamool

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Accusing the central government of trying to disrupt smooth functioning of the state government, Trinamool alleged that the BSF was providing “training” to ‘Narayani Sena’, a private army of the erstwhile Maharaja of Cooch Behar.

“It is a deep-rooted conspiracy against the state government. How come BSF is giving training to Narayani Sena and other elements who are involved in smuggling?” senior TMC leader and state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said.

He said, “We have officially expressed our grievances and lodged a complaint with the highest quarters of the central government.” He also added that this was being done by keeping the state government in the “dark”.

Leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay accused the Centre of interfering in the law and order of the State. He accused the BJP of trying to disturb the peace in Bengal. A delegation of Trinamool MPs met the President and apprised him of the incident.

 

কুচবিহারে নারায়ণী সেনাকে প্রশিক্ষণ দিচ্ছে বি এস এফঃ তৃণমূল

কেন্দ্রের বিরুদ্ধে রাজ্যের কাজে হস্তক্ষেপ করার অভিযোগ করল তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস। উত্তরবঙ্গে নারায়ণী সেনাকে বিএসএফের প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া নিয়েও সরব হয়েছে তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস৷ রাষ্ট্রপতির কাছেও বিষয়টি নিয়ে অভিযোগ জানিয়েছেন তারা৷

বর্ষীয়ান তৃণমূল নেতা পার্থ চট্টোপাধ্যায় বলেন, “এটা রাজ্য সরকারের বিরুদ্ধে এক গভীর ষড়যন্ত্র। বিএসএফ কেন্দ্রীয় সংস্থা।  বি এস এফ কিভাবে নারায়ণী সেনাদের প্রশিক্ষণ দিতে পারে। তাঁর কথায়, ‘‘রাজ্যের উন্নয়নে ব্যাঘাত ঘটাতে এবং প্রশাসনিক কাজে বিঘ্ন ঘটাতে এই চক্রান্ত চলছে।’’

“আমরা অফিসিয়ালি আমাদের প্রতিবাদ জানিয়েছি এবং কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের হেড কোয়ার্টারে অভিযোগও জানিয়েছি”। তিনি আরও বলেন, মুখ্যমন্ত্রী তথা রাজ্য প্রশাসনকে অন্ধকারে রেখেই এসব কাজ করা হচ্ছে”।

রাজ্যের যুক্তরাষ্ট্রীয় পরিকাঠামোয় হস্তক্ষেপ করার জন্য লোকসভার দলনেতা সুদীপ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় এদিন কেন্দ্রকেই দায়ী করেন। বাংলার শান্তি বিঘ্নিত করার জন্য তিনি বিজেপিকেই দায়ী করেন। তৃণমূলের এক সংসদীয় প্রতিনিধি দল এদিন রাষ্ট্রপতির সঙ্গে সাক্ষাৎ করে।

Centre trying to unilaterally rule over States: Trinamool delegation tells President

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A delegation of 10 Trinamool MPs led by Leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, met the President of India at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata.

“Our main purpose to meet the President was to show how the Centre is breaking the barriers of the federal structure,” Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.

“They are dictating the terms to States on how schemes are to be implemented and how money is to be spent on such schemes or what should their names be,” he added.

“Earlier there was Planning Commission where the States had the chance to interact with the Deputy Chairman. Now the Planning Commission has been dissolved and Niti Ayog has been set up,” the veteran MP said.

“We raised the issue of monitoring of State Treasury. This is unbelievable. There is also the other issue of unilateral deputation of officers at under-secretary level. Then there is the issue of 100 Days’ Work. Centre owes Rs 1700 crore to the State,” Sudip Bandyopadhyay added.

Centre is making an attempt to unilaterally rule over the States.
Decisions about developmental projects are being taken without consulting States at any level, the senior parliamentarian alleged. He said that Trinamool will raise these issues in the Parliament.

যুক্তরাষ্ট্রীয় পরিকাঠামোয় কেন্দ্রের হস্তক্ষেপ নিয়ে রাষ্ট্রপতির দ্বারস্থ তৃণমূল

লোকসভায় তৃণমূলের দলনেতা সুদীপ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের নেতৃত্বে আজ এক প্রতিনিধি দল দেখা করে রাষ্ট্রপতি প্রণব মুখোপাধ্যায়ের সঙ্গে। কেন্দ্র যুক্তরাষ্ট্রীয় পরিকাঠামোয় হস্তক্ষেপ করছে সেটাই রাষ্ট্রপতিকে কাছে আমরা জানিয়েছি, বলেন সুদীপ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়।কেন্দ্র রাজ্যের কাজে হস্তক্ষেপ করছে। কোন প্রকল্পে কত টাকা কি ভাবে খরচ হবে, সেটাও কেন্দ্র বলে দিচ্ছে, অভিযোগ সুদীপের। আগে প্ল্যানিং কমিশনে রাজ্য নিজের দাবিদাওয়া রাখতে পারতো। কিন্তু এখন কমিশন উঠিয়ে তৈরী হয়েছে নীতি আয়োগ, বলেন সুদীপ।

“রাজ্যের ট্রেজারির ওপর নজরদারির চেষ্টার কথা মারা রাষ্ট্রপতিকে জানিয়েছি। বলেছি আন্ডার সেক্রেটারি লেভেলের অফিসারদের ডেপুটেশনের প্রসঙ্গ। এছাড়াও ১০০ দিনের কাজে রাজ্যের পাওনা ১৭০০ কোটি টাকার বিষয়টিও জানানো হয়েছে,” বলেন বর্ষীয়ান এই সাংসদ।

উনি আরও বলেন যে কেন্দ্র চাইছে রাজ্যের সব ক্ষমতা কেড়ে নিতে। রাজ্যকে না জানিয়ে উন্নয়নমূলক কাজের সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া হচ্ছে। সুদীপ বলেন যে এই বিষয়গুলি সংসদে উত্থাপন করবে তৃণমূল।

Saugata Roy speaks on The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016

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Sir I stand to register my protest against The Factories (Amendment) Bill 2016. Kalyan Banerjee, on behalf of our party, has already opposed the Bill. It is very unusual that when a Bill is there under the consideration of the Ministry, just 2 clauses are taken out and introduced as a fresh Bill.

We wanted the minister repeatedly to have the comprehensive Bill which will include some things favourable to the workers. But increasing the hours of overtime will only help the manufacturers, Sir. That has been opposed by all trade unions. It has not ratified ILO conventions and the minister is playing into the hands of the manufacturers and corporate sector to pass a bill against the workers which will make them slaves for 100 hours in a quarter. I totally oppose the Bill. Thank you, Sir.

Md Nadimul Haque speaks during Zero Hour on the demand for release of scholarships to minority students | Full Transcript

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Sir, cooperative federalism demands extensive interaction between the Centre and the States. Feedback from the States must be given equal importance. It is sad that the present cooperative federalism is only in name. it is time we head towards cooperative federalism.

I would like to draw the attention of the House to a very important issue – that is, the demand for the release of pre-matric/post-matric/merit-cum-means scholarship to minority students. It is a matter of great concern that almost 4 lakh minority students from West Bengal have not received their scholarships for 2015-16. Despite being eligible, they were deprived of the benefits because of technical glitches, like slow server speeds, drop-down menus not working and names of many educational institutions missing from the list, while accessing the national scholarship portal.

Besides the technical problems, in certain remote places of West Bengal like the Sunderbans, Purulia, Bankura, and Darjeeling, people have limited access to computers and to good network connections. Sir, West Bengal had recently faced unprecedented floods in 235 blocks of 13 districts. Even after the State Government’s efforts to publicise and help the students with internet access, the benefits are denied due to technical glitches in the national scholarship portal. Sir, despite the State having sent offline data as sought by the Ministry, almost 4 lakh students are still outside the ambit of the scholarship scheme.

Sir, our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the Ministry of Minority Affairs in August last year regarding this. Even I, on May 5 this year, had raised this issue in the House and was assured by the then Minister of an early solution to the problem. Our Chief Minister has also written to the Hon’ble Prime Minister last week on this matter. However, the problem still persists. I would urge the Centre to allow us, that is, the State of West Bengal, to opt out of the National Scholarship portal and let us disburse the scholarship funds electronically through DBT with appropriate backward linkages to NSP, along the lines of disbursement of scholarships to SC/ST students.

Sir, I would like to end with an Urdu couplet:

Sochta hoon ki anjaam-e-safar kya hoga

Sochta hoon ki anjaam-e-safar kya hoga

Log bhi kach ke hain, rah bhi patrili hain

I would like the Minister to respond.

Saugata Roy speaks in Lok Sabha on The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016

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Today, I speak on The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 1961. Firstly, I oppose the raising of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) fees to Rs 2 lakh per year. It is totally against the common people, the common students. I speak from experience. Fifty-two years ago, I was admitted to IIT Kharagpur, which I left later. The fee was only Rs 20 per month, which means Rs 240 in a year. That’s why my parents could afford it. And now you are raising it to Rs 2 lakh a year. You are saying you will give loans and concessions. I think it is totally anti-people. Ask the IITs to reduce the fees immediately.

Secondly, I support the Bill otherwise for setting up new IITs in Tirupati, Jammu, Bhilai, Palakkad, Goa and Dharohar, and converting Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad to an IIT. But I want to ask the Hon’ble minister why he has allotted only Rs 230 crore for six IITs and Rs 100 crore for ISM. Why have you given so little money? Please clarify – how can IITs initiate developmental activities on this money?

Thirdly, Sir, I take this opportunity to pay my respect to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who first visualised the IIT. I pay my respect to Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Bengal’s former Chief Minister, who offered the Hijli jail in Kharagpur for setting up the IIT. He also got Gyan Chandra Ghosh, a famous Bengali chemist, to head the first IIT. Kudos to them.

IIT Kharagpur was a pioneer in the field and for the first time it started courses in naval architecture. aeronautical engineering and agricultural engineering which were not taught anywhere else in the country. Later, four more IITs were set up but all with foreign help. IIT Kanpur was set up with American help, IIT Madras with German help, IIT Delhi with British help.

Mr Prahlad Joshi mentioned that Narendra Modi ji is setting up IITs in every State. It’s not factually correct. The fact is that the decision of setting up eight IITs were taken earlier – IIT College of Engineering Technology in Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Mandi, IIT Patna, IIT Ropar and IIT-BHU were set up during the last plan.

So it is not factually correct to say that Narendra Modi has taken the initiative. It is a good idea that we must have an IIT in every State. We must give every State the benefit of the high-quality teaching and research that IITs provide to us. In the morning, in a reply to a question, you have correctly said that in spite of the very good work done by the IITs in the past, our IITs are no longer among the top 50 global educational institutes. IIT Bombay is between 351-400, and IIT Delhi, Kharagpur and Madras are between 401-500, while IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati are between 501-600. So this shows how far behind we are and the best IIT we have in the Asian rankings, IIT Bombay is at 54.

So we have to do something to really improve the IITs further. I hope that the Minister will accept that something needs to be done. My submission is that you should go for fresh collaboration with top American universities and British universities like Pandit Nehru did. It’s not against the interest of the nation. You should collaborate with the top institutes of America, Britain and China to improve the standards of the IITs, to reach international standards: we have not yet reached international standards. We must raise our level to their levels.

Lastly, I would like to mention a few points. We should find out why Dr Anil Kakodkar, one of our best nuclear scientists, resigned from the Board of Governors of IIT Bombay. We should persuade these people to come to these institutes.

A member was suggesting that there should be good industry-IIT interface. But my experience says industry does not contribute a single rupee to IITs. Rather, you should reach out to the alumni. The IIT alumni are forthcoming, especially those who are established abroad, in coming forward to donate money. Please approach them for getting money as well as cutting-edge technology. These days, only cutting-edge technology can survive in the highly competitive world.

Lastly I will end by saying one small thing. Mr. Javadekar, please think of what you can do to improve patriotism in the boys and girls from IIT. I am told that 80 per cent of the students of IIT Bombay go to America, and most of them do not return. We are spending government money. If the best products of our institutions go to America, we sell out brains to make our engineers cyber coolies in America, and then it is unfortunate for the country. Don’t do it the RSS way, let us put values in them so that they love the country and stay back.

Many new IITs have come up in recent years and are also doing well. But we must take initiatives to bring them up to the level of other IITs. The Minister, I hope, will announce a programme. The Central Government runs some of the best institutions like Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. They are good but not at par with international standards. All efforts should be made to prevent politicisation of their management and to see that the best talents get together to produce the best engineers and technologists found anywhere in this highly competitive world in which India is making a bid to sit at the high table.
With these words Sir, I support the Bill.

Sugata Bose speaks in LS regarding an enabling regulatory architecture in higher education institutions (Full Transcript)

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Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is sad to read the annexure that has been provided by the Hon’ble minister as part of his reply. There are no institutions of higher education in India that figure in the top 250 on the list and there are no universities that figure in the top 500 of the list that he has provided. It is a matter of only small satisfaction for me that the university that figures at the top as it war is Jadavpur University from West Bengal which is in the 500-600 range of the world rankings of the TIME’s higher education supplement.

Of course, it will not be right only to bemoan the fact that we don’t figure on this list. But we have to device a proper strategy to make sure that our institutions of higher educations are globally competitive.

I want to ask a very specific question. Five months ago in his budget speech the Finance Minister had declared that the government will set up an enabling regulatory architecture for the emergence of  ten public and ten private institutions as world class centers of excellence in teaching and research.

What specific progress has been made to set up such an enabling architecture and what criteria will the government use to select these 20 institutions? Will they pay attention to state universities which are poorly funded and yet do better than many central universities?

We have Jadavpur University & University of Calcutta in top 800 of the list you provided; they are state universities & not central universities. So, will you give special attention to state universities when you select these top 20 institutions for global competition?  

Sugata Bose speaks on the National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016

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Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I at the outset express my appreciation to our new hon. Minister for Human Resource Development for felicitating all the teacher MPs on the occasion of ‘Guru Purnima’ a couple of days ago? That was a very fine symbolic gesture on his part and we on our part wish him all the best in discharging the onerous responsibility that he has been given to improve our educational system for our younger generation.

On the face of it, this is a very simple and straightforward amendment to the NIT Act.

It only adds one more NIT in Andhra Pradesh consequent on the bifurcation of the old State between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But this apparently small amendment raises some very deep questions about our educational policy and the future direction of the younger generation in our country.

Some of the concerns that I had wished to express have already been anticipated by my colleague, Shri Shashi Tharoor, who, by virtue of belonging to a marginally larger party in this Lok Sabha, has the right to speak before me. I wish he had stayed to listen to at least the next speaker who had his views to express on this important subject.

I agree with many of the concerns about polity that had been expressed by my good friend, Shri Shashi Tharoor, but I think he made one very unfair comparison. Harvard University is a private university in the world and its endowment is larger than the GDP of many countries in this world. So, that comparison should not really be made.

Now what are these National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research? We started out with eight regional engineering colleges and now, we have many more but the 20 of them are upgradations from the status of regional engineering colleges. Subsequently, 10 more NITs have been added and today, we are about to welcome in this Parliament the birth of a new NIT in Andhra Pradesh. We will, of course, support that move and we wish the people of Andhra Pradesh all the best for the future. I would, however, like to raise some questions about the kind of education that we wish to give to our younger generation. Shri Javadekar was absolutely right in saying that even in the nomenclature of these institutes, we have the word ‘technology’ but also the phrases ‘science education and research’.

Now we have to have a fine balance between teaching and research in all of our educational institutes including our universities both central and State in addition to the IITs, the NITs and the IISERs. Unfortunately, the NIT in Andhra Pradesh and also some of the new NITs that have been approved by this Parliament do not have capacity for carrying out the kind of cutting edge research and innovation that we need in this country.

When we go ahead and announce the establishment of new institutions, first of all, it takes a lot of time to build a new campus. Even this NIT is currently functioning out of a temporary campus but at least when it comes to physical infrastructure, when it comes to bricks and mortar, for a number of years after the announcement of these new institutes, money is spent and many contractors make money but do we give adequate attention to human resources? Do we actually anticipate the faculty requirements for these new institutes? Do we actually make sure that the students who will join these new institutes will, in fact, get the best instruction possible? I think we need to pay very close attention to these issues.

I would also like to add that we have a large number of institutes of national importance which are devoted to technology of one kind or another.

The IITs, the NITs and also the Institutes of Information Technology run into scores in terms of the numbers of Institutes of Technology of one kind or another that we have. But do we pay adequate attention to institutes for the Humanities and the Arts? What is happening in our Institutes of Technology, particularly the NITs is that we are not producing well-rounded citizens. Even in Institutes of Technology there should be arrangements to teach subjects in the field of Arts and Humanities. If you consider the best Institute of Technology in the world today, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a very fine Philosophy Department. It has a superb History Department. They are small but the students who are training to be engineers are given an opportunity to also study the Arts and the Humanities. Otherwise, in this craze for Information Technology in particular, we will be creating very one dimensional young citizens of India.

Now, a couple of years ago Shri Anil Madhav Dave had asked a very pertinent question from the Ministry of Human Resource Development. He had asked whether the condition of learning in the subjects of Humanities and Arts is poor and he had also asked whether the Government is making any action plan for new institutes and incentives in the field of Arts, Commerce, Culture and Humanities. I am sorry to have to say that in the written reply that was provided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development there were very misleading statements. I will you why. It was stated that up to 20/11 there were 4677 institutions only for science and technology and there were 4315 institutions offering courses only on Arts and Humanities in that same year. But that was not the question. The question was how many institutes of national importance we have in the field of humanities compared to the number of institutes of national importance in the field of science and technology. Two years ago, in his Budget Speech, Shri Arun Jaitley had announced that there was going to be a national institute of Humanities named after none other than our great iconic leader the late Jaiprakash Narain in Madhya Pradesh. But this Parliament and the general public in India have not heard very much more since then about the progress in the creation of this one national institute for the Humanities that had been announced by this Government more than two years ago. Even if we are not able to set up very many national institutes of importance in the field of Humanities and Arts, there are other ways in which Humanities and Arts can be supported in our universities and colleges. For example, in the United States of America there is a National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts which provide funding for the finest research and new innovation and creativity in the field of Humanities and Arts. So, there are ways in which we can provide a more balanced education for our younger generation.

Sir, there are a few more things to be said about our Educational Policy, but today as you can see we are rather diminished in terms of the benches on this side of the House because in West Bengal today we are observing Martyrs Day. Twenty-three years ago 13 young men had been killed in police firing while our leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee led demonstration for the restoration of democratic rights for the people of West Bengal. I will have an opportunity to speak once more when the Indian Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill is brought before us.

I will not extend my discourse any further at the moment excepting to say that when this Parliament which has the sole prerogative to assign the nomenclature institutes of national importance takes this momentous decision, let us make sure that these institutes are truly of national importance. Let us set ourselves a goal that in the foreseeable future, say, within the next three to five years, at least a few of our National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research will be able to break into the top 500 of world rankings because we should not be satisfied with rankings within our own country. We have a global role to play. We must compete with the rest of the world and make sure that our students and younger generation are getting the best education possible whether in the field of science education or in the field of arts and humanities.

Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy-Speaker Sir.

Nadimul Haque speaks on the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill

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Sir, today I stand before the House to discuss the Real Estate Bill. In my opinion, the real estate sector constitutes as the most important building block of a nation, as it provides infrastructure and housing for a better life to all the people residing in the country. However, in our country, a specific law, stating the duties and rights of buyers and promoters involved in the real estate sector, has been largely left unaddressed. Though the consumer in our country could avail the remedies available under the civil, criminal and consumer laws against these players, yet these remedies are not broad enough to address all the issues and concerns of the buyers and consumers of real estate. This situation has led to gross mismanagement and unprofessionalism in the field of real estate, wherein the project developers indulge in tactics of deliberate delays and other wrongdoing. In order to address these issues, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2013. It was later referred to the Standing Committee and then to the Select Committee. Both these Committees have submitted their reports. The Bill, as it stands today, regulates transactions between buyers and promoters of residential real estate projects. It establishes State-level regulatory authorities, called the Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs). The promoters need to be registered with the RERAs. They cannot book or offer their projects for sale without registering. The real estate agents, dealing in these projects, also need to register with the RERAs. On registration, the promoter must upload the details of the project on their website.

Sir, the Bill also contains the penalty provisions. In case, the promoter fails to register the property, he may be penalized up to 10 per cent of the estimated cost of the project. Failure to do this, despite orders issued by the RERA, will lead to imprisonment up to three years.

He will have to also pay 5 per cent of the estimated cost of the project if he violates any other provisions of the Act. However, Sir, there are some grey areas in this Bill which I would like to point out clause-wise.

Clause 3(2)(a), which relates to the registration of real estate project, of the original Bill mandated that registration was not necessary where the area of the land proposed to be developed does not exceed 1000 square metres or the number of apartments proposed to be developed does not exceed 12. Sir, the Select Committee reduced this to 500 square metres and 8 apartments, and power was given to the appropriate Government to reduce the threshold from 500 square metres and 8 apartments. Sir, it is pertinent to mention that if this clause is passed, then it may lead to the exclusion of middle class or poor class who are vulnerable to a higher rate from the promoters.

Sir, secondly, as per Clause 4(2)(i)(d), the original Bill puts a positive obligation on the promoter to put 50 per cent funds, as notified, in a separate bank account for construction work. Sir, it does not take into account the fact that there might be different situations in different States wherein the cost of land may be higher than the cost of construction.

Sir, Clause 5(2) in the original Bill stated that if the application of the promoter to register is not accepted or rejected in 15 days, then the project shall be deemed to be registered. The Committee recommended that this period be extended to 30 days. Sir, I have to say that the said clause can be subjected to abuse as there might be a lot of instances that the authorities might not be able to register a promoter project due to overburden of work.

Sir, Clause 7(1)(a) states the revocation of registration. The original Bill included ‘wilful default’ on the part of the promoter to do anything under the Act will lead to revocation of the registration. The panel had recommended that the word ‘wilful’ be deleted from the definition. However, Sir, the recommendation of the panel to delete ‘wilful’ is meritorious. At the same time, the recommendation tilts the balance in favour of the buyer and against the promoter. The promoter is now strictly liable under the Bill for any default.

By deleting the word ‘wilful’ from the definition, the promoter is now liable also in a case where he may have acted in good faith. The aforesaid recommendation would equally establish a balance between the right of the buyer as well as that of an honest promoter.

Lastly, Sir, this Bill does not include anything about the sanctioning authorities. For example, even if a project is completed and there is a delay in seeking a completion certificate from the local authority or there is a delay in obtaining electrical and water connections, the project cannot be offered for possession to the buyers on time. For this purpose, Sir, rules and recommendations to the sanctioning authorities have to be incorporated in the Bill.

With this, Sir, I rest my case supporting the Bill. Thank you.

Pratima Mandal speaks on Railway Budget 2016

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Madam,

It is mentioned in the Railway Budget that Wi-Fi connection will be made available in four hundred stations. Madam, you cannot imagine the despicable condition of toilets at railway station. Especially in rural areas, there is no water facility.  Railway stations are not properly cleaned even after an interval of six months or more.

With due regards to the Make In India, Digital India projects, I specially believe that cleaning the toilets is a priority. Sufficient water, especially safe drinking water should be made available in all railway stations and their restrooms. Food provided on board should be adequate and shall meet minimum health requirements. The provisions for food must be available at all railway stations and specially on long duration.

Madam, I want to speak about another major and shameful problem, that of sexual harassment of female passengers. The Government should ensure proper security and safety. In case of any violation or complains, appropriate actions must be taken to efficiently redress grievances of the victims.

Madam, I would like to place my demands to which I had already placed in this House before the Hon’ble Minister Prabhu ji and also wrote to him but did not get any positive results from his end. I once again like to place my demands. My first demand is for shuttle train services from New Garia to Canning, from New Garia to Lakshmikantapur, from New Garia to Diamond Harbour and one local train service from Sealdah to Joynagar-Majilpur and construction of level crossings at Piyali Railway Station on Sealdah-Canning railway track. Three Railway projects, which are the dream projects of the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. One railway project is from Canning to Gadkhali via Bhanganthali, another is Joynagar to Moipith via Jamtala and the third is from Namkhana to Bakkhali.

Thank you Madam for giving me an opportunity.