Tag: Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address

United Opposition leaves the Govt red-faced in RS

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The government on Tuesday faced an embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha when an amendment moved by the Opposition to the President’s address over corruption and black money was passed.

Sukenddu Sekhar Roy had moved amendment no. 357 in the RS to the motion of thanks, saying there was no mention in the address on the failure of government to bring back black money. Another MP from the Opposition moved a similar amendment no. 233.

The united Opposition – Congress, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), TMC, BSP, BJD, DMK, CPI, Kerala Manila Congress and other parties – came together to pass the amendment through division.

There were 118 votes in favour of the amendment while 57 against it.

Reacting to the show of Opposition unity in the Upper House, National Spokesperson and Leader of Trinamool Congress in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien said, “This wondrous parliamentary democracy of ours has a mechanism to deliver strong messages to the government. Today the united Opposition did just that.”

This is the fourth time in Rajya Sabha’s history that an amendment moved by the opposition to the motion of thanks to the President’s Address has been passed.

Kalyan Banerjee speaks on Motion of Thanks on President’s Address | Transcript

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Full transcript of the speech: 

I wanted to appreciate the Presidential Address, but considering the fact that it is nothing but jugglery of words I am not in a position to appreciate that .It could be titled as “batein zyaada, kaam kam”, talk more work less.

The people of the country have seen that the Government has not been able to achieve what they promised during the last 9 months. We have seen their arrogance. Sir, few ministers have arrogated themselves with the power. Before I deal with the clause by clause of the address, Sir, we have long been pursuing for a waiver of the huge debt burden left by the previous Government in West Bengal. We have waited for more than three and half years with no results unfortunately the President’s address did not address our demand or grievance.

Sir, I want to point out that, we appreciate this, that the Government of India through the Ministry of HRD had published a message on the eve of the Marathi Matri Bhasa Divas on 21 February 2015 in one of the national English newspapers in 22 scheduled languages of India. For the Santhali language, Debnagari script is used instead of Ol Chiki script. The script of Santhal community is Ol Chiki script. Please take corrective steps in future.

Sir, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana it has started already earlier from Panchayat level. In every Panchayat and villages there is no bank. First take steps to open branches of the bank in every village. Sir, in West Bengal, Government has let out of houses to banks at the Village level at Re 1 for the benefit of the villagers.

Sir, under direct benefit transfer scheme, public is getting harassed. They are spending more money to get subsidy. Regarding school toilets we appreciate your view. In West Bengal it is almost covered. But we have a request to the Central Government to take steps for cleaning of toilets. Provide 1% to clean toilets.

Skill India is not a new concept. We have already made a good numbers of ITIs and Polytechnics. Out if 341 blocks in West Bengal, 100 ITIs and Polytechnics are complete and in 100 blocks are in progress.

Housing for all, we appreciate it. But you must clarify what do you mean by that? Housing for all means 125 crore people of the Country? Of one family member? If for one family then how many members? It cannot be a vague one.

So far financial benefits are concerned; financial benefits are being reduced by this Government. In 100 days work, they have reduced it from Rs 1.50 lakh crore to Rs 1 lakh crore. Instead of 100 days, it has gone down to 40-50 days. They have reduced the financial benefit also for construction of Gramin Roads.

So far Land Bill is concerned we are opposing it. Sir, we are very much clear. In 2013 also we opposed the Bill, because the cultivator’s rights cannot be taken away.

Sir, in 2007 our leader Mamata Banerjee fasted for 26 days for Singur near Kolkata. And I am not taking the name, one of the very senior stalwart leader of Bharatiya Janta Party had gone at that time and was with Mamata Di for a few hours. I convey my heartiest thanks to that leader on behalf of my party. I request that Leader, what you stood for that day; today also stand for the grievances of the cultivators. Do not take away the right of the cultivators.

Sir, churches are being burnt. Dharmantakaran is going on at every state. Man ka jo vikash hain, us man ka vikash mein dharm rahte hain. Dharam alag jaga mein nahin rahta hain.

During the Christmas vacation, I went to Turkey. I had one guide who told me that Turkey is a secular country. He told me that there are 98% Muslims in Turkey. I asked him, what is your religion? He told me that he was a Muslim. He also asked me what my religion was and I told him that I was a Hindu. He told me that our religion is the origin of all religions. He told that our religion has two important features which were, not to kill any life and the second one was to love each and everyone in this world. He said that he respects our view. Hinduism says to respect and tolerate all religions of the world. That is the foundation of the Hindu religion.

In Turkey, I was thinking that if the message of that Muslim guide could be conveyed to Members of the Ruling Party, our country would have gone in the correct direction and in the correct path.

Sir, I would request the Hon’ble Prime Minister, first decide your vision, then take your decision. Kindly, do not be a prisoner of indecision in this country in respect of religion, emotion and religious thoughts.

Works related to girl child is good, but what have you done? Are you asking for only advertisement, propaganda? What have you done? Rs 100 crore allocated to girl child’s benefit. In our State, our Chief Minister, only for one State, has allocated Rs 850 crore allocated for the Kanyashree scheme. If you want, we are ready to cooperate for the benefits of the women of this country.

I read, long back, during World War II, all citizens of the country had gone to war. One professor was in his library, studying. A soldier entered his library and wanted to kill him. When the professor asked why the soldier wanted to kill him, the soldiers said that all had gone to war for the country while the professor was in his library. The professor asked what the soldier meant by the country and the soldier described the country and the culture. The professor said, victory is our game, peace is preserved, history is made not in battlefields but in educational institutions. Education is the sea bed of culture. It has to be improved. But allocate money. Don’t go by prachar. Don’t go by advertisement. Go by work that will fulfill the purpose. We will request the Hon’ble Prime Minister. You have undertaken a job, finish it.

Someone was referring to Swami Vivekananda early in the morning. Kindly convey to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, if you want to build up, if you want to really help the girl child, allocate Rs 50,000 crore for that scheme, in that case it can be done, otherwise not. Otherwise the scheme will be advertisement for the purpose of the Government.

Sir, health is a State subject. Leave it to the State. But allocate money to State Governments so that they can work. During the nine months they are still running for the benefits.

Provident fund employee benefits are not being given to the workers at all.

Contracted laborers in this country do not have security in their employment. In the 15th Lok Sabha, the Standing Committee on Coal submitted a recommendation to the Government that whenever and contract laborer is there for a period of more than five years if it is of pertinent character, frame out a scheme, absorb the contract laborers there. Keep the contract laborers in their workshops decades after decades. Do not exploit them.

Sir, regarding governance procure and transfer, we have done it all in our State. It is not a new thing . We have a question on governance. Do you have any administrative calendar? Do the Prime Minister hold meeting at grass root level for the purpose of good governance? Our Chief Minister has done it. She chaired more than 80 meetings at the grass root level.

Sir, the problem in our country is, where is trust? The Government has to trust the Minister and the administrative officers. Let that trust be built up first.

Sir, what Digital India has been made? Advertisement? Even in Delhi, even in the MP’s houses we do not get any Wi-Fi benefit. If you use MTNL, every minute there is a drop. For a conversation of five minutes, you need to call five times. Digital India is a very good concept but make it effective. Make it available to the people at large.

Power crisis should not remain in the summer. What power benefits have you given? Nothing. In every state, mostly in the Northern States, power crisis is there. Due to the power crisis, water supply is not there. I went to Bangalore a few days back. There people said that there is dearth of water in Bangalore. What has been done? Nothing had been done it is just in the advertisement purpose.

FDI, we are opposing. Do not try to sell the country to the foreign investment. This country has a lot of investors. This country has lots of industrialists and retailers. Do not be an agent of the foreigners.

Deep sea port we are welcoming it. In Sundarbans, the State Government has cleared everything that is concerned with the deep sea port. I am requesting the concerned minister to kindly take steps for the deep sea port.

In respect of the black money, it has become a mockery. Every people of the country laughs towards you when you say that ‘we will recover black money.’ You have spoken; you have made a promise that within 100 days money will be returned back. 100 days have gone, 9 months have gone and the black money has not yet reached. People have not yet got Rs 15 lakhs.

You have got the results. Do not talk about Saradha, you have lost the elections in Bongaon by-elections by more than 2 lakh votes. Do not open your mouth. Your mouth has been shut down by the people of the Bengal. CBI has said in the Gujarat case that there are materials against one person, but now after the election is over materials are not there. Surprising, this is surprising. I was telling in the beginning that few of the Council of Ministers have arrogated themselves with power. Now I say that every members of the Bharatiya Janata Party have arrogated themselves with power. They are have the power and want to bulldoze everything. They have the power and are becoming vindictive, they have the power, so they are putting people behind in jails, they have the power so shut the voice of the persons who are opposing you. This is the Bharatiya Janata Party; this is the ruling party in concern.

Sir, Delhi has given a lesson to them. Bihar is waiting in 2015. You wanted to break through in Bihar and you could not achieve, Bihar is waiting. Come to West Bengal in 2016, we will show you what Mamata Banerjee is. Somebody will be flying from Gujarat; someone will be flying from Delhi. They cannot take the hold of Bengal. ‘Banglar mati durjoy ghati, bujhe nik durbritto.’ Banglar mati te ashun. Delhi se urke kuch nehi hota hai.

Sir, let me tell you one thing, you will be interested. Their party’s President in the State level has lost all elections, since elections. That is the BJP Party in West Bengal. Hindi me ek gana hai Sir, Kuri meri swapne me milte hai, aur unlogo ka swapne me milta hai. Unlogo ke Swapne me rehne dijiye, koi asubida nehi hai.

Again I am saying, come in 2016, come there and let us see your strength and let you see the strength of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal.

Thank you Sir.

Prof. Sugata Bose speaks on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address | Transcript

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Mr. Chairman, Sir, carrying a little flame of India in my heart I have come to India from abroad to be of little service to my motherland at a critical turning point in our history… (Interruptions).

I greet you all in the name of our leader, Kumari Mamata Banerjee and 34 Lok Sabha Members of the All India Trinamool Congress of whom 11 are outstanding women from different walks of life.

I am honoured to be able to deliver my maiden speech in this august House as part of the debate on the President’s Address. It is a time honoured convention for a maiden speech not to be interrupted and I would appeal to my fellow Members to listen quietly while I speak.

We are most grateful to our Rashtrapatiji for coming down from Raisina Hills to address us in the Central Hall of Parliament. We only wish the new Government had utilised this ceremonial occasion better to give us and the country a clear enunciation of policies instead of a recitation of pious wishes. We share with the Government a commitment to build a strong India that will command the highest respect around the world.We commend the hon. Prime Minister for his initiative in inviting the leaders of SAARC countries to his Swearing-in ceremony. We need a generous and an imaginative foreign policy towards our neighbours so that regional problems do not impede our legitimate ambition to play a major role on the global stage. One of the biggest challenges of the 21st century will be for India and China to peacefully manage their simultaneous rise. But I was sorry to see my good friend Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy being too starry-eyed in his admiration of China. China is, after all, a one party dictatorship and an authoritarian State. Our developmental path should be better based on our own democracy. We agree with the Government that Japan can be our valuable partner in building world class infrastructure across Asia. As a historian I am glad that the Government recognises our soft power potential. When Rabindranath Tagore set out on his voyage to South-East Asia he had followed the civilizational trail of India’s entry into the universe. Tagorean universalism can serve us well in this contemporary phase of global interconnections. Since, Sushmaji, our hon. Minister of External Affairs is present in the House, I would like to say that we will extend our hand of cooperation in her conduct of foreign policy.

Mr. Chairman, Sir, it is true that the federal spirit animating our polity in the past has been sadly diluted in recent years. The great swadeshi leader Bipin Chandra Pal had pointed out in his book, The Soul of India, the legendary king Bharata – after whom our country Bharatbarsha is named – had been described in the ancient texts as Rajchakravarti. He took pains to explain that the term did not mean emperor but simply a king at the centre of a circle of kings. That was the model for great princes and king of kings in ancient times. He also pointed out that in the age of Muslim sovereigns Indian polity always of a federal type became even more pronouncedly so. The age of Monarchy has passed, in this era of democracy the Central Government must learn to behave like a Government at the centre of a circle of State governments. We welcome the Centre’s promise of cooperative federalism. When the Central Government siphons off the bulk of a State’s revenues in the form of debt interest, surely, it violates the federal spirit. I call upon the Central Government in its reply to this debate to spell out what policies it will adopt to provide relief to debt-trapped States that are suffering because of the irresponsible profligacy of previous regimes. For no fault of their own these States, including mine, cannot pursue their developmental agenda towards poverty elimination, a concept which was first enunciated by a great Gujrati leader Dadabhai Naoroji in the 19th century.

I must also strenuously object to the patronising claim made by this Government that it will bring the “Eastern region of the country on par with the Western region in terms of physical and social infrastructure”. I quote from the President’s speech. Here I differ slightly from my friend Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab because I want Odisha to prosper. I consider myself as half Oriya because my grandfather was born in Cuttack. But the fact is that the Western and the Northern regions lag behind the Eastern and the Southern regions in terms of every conceivable index of human development and social infrastructure, specially education and health. The gender imbalance, that is the ratio of women to men, is far worse in the North and West of our country than in the East and the South. The Western region has much to learn from the Eastern region in this sphere of innovative projects and programmes …For example, the visionary Kannyasree scheme of West Bengal’s Chief Minister Kumari Mamata Banerjee presages the Central Government’s Beti Bachao, Beti Badhao campaign. Her highly successful Jal Dharo, Jal Bharo programme for water security holds lessons for the proposed Pradhanmantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana… The Central Government would be well advised to follow West Bengal’s lead in becoming an enabler for modern Madrasa education with a minimum of State interference. There has been a new sunrise in the East that can light up the path to India’s future.

Of greatest concern to us on the federal question is what the Government has had to say on the issue of infiltration and illegal immigrants. This is a highly sensitive matter bearing on relations with our neighbours on which the States must be fully consulted and taken into confidence. We must never allow, West Bengal will never permit, the language of citizenship to be used as a façade for antiminority prejudice. We also want to know the mechanisms through which States can contribute to the formulation of the proposed National Education Policy. I agree with Dr. Thambi Durai who is in the Chair today and who spoke from here yesterday that the States must play a pre-eminent role in the field of education.

The huge disparity in funding for State and Central Universities and educational institutions must be bridged in the interests of our youth and youth development. It will not suffice to simply build IITs and IIMs in various States. We have to build world class universities on the solid foundation of primary and secondary school education.

Mr. Chairman Sir, permit me to say a heartfelt word or two about the Government’s plan to clean the River Ganga, a noble and worthy project. We hail from the great delta where the mighty tributaries of the Ganga flow into the sea.

We have grown up singing Dwijendralal Roy’s song, Patitodharini Gange, Ogo Ma, Patitodharini Gange. Even the worst sinner, it is said, can find redemption with a dip in its holy waters. The river is our mother in Bengal as much as it is for the residents of Benares. You will be happy to know that our poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam did not write just about the Ganga. He sang: Ganga Sindhu Narmada Kaberi Jamuna oi, bohia cholechche ager mato, koi se ager manush koi. The Ganga and the other great rivers flow on as before: where are the human beings of yesteryears? That poetic lament laced with nostalgia is probably more poignant now than it was in Nazrul Islam’s time. But it is the lines sung in the immortal voice of Bhupen Hazarika that is haunting me today: Bistirna duparer asankhya manusher hahakar shuneo, nishabde nirabe o Ganga tumi, Ganga boichcho keno?

The term ‘hahakar’ was used by Sushma Ji. If we cannot hear the hahakar, the cries of despair of the Dalit women subjected to brutal violence in the Gangetic plains, we cannot claim to be true representatives of the people of India. And far away from the Gangetic plains, we mourn the death of Mohsin Sheikh, the young computer engineer in Pune. He belonged to the so-called aspirational class whose dreams for the future had been fired by the election campaign of the ruling party. He did not live to see the achche din, the good times, which this Government promises to usher in. His only fault was that he wore his identity in his headgear and attire as he returned home after praying to the Almighty. Hockey sticks that had once done our nation proud in the world of sports were used as weapons to bludgeon the expression of diversity.

The composition of the 16th Lok Sabha does not reflect the rich diversity of India as well as it should. That is why, it is our special duty and responsibility to give voice to the needs and aspirations of underrepresented minorities. If you truly want to be the harbinger of good times, I would say to the Government, do not confuse uniformity with unity, majoritarianism with democracy. In his famous essay Bharatvarsha, Rabindranth had alerted us: “Where there is genuine difference, it is only by respecting that difference and restraining it in its proper place, that it is possible to achieve unity. Unity cannot be achieved by issuing legal fiats that everybody is one.” Only by nurturing a healthy reverence for cultural difference can we invite everyone to unite at the feet of the Mother: “Eso he Hindu, eso Musalman, eso he Parasi, Bouddha, Christian, milo ho Mayer charane.”I will just leave you with an image when the Bengal revolutionary leader, Shri Subhash Chandra Bose, went to Gujarat at Haripura to preside over the Indian National Congress. … He and Mahatma Gandhi together fused the vision of a modern industrial future with the idyll of agrarian India. Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel were also there. … (Interruptions) Let us follow their lead and say to the Mother that we will work that she may prosper and suffer that she may rejoice.

Mr. Chairman, I am done.

 

Thank you very much.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar speaks on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address | Transcript

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Thank you, Chairman, Sir. I rise on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress and my leader,Kumari Mamata Banerjee, in support of the Address delivered by His Excellency, the President of India in the Parliament on the 9th of June. Let this great expectation of hope which our hon. President expressed towards a fruitful Session be fulfilled and not the Session turn into despair. All India Trinamool Congress, who have come here with a very large mandate of the people, in spite of being in power for the last three years, has received more than 30 per cent of the votes in our State. The point to rejoice is that we have fulfilled the commitment towards the women by giving nearly 30 per cent of the seats to candidates and the people have kept up their promise by electing very large number of women which is again nearly 30 per cent. The Ruling Party here has also come with a very large mandate. I do hope that the Ruling Party keeps up to this great mandate given by the people. On behalf of our Party, AITC, we promise to play a very constructive role. We promise to be by the side of the Government for all their pro-people agenda –whenever they stand by the poor people of the country, whenever they do take up issues which concern the poor people, we will be by their side, but definitely we will be working as democratic watchdog and we will be critical on issues which are anti-people and anti-democracy. Like in the Bible, the God said, ‘Let there be light”. Tamaso ma Jyotir Gamaya! Let this mandate act towards enlightenment and fulfilment of the dreams of the poor, fulfilment of that part of the electorate who is not represented here, fulfilment of the homeless, the jobless, the skilled and the unskilled labourers, the tortured, the last man in the last line – let this mandate work towards their benefit; and we are by your side! But let us also act towards that kind of social justice in which the poor people get two meals a day; they get jobs; they get homes; the Address is really worth appreciating – I was going through the speech of His Excellency, the President – it has been promised that pucca homes are going to be built for the poor people, and the road infrastructure is going to be given a lot of attention, which the rural India really needs. Our hon. Health Minister is present here now – I would cite certain problems of this country. We have promised here equal rights for the women and reservation for women in the Parliament. But we have not been able to fulfil the MDG-5; we have not been able to fulfil our target of bringing down the maternal mortality rate and the infant mortality rate. If we look into the cause, the last village which does not have a pucca road, does not have electric connection to use a refrigerator, by which we can store some ampoules of Methargin which might be required when she is bleeding to death, from child birth; so, let us look into this matter very seriously and let us try to build the roads up to the last village; let us have a particular agenda taken up for road building, for electricity supply to the last house, and also, towards educating our girl child.Bitya hamari jaan hai, un pe hum qurbaan hain. Let us look at it in a comprehensive fashion. Here I would like to refer to the agenda taken up by our Chief Minister, hon. Mamata Banerjee through her Kanyashree Prakalpa. What is Kanyashree Prakalpa? It says that if we are educating our girl child up to Class VII the State Government would give financial support from Class VIII onwards for her to complete her studies. When she reaches the age of 18 and remains unmarried she will get more financial support either to study or to pursue any business of her choice. The age 18 and the term ‘unmarried at 18’ have been purposely kept because till the age of 18 a girl does not attain proper maturity, proper physical strength to give birth to a child. So, by remaining unmarried till 18, she remains unmarried and educated and she becomes mature enough to give birth to healthy children. So, we get a nation of healthy mothers giving rise to healthy children. I think the Union Government can take cue from her and start a Prakalpa like Kanyashree Prakalpa which is really laudable. As far as food is concerned, which is a basic necessity for life, our State of West Bengal has been able to fulfil the demand of food and extend it to more than 3.22 crore of poor people. We have been able to counter the Left wing terrorism by giving out rice at Rs.2 per kilo. But we would require more support from the Central Government for this because there are still many people in this country who are unfit, who are poor and who are looking for this kind of support. The other point is , sanitation which is very-very important. I have read in the news that sometimes girls are tortured or raped when they go out because there are no toilets in their houses and they have to go outside and the miscreants catch hold of them. So, we need more toilets not only to take care of these women when they are going to toilet but also as a means of cutting down on crime. Our State would require more funds to build toilets for public purposes and women alike. So, I would request through my speech here to have more funds for the State Government The State Government should be taken into confidence for different issues including Madrasa education that has been mentioned in His Excellency’s speech. We are doing very well as far as that is concerned. Even as far as border issues are concerned, our State has three international borders with countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. So, before any decision is taken regarding these international borders, we do wish to stress that our State Government be taken into confidence and the matter be discussed with them because it is going to be easier that way. It has also been said here that hospitals of the All India Institute of Medical Science kind are being planned for different States. Here also I would request you that before the site is selected the State Government should be consulted because it is up to the State Government to decide as to which part of the State requires it the most and where the land is available. Our State Government has a very clear-cut land policy; land to be used for agriculture, land to be used for industry and the land to be used for building a hospital. So, before you progress we would request you to definitely engage us. As far as the BPL list is concerned, it requires a serious looking into because we have not looked at it for many-many years. As far as the rail is concerned, I would like to bring to your notice that the maximum advancement had been made during the time when my Leader hon. Mamata Banerjee was the Railway Minister. She not only gave izzat to the poor people by giving them this whole monthly ticket of Izzat but the revenue collection had increased during her tenure. It rose to 88.74 per cent higher than the previous years as far as passenger collection is concered and 8.56 per cent for freight collection. By segregating the freight and passenger segments, she had already promised and took up the agenda in her Vision 2020 document of enhancing the speed of trains. I am happy to see that this has found a place of pride in today’s agenda. But I would again request you to look up that document in which she had already started the work of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor which covers Rewari and Vadodara sections and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Khurja Ludhiana section. You have taken up these issues from her 2020 Vision. So I thank you on that count but we would also like to stress that metro railway that was supposed to have started all around the city of Kolkata should be given some priority because she had already sanctioned the money. But it has been lying incomplete and it appears to be abandoned as my learned colleague tells me. But I would really request you to look into that because my leader, Kumari Mamata Banerjee, when she was the Railway Minster, had taken it up. She had also given to ladies, the Matrabhoomi locals and to the unemployed youth air-conditioned locals. So, I wish that those points are also taken into consideration. In the end, I would like to mention that I did not find in these points anything about the Dreamliner. The Ministry of Civil Aviation must look at it that the Dreamliners which are being used have been found worldwide to be defective. They might be a cause of catastrophe very soon. Only two-three days back in the flight which went from Delhi to Kolkata people fell sick because the oxygen level in the cabin fell short of their breathing. So I think these airliners should be taken away from flying before a large calamity happens.