Bengal fought hard to protect cooperative federalism during the formulation of GST: Trinamool

Bengal fought hard to protect cooperative federalism during the formulation of GST: Trinamool

Posted on March 29, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee today said in the Lok Sabha that “Bengal fought hard to preserve and protect cooperative federalism in the process of the formulation of the GST”. He was speaking during a discussion of the GST Bills in Parliament.

In his speech he highlighted the proactive role taken by the Finance Minister of Bengal, who is the Chairman of the Empowered Committee. “Bengal Finance Minister was instrumental in bringing about a broad consensus amongst states on single control in the hands of the State below Rs 1.5 crore turnover of small business in its meeting in the great city Calcutta many months ago,” he said.

He reiterated that Mamata Banerjee had in-principle supported the concept of GST as early as 2009 in our party-manifesto. Kalyan Banerjee said, “Bengal engaged uncompromisingly in a spirit of cooperative federalism and fiscal autonomy of the States.”

He cautioned the government against rushing ahead with the legislation; he said steps must be taken to make the system fully error free or else the whole indirect taxation system would collapse. He pitched for an e-based taxation system and said industry must be given sufficient time to prepare themselves for the new system.

Kalyan Banerjee also reminded the government that GST is the result of the hard work by all and no one should claim credit for it alone.

Also speaking on the issue, Saugata Roy cautioned the government against the “technological nightmare” that GSTN could bring and asked the government not to hurry. “If there will be any breakdown in the server, all over the country GST will go flat. So, Sir, I want the Government to be very careful. Government has said that they will train 60,000 officers for this job. For that, at least six months are necessary,” he said.

He also reminded the government that prices should not rise during the transition period. He wanted to know why the government was in a hurry o pass GST when the rates of individual commodities have not yet been decided. He wanted to know from the Centre where would the extra money come from to compensate the States.

Click here to read the full transcript of Kalyan Banerjee’s speech

Click here to read the full transcript of Saugata Roy’s speech

Vivek Gupta speaks on the need for uniform travel advisories across airlines

Posted on March 29, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, recently the US and UK airports have banned all electronic items larger than mobile phones, like tablets and DVD players, from being taken into the cabins of planes. Sir, through you I would request that our country also reviews security arrangements as our country is also under a high amount security threat.

The larger issue here is that every day different guidelines are being issued by different airlines. Some airlines say that you can take a tablet inside while some say that you have to check-in a tablet. No uniform guidelines are being issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

There is so much of confusion at the airports – you go in, then you have to go for a security check, then you are supposed to go back and check in the luggage – there is utter chaos at the airport. Sir, through you I would wish to bring to the attention of the honourable Government and the Minister of Civil Aviation to look into this problem.

Sir, the bigger problem is that we lack around 2,500 CISF staff, according to various reports, which have made our airports more vulnerable. Sir, 26 hyper-sensitive airports are still not covered by the CISF, and we don’t know who’s handling the security.

Sir, various travel advisories are issued by other countries but we seem to be lagging behind in that. Sir, whenever there is a ban issued I would like the Government to issue a centralised ban so that there is no confusion for the passengers and they can easily go airports.

Thank you, Sir.

Tapas Mandal asks a Supplementary Question on poor quality of food served in trains

Posted on March 29, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, an incident happened yesterday on board the Rajdhani Express bound for Sealdah. Many passengers started vomiting after consuming the food served on the train for dinner. They became unwell.

Passengers travelling in B-8, B-9, B-10 compartments demonstrated at Asansol station regarding the poor quality of food served on train. One passenger lodged a complaint at Sealdah station. One official of Eastern Railways said incidents like this happen very often.

I want to ask the Hon. Minister for how long will incidents like this happen? For how long will passengers have to bear the brunt? If this is the condition of Rajdhani Express, I wonder what is the situation in other trains.

Aparupa Poddar speaks on The Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Posted on March 28, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker Sir, for allowing me to speak on The Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The Amendment in the Bill is to strengthen the data collection mechanism in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 was enacted to facilitate the collection of economic, social, scientific and environmental aspects. The Act enacted covered whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir.

Similarly Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature enacted the Jammu and Kashmir Collection Statistics Act, 2010. The Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 and Jammu and Kashmir Collection Statistics Act, 2010 falling in the Union List has created a legislative vacuum. Moreover, concrete jurisdiction to be exercised by the Centre in Jammu and Kashmir has not been provided.

The Amendment is intended to address the vacuum which will help the social upliftment of the people residing in Jammu and Kashmir. But it should be taken care that implementation of this legislation there should not be in conflict with the setup of Jammu and Kashmir’s collection of data and input of statistics.

The Bill stipulates the appointment of nodal officer at the Centre and State to effectively coordinate and supervise the data collection activities for avoiding unnecessary duplication.

On behalf of my Party, I am welcoming the Bill. I suggest to incorporate a provision into the proposed Bill; there should be a time frame of furnishing data or statistics and it has to be made binding on all because the current status of statistics of some departments with the regard of adequacy, timeliness and reliability are far from the satisfactory. Sometimes the advanced estimates are made simply on the basis of visual estimate until the final results are available, which is almost one year later. Only rough estimates are supplied, which have been the reason of sustainable revision in the estimated.

Coming from the State of West Bengal, it makes me proud that Indian Statistical Institute is an academic institution of national importance as recognised by 1959 Act of Indian Parliament. Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the founder of ISI, was deeply influenced by the wisdom and guidance of Rabindranath Tagore and Bijendra Nath Shil. Under his leadership the institution initiated and promoted the statistics with natural and social science to advance the role of statistics. The 2nd Fifth Year Plan of India was the brain-child of Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

Timely availability of statistics is the essence of the efficiency of national statistical system. Statistics with a long time gap may not be of much use for policy making. The effort to improve agricultural, industrial and other statistics at the ground level will have to be quick and only then impact of statistical data on national level would earn desired and proper result. This will help to improve the quality of life of people in the Valley for broad-based social transformation in development.

Thank you.

Saugata Roy makes a Zero Hour Mention on communal clash in Gujarat

Posted on March 28, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I am thankful to you for allowing me to raise this issue during Zero Hour. This is about the communal clash in Patan district of Gujarat. The police have arrested 13 people. The clash on Saturday afternoon between the Thakurs of Sunsar and neighbouring villages and the Muslims of Vagjipara caused the death of Ibrahim Khan, Lal Khan Belim and injured 20, all of whom are residents of Vagjipara.

However, those arrested are not among the 31 accused named in the FIR lodged by Rehmanbhai Alibhai Malek of Vadavali, of which Vagjipara is a part. The complaint was lodged in Chanasama police station on Saturday. After combing operations those named in the FIR could not be arrested. Some of the injured are undergoing treatment.

Though the reason for the clash has not been ascertained, according to the FIR lodged at Chanasama police station lodged by Malek, there was a verbal dispute at Vadavali High School between some thakurs and Muslims.

This incident is worrisome as it happened in the home state of the Prime Minister, and only 100 km from Ahmedabad.

Sultan Ahmed asks a Supplementary Question on the death of CRPF jawans in red zones

Posted on March 28, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, dhanyavad. CRPF, CISF, inke hathya hoti hai atankvadiyon ke haathon. Sarkar protective measures ka ailan kiya hai lekin is mein kami nahin aa rahi hai. Sarkar ne kya soch rahi hai iske bare mein un logo se baat kiya hain? Red zone ke bare mein kya sujhaav hai sarkar ke paas? Aajkal toh Sarkar NE States mein bhi baat kar rahi hain separatists se. Koi sujhaav sarkar ke paas hai ke unse baat karke unko main stream mein lane jaye. Rajnath Jo agar is mein hastakshep kare toh accha hain.

Mumtaz Sanghamita speaks on The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

We are discussing such an important Bill at a time where on April 7 will be celebrating the World Health Organisation Day and this year’s theme is ‘Depression – Let’s Talk’. It is showing the global importance about the psychological situation. And we are the pioneer, we can say, about dealing with mental health issues this year. This Bill is a revolutionary approach to mental healthcare and it is unique. It seems to be idealistic but not totally realistic. And it is not foolproof.

The Act of 1987 provided only general protection of people with mental illness (PMI) against indignant and cruel treatment. The Bill of 2016 talks about mental care in the broader sense or aspects, mostly dealing with human rights aspect and focusing on admissible patients. According to WHO’s international code of diseases, PMI is defined as a disorder of thinking, mood perception, orientation, memory, excluding mental retardation and including drug abuse. And in the Bill we corporate that. This is good.

Taking this in account, this Bill when it appears as an Act, will be help to change the general public attitude towards PMI persons and it will prevent public to call them lunatics and abuse them, hesitate to be associated with them and it would remove this stigma of avoiding the medical health. Instead of mental asylum – in Bengali we used to call it ‘pagla garod’ that means it is a jail for pagals; It is a very bad thing – now I suppose it will have a new dignified name. It is highly appreciable that the Bill guarantees certain human and social rights to PMI persons. Most of these concepts are of western, developed countries and they may not be feasible or suitable for implementation in our country because of budgetary constraints as well as social lifestyles.

Directive has been given in the Bill of the right to access affordable, good quality, easily accessible, minimum mental care up to district level. This right is already given in our constitution, for any patient to have access of healthcare facilities; it’s a fundamental right. I don’t know what the necessity is for emphasising this in this Bill.

NHM has already got programmes for PMIs and the proposal for the establishment of special units for them up to at least the level of districts. In West Bengal, we already have 61 such centres including in seven medical colleges and in many district hospitals, some of which are being upgraded to medical colleges. The irony is that the budgetary allocation for health would be quite insufficient for these new health programmes ventured into by the Central Government.

The most bold and acceptable issue in the Bill is the decriminalisation of suicide. Unless otherwise proven, such victims should be considered as cases of PMI. Well, it is a very bold attitude, but the Bill does not give any directives about, when the person has recovered from the effect of attempting suicide, what would be the next steps – how we would counsel them, etc. Another very good thing is about the insurance coverage. It is an appreciable gesture and it is a very important issue in such people’s lives. The problem, however, is that there are no proper guidelines about the coverage of this insurance. In the case of all other diseases, we take the amount of insurance coverage to include the sum of the cost of operation, hospitalisation, medical facilities, etc. But here proper guidelines are not there. Also, the basic thing in such cases may be counselling, something not taken into account as well.

The Executive Body of the Indian Psychological Association, the largest psychological organisation, which is present in States all over India, has some reservations and resentment regarding this Bill, though they also are quite appreciative of some parts of the Bill. They have already expressed their feelings and given representation to the honourable Minister. My opinions regarding those lacunae are more or less similar.

As it has been said by many people, five to seven per cent of Indians are mentally imbalanced, comprising of millions of people, and consisting 12 per cent of the global burden. This figure is likely to increase. Five to seven per cent among them are suffering from a severe nature of mental illness, who need admission to hospital or special care, that is, indoor care. The rest 95 per cent are looked after in OPDs or at homes and otherwise through the consultative business. The care of those majority have not been addressed in this Bill properly.

Proper guidance regarding running of the general hospital, and the indoor beds in medical colleges and district hospitals which is very niger amount usually can be used only for the emergency admissions. Why can’t we think about increasing those and taking special care because, when we are trying to streamlining these mental illnesses along with the other illnesses, why should we give a special name and special category?

There is a clause about ECT (electrocardio shock). This is concerned with the modified ECT with muscle relaxants and anesthesia. In our set up, it is only possible in tertiary care centers in the medical colleges and clinics with a special facility in most cases, and it also needs at least half-day admission. Moreover, it may be good in aesthetic sense, but, scientifically, it is neither mandatory or, is it not evidence-based to prove to be better than conventional ECT without muscle relaxants and anesthetics. Moreover, it requires an extra cost, manpower and set up. Neither it is contra-indicated in adolescent also, ie persons over nine years of age, to less than 19 years of age.

Most of the sections are dealing with the establishment of the central and state level boards. This Bill gives right to the patient about persons’ own consent regarding admission, place and type of treatment and Advanced Directive to choose a representative.Who is going to decide a person is in solid mental condition to give consent for that directive is not given in this Bill. That is a real fallacy. And the board has been given the power to decide, register or prove the authority of the directive and in need can appoint patient’s representative. Funny enough, when the disease itself defines alteration of mood, loss of power of decision making etc, the Bill doesn’t mention about who is going to certify the mental status of the person in that moment. It is sad that the person has to apprehended before hand that they may go through this.

I don’t know what is the need of a special board where most are executives from the government and officials. Highly professional people are not there. Moreover, there is a dearth of psychologists and mental health nurses in the country.

This Bill isolates the institutions and the psychologists from the other general medical practitioners and frustrates the idea of streamlining psychiatrist treatment along with the others. It should deal with the medical education, which is badly lacking in psychiatrist education. It also needs research of the psychological situation for rapists and other criminals in jail.

The Bill doesn’t address the issue of property management of the PMI persons if and when he or she is not in position to do it he or herself. It doesn’t give any direction regarding property custody of those patients.

This is the Bill which invited 124 amendments in Rajya Sabha. This implies that it should be reconsidered later on, and with a special facility for child psychologists and women.

Thank you very much.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy speaks on The Finance Bill

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, I am confused as to whether we are discussing The Finance Bill – within the meaning of Article 117 of the Constitution of India – or a Presidential proclamation of Financial Emergency under Article 360 of the Constitution.

After going through this Finance Bill it appears that through this Bill at least 75 amendments have been proposed to existing sections and 22 new sections have been inserted in the Income Tax Act, 1961, some of which have given the retrospective effect from the year 1962 (when The Income Tax Act was commenced).

If the situation is such that so many amendments are required to be effected in the Income Tax Act or so many new sections are to be inserted then it was better to have a new Act replacing the one. That would have been the ideal situation. But I am sorry to say that the Government has not taken the normal route but has done a bypass surgery of the legislative system.

Sir, propriety demands that instead of 87 amendments or new sections, this Income Tax Act, 1962 ought to have been repealed and replaced by a new legislation.

In this Finance Bill there are many provisions made by the Government, which are against the spirit of the Constitution. First of all I would like to refer to Clause 50 whereby the Section 132 of the Income Tax Act has been sought to be amended which has already been mentioned by some of the honourables and distinguished members of this August House. In Clause 50 enormous power has been given to the Income Tax authority and powers of Affiliate Tribunals have been taken away, in a way which is against the judgment of the Supreme Court.

Firstly, “it is proposed to insert an Explanation after the fourth proviso to the sub-section (1) of s. 132 so as to provide that the reason to believe recorded by the income-tax authority specified therein under the said sub-section shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal. Therefore whatever the income tax authority will decide that is sacrosanct and nobody can question on that.” So this is a draconian provision; this is a draconian amendment.

Secondly, again in another explanation for the removal of doubts, “it is hereby declared the reason to believe for making the requisition as recorded by the income-tax authority shall not be disclosed to any person or any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.”

So the decision of the Income Tax authority is final and it cannot be questioned. This is against the principles of natural justice. It can be questioned only before High Court or Supreme Court. So, one assessee will have to run to the High Court or Supreme Court under Article 226 or Article 32 to challenge if an Income Tax authority has taken a decision against him and no authority can challenge that. It cannot be questioned by any other authority, particularly the tribunal. How come? This is trend of authoritarianism that the existing practise is being done away with.

Sir, again, he says after sub-section 9A, another sub-section has been proposed to be inserted – that is 9B – that during the course of the search or seizure or within a period of sixty days from the date on which the last of the authorisation search was executed, the authorised officer for reasons to be recorded in writing is satisfied that for the purpose of protecting the interest of revenue, it is necessary so to do, he may with the previous approval of the Principal Director General, or Director General, or Principal Director, or Director by order in writing, attach provisionally any property belonging to the assessee. I need not elaborate because Mr Kapil Sibal has already elaborated this point.

Unflinching power has been given to these income tax authorities, they can raid any premises, search, seize and even attach. This is a shameful situation without any authority of law. So, this authority of law has been given to the Income Tax authority. For the seventy years since independence there was no scope for any harassment of this kind, which has been sought to be introduced by this legislation. I condemn this, I oppose this.

How the powers of the tribunals have been curtailed through the Finance Bill? What do the Articles 110 and 117 of the Constitution say? Article 117(1) says, “A Bill or amendment making provision for any of the matters specified in sub clauses (a) to (f) of clause ( 1 ) of article 110 shall not be introduced or moved except on the recommendation of the President and a Bill making such provision shall not be introduced in the Council of States: Provided that no recommendation shall be required under this clause for the moving of an amendment making provision for the reduction or abolition of any tax.”

So it relates to Money Bills.

Now, let’s come to Article 110(1):

For the purposes of this Chapter, a Bill shall be deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters, namely
(a) the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
(b) the regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India, or the amendment of the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Government of India;
(c) the custody of the consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of moneys from any such Fund;
(d) the appropriation of moneys out of the consolidated Fund of India;
(e) the declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any such expenditure;
(f) the receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State; or
(g) any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in sub clause (a) to (f)

So if the conditions satisfy sub-clause (a) to (f) then it is okay. If it does not satisfy then it is contrary to the provisions of Article 110 of the Constitution and therefore the amendment which has been sought to be made here is absolutely unconstitutional and I will ask the government to withdraw this; otherwise it will be negation of our Constitution.

Sir, previously there was ‘Inspector Raj’ for some time; it was done away with. Now with this Bill, it has has become a ‘Raid, Seize and Attach Raj’.

Sir, this Bill also seeks for a series of amendments. Amendments have been proposed to provide for merger of at least 18 Tribunals and other authorities and conditions of services of chairpersons and members of those Tribunals. Is this a Finance Bill or a ‘repealing, amendment, insertion of clauses’ for all major Acts? This is unprecedented, has never happened in the history of legislation that so many major Acts have been changed by a Finance Bill and so many amendments have been proposed in the Income Tax Act.

Eight tribunals are to be merged. It is funny how the tribunals will be merged. I’m giving two examples. National Highways Tribunal shall merge with Airport Appellate Tribunal. How come? What is the relation between national highways and airports? Secondly, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal shall merge with TDSAT dealing with telecom disputes. Are airport tax and telecom tariff equal, identical and same? There is no relation between telecom tariff and airport tax. What is this government doing? This is absolutely unimaginable and the powers of the tribunals have been not only curtailed, they are going to appoint their own lackeys. They are going to appoint their own people, their “Yes-Men” in all these tribunals.

The chairpersons and the members (of the tribunals) were appointed in a different manner as prescribed in their respective Acts but with these amendments now it is up to the government to appoint. The government will appoint the way they are appointing members in different committees of different ministries. In the same manner, the tribunals will be filled by the government with their own people.

In 2014, the Supreme Court, in the matter of Madras Bar Association vs Union Of India, while examining a case related to the National Tax Tribunal, said that affiliated tribunals have similar powers and functions as that of High Courts and hence the matters related to appointment and reappointment and tenure must be free from executive involvement. And here just the opposite is ought to be done.

Coming to political funding. The point has been raised about donation to political parties. First of all, there is no upper limit for a political party to receive donation (although there was a news claiming that the Election Commission has suggested that Rs 20 crore should be the upper limit). We will be happy if a upper limit is set.

Sir kindly come to Clause 135 and 137 of the Finance Bill. Clause 135 (3) says:

“ Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Central Government may authorise any scheduled bank to issue electoral bond. Explanation.–– For the purposes of this sub-section, ‘‘electroal bond” means a bond issued by any scheduled bank under the scheme as may be notified by the Central Government.”

In the ‘Explanation’ under Clause 137, it says:

“For the purposes of this sub-section, “electoral bond” means a bond referred to in the Explanation to sub-section (3) of section 31 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.”

Until and unless RBI Act, 1934 is amended with that explanation, which has been given here the second amendment can not have any meaning. So, before the Birth of Ram, Ramayana is being written here in this Finance Bill. This is laughable.

Sir, so many things have been said on Aadhaar, I will say only one point. Today Supreme Court has passed an order on Aadhaar. My leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, from day one, has been making public statements – and my party was on the roads, on the streets – demanding that the Government must not make it mandatory so far the social beneficial schemes (like mid-day meal, 100 Days’ Work etc.) are concerned. Today Supreme Court has ordered the Government can not make Aadhaar mandatory in case of the social beneficial schemes. Therefore the notification issued by the Government should have been withdrawn immediately as it does not have any legal effect now.

Sir, finally, had these hundreds of amendments in Income Tax Act, and other Acts, not been proposed through this Finance Bill what would have been the procedure? All the respective Acts would have to be amended through the automatic route or the proper channel – that is, the Bill should have been placed before the Houses, it would have gone through the Standing Committee or to the Select Committee. There would have been deliberations, not only by the MPs but even by the different bodies outside the Parliament but by the people also. They could have sent their views,; after considering the views of the people and different bodies, those amendments would have been placed before this House and the House could have a structured discussion on that. Just to avoid the due process, hundreds of amendments of different Acts have been sought to be made here in this Finance Bill. This is – again I say – unprecedented, unwarranted and unconstitutional and it should be rejected by the Government forthwith.

Zindagi kya hai gham ka dariya hai
Na jeena yahan bas mein na marna yahan bas mein
Ajab duniya hai
Zindagi kya hai…

Thank You.

Idris Ali speaks on The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

While participating in the discussion on The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016, passed by the Rajya Sabha, and now been amended as The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2017, I would like to say that though public health is a State subject, with the financial constraints, it is next to impossible for the States of the country to implement the provisions of this Bill.

India is the worst-affected country in the world with regard to depression, having more than 6 crore sufferers. The data of the UN agency shows that the number of people living with depression across the world has increased by 18.4 per cent between 2005 and 2015. In India, depression and mental anxiety disorders prevail in over 5 per cent women and in over 4 per cent men.

Apart from that, about 4 crore people in India suffered from anxiety disorders in 2015, with a prevalence rate of 3 per cent. It is a fact that 78 per cent of global suicides occurred due to mental instability and 1 per cent commits suicide every 40 seconds.

The most alarming thing is that a study indicated an average of 20.5 per cent mental health morbidity in older adults with 17.3 per cent in urban areas and 23.6 per cent in rural areas. Accordingly, it is found that, at present, 18 million older adults, consisting of a population of 83.58 million, are suffering from mental health problems in India.

In 1982, the Government launched the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) and in 2014, the Health Ministry came up with a revised National Mental Health Policy to treat the elderly, affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease, depression and psychogeriatric disorders.

The population of older adults in India is growing: in 1951 it was 5.3 per cent, in 1981 it was 6 per cent, in 1991 it was 6.8 per cent, in 2001 it was 7.4 per cent and in 2006 it was 7.5 per cent. Thus it has been steadily rising and is projected to become 12.5 per cent in 2026; thus it is likely to become a challenge in the near future.

Surveys have found that depression still ranks as the most prevalent psychiatric illness of the aged. One out of every six older persons living in urban areas in India is not obtaining proper nutrition, one out of every three older persons does not obtain sufficient healthcare and medicines, and one out of every two older persons does not receive due respect or good conduct from family members or people in general.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), using sound methodology, has revealed that 17.3 per cent of urban and 23.6 per cent of rural older adults, that is, those aged 60 years and above, are suffering from syndromal mental health problems and 4.2 per cent of urban and 2.5 per cent of rural older adults are suffering from subsyndromal mental health problems. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), although the world proportion of people of 60 years and above is smaller now, by 2030 the absolute number of older adults is likely to be the highest in India, with enormous mental health morbidity in older adults.

So, the Mental Healthcare Bill, 2017 is not just a health Bill but one which deals with a mixture of health and social care issues, and hence, we have to think differently to protect and promote speedy procedures of treatment and the rights of persons with mental illnesses.

Keeping in view making fruitful the objects of the Bill, we immediately require community-based mental healthcare by using the public health infrastructure and other resources of the primary health centres in the administrative structure to develop and monitor the progress of the programme in a centralised manner. To make it a successful project, we have to immediately set up psychiatry and psycho-orientation departments at all levels of health centres and hospitals in the country.

I therefore request the Central Government to ensure funds to State Governments for due implementation of this Bill and this Bill may kindly be included with the schemes of the Department of Health and Family Welfare which are under 100 per cent Central Government funding, before the situation gets out of the hand of the Government.

Saugata Roy speaks on the Indo-Bangla Teesta Water Treaty

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I am raising a matter of urgent public importance.

There are different stands on water pacts with Pakistan and Bangladesh agreed into by the Centre. The Government is pushing for the Teesta pact. This week India demonstrated two very different approaches in sharing water resources with its neighbours. Pakistan will have to live with the fact that India plans to continue utilisation of its allocation under the Indus Water Treaty as it refused to countenance any change in the design of the Baglihar Dam in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, on the Bangladesh front, the Modi Government is working hard to conclude the Teesta Water-sharing Agreement with Sheikh Hasina’s Government, unperturbed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement expressing deep concern for not having been consulted on the Teesta Water-sharing Agreement between India and Bangladesh. The Centre has said that stakeholders would be consulted at the right time in the spirit of cooperative federalism. A Government spokesman has said that just as the Centre and the State had collaborated in the Land Boundary Agreement, there would be consultations here too. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister said, “We were told that the signing of the treaty would be on May 25 following the visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister from April 7 to 10”.

Other northeastern States’ CMs have been invited to the signing, she said, but not she. She also said. “I have very good relations with Sheikh Hasina. I took the initiative in initiative in resolving the chhit mahal problem, that is, the enclave problem – the land boundary and the exchange of enclaves issue with the Bangladesh Government”. But when it comes to protecting the interests of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said, “I shall not put the seal of approval on any treaty without knowing what it is about”. She said. “The Centre is interacting directly with the District Magistrate through video conference. Why is the Centre bypassing the State Government?” “I strongly protest against this attitude of the Centre of going behind the back of the State Government for an international agreement”. We strongly protest any attempt to sign the Teesta Treaty without the consent of the West Bengal Government.

Thank you.