Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar speaks during a short duration discussion on sustainable development goals

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar speaks during a short duration discussion on sustainable development goals

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Thank you Hon’ble Sir for giving me the opportunity to speak on this very important topic that is plaguing the world today. I stand here as a member of All India Trinamool Congress. We are actually standing at crossroads today whether to be a developing nation or not.

Certain nations have been developing at a faster pace than ours over the last centuries and they have also been major contributors towards the green gas emission. Their carbon footprint has also been much more than ours. When we take up the task of development, load of sanctions and interjections are being placed before us and we as a developing nation are facing this problem now.

So as my Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt Mamata Banerjee has rightly pointed out that with perspective to India the NGT has to be prudent in their restriction towards our development projects and refrain from overzealous actions.

I take this opportune moment to extend gratitude to the leaders of 193 countries who during the General Assembly Session of the United Nations in September, 2015 got together and took serious cognizance of this burning issue to strike a balance between growth and development of the nations and also to maintain nature environment to protect our planet.

Five things are involved in this total effort – people, planet, peace, prosperity and partnership between nations. The sustainable development goals were worked upon on the millennium development goals, eight of them were there, and we have done quite well.

And depending on that we have worked upon the SDGs which also involves the environment. MDGs did not take into cognizance the environmental factor but here we want to maintain the environment like all of us who are born from one mother, we have only one world. And to leave this world for our posterity we must protect the world.

Even if we are trying to develop in different fields we have to take care of our planet, of our nature, of our water bodies, and the SDGs have taken into consideration. This is the first time that all the nations first got together, discussed and then formulated the seventeen goals and 169 targets, that we are going to undertake over the next 14 years up to 2030 to meet our needs.

It is already coming to effect from first of January this year. And unlike many previous decisions the world together in consultation has drawn this up. It was not due to any regional decision, It was not due to any national decision, it was rather a quantitative decision dealing not only with human or the planet separately. Ecological sustainability was seen as an element of economic development.

The problems were taken to be universal and interconnected because the air quality getting disturbed over my country will go and affect another country. But in doing so we also have to take into consideration that we are growing, we are developing and we must be given more opportunity. The first six goals for MBG which were for poverty allegation, has been repeated here also. We the developing world need industrialization but we have to be protective towards mother earth.

On behalf of the people we serve we have adopted a historic decision on a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centric set of universal and transformative goals. We are committed in achieving sustainable development in these three dimensions of economics social and environmental development to build upon the MDGs. But most important would be policy making.

When we are discussing it here today, budget allocation should be made towards meeting these 17 goals and 169 targets and we have to strike a balance. The developed world has been a major contributor towards polluting our water bodies, our air quality, depleting our forest, starting the practice of newer food techniques and we have followed suit and have forgotten our traditional foods.

Yesterday Hon’ble speaker had organized a meeting regarding SDGs, and there an honorable member was pointing out the present situation in which the current generation does not even recognize traditional foods like jawar and bajra for nutrition; we are dependent on packed foods. We are preparing them, packing and then marketing them; this involves artificial methods and energy consumption which is not good for the planet, we have to go back to our natural resources.

Six of the 17 goals here involves disaster risk reduction, recognizing the reduction of vulnerability of exposing the poor to diseases is important for sustainable poverty reduction. Out of the 17, the first one is poverty eradication. Poverty and environment are closely relates, especially when people depend for the primary source of livelihood on the environment.

Restoring natural systems and improving natural resource management practices at the grassroots level are essential to the strategy to eliminate poverty. Diversion of common and marginal lands to a more economically viable so to say useful purposes deprives the poor off a resource base which has traditionally met many of their sustenance needs, like the right of the forest should be with the people who live in the forest since ages are known. We should give them the power to live in the forest, to use the forest as their own to the adivasis and tribals who have been living there instead of cutting the trees and giving away the wealth of the forest, giving away the mines and minerals of the forests to multinationals.

Market factors also lead to the elimination of the crops that have traditionally been available to the diet of the poor. Here I would like to point out that these days baby food and prepared food is taking a serious toll on the health of the children. If the babies are breastfed, they are saved, they are protected from reproductory tract diseases, they are protected from diarrheal diseases. It is known that according to a very important study in the medical journal of Lancet breastfeeding can save 820000 lives annually preventing 13% of deaths of children under 5. Breastfeeding could reduce one third of the respiratory diseases, for India it could reduce 156000 child deaths each year. It would reduce maternal deaths of cancer, breastfeeding forms a natural contraceptive towards maintaining family size and it would also help prevent the lady from getting breast cancer or that of the reproductive tract; 4300 crores improved as far as the IQ of the child is concerned for a child who is breastfed. Not only that, the proprietary preparations that are marketed by different companies at the moment, they sell milk formulas at the moment which emit 111226 tonnes of greenhouse gasses. So many countries are encouraging mothers towards breastfeeding.

The United Nations is laying stress on infant and young children’s feed. There are reports that many children who have feed fed on formula milk remain stunted in growth, in chronic hunger and their IQ is not optimally developed. Not only that, due to greenhouse emissions during preparation, it generates carbon footprints. The industrially manufactured milk formula adds greenhouse gases at every step of production, transport and use, and it gives rise to wastage also.

One of the sustainable development goals, the second one, is regarding the food that developed nations throw away; but the under-developed nations go hungry. There are many people in the under-developed nations, to be specific, one in every nine children, who go to bed hungry. But every day, the food wasted in developed nations is 4,896 crore kilograms. These food materials, which are used as landfills, gives rise to methane gas, which again causes global warming. And this food wastage is at its highest in the United States where, about 80% of the people who are throwing away the food say that they feel guilty while throwing the food on their plates but that they cannot help it.

I think, while we are discussing the SDGs, we are here to draw policies, how we can work towards attaining the SDGs. The policy should be to not to throw away food. We should actually make it a stylish slogan in the society. There should be a slogan, ‘Grow more food, don’t throw food.’

Each one of us should try to grow a little bit of what we eat. I can proudly say that I don’t buy vegetables for my family, I grow it myself. Everybody might not be having land to grow enough for the whole family but every balcony, every rooftop can house earthenware pots where not only you grow your vegetables in little amounts but where you can actually make manure or compost from everyday household waste like vegetable peels and wasted food matter. It can be just turned into compost and used as manure. So the slogan should be ‘Grow food, don’t throw food.’

And not only for India – it should be globally accepted; everyone must grow a little bit to contribute to the nation, to the international community, to the planet. And we have to take into consideration that a major thrust at the policy level is necessary to ensure equity and justice for us.

Then the next SDG is education. I am proud to say that my leader, Mamata Banerjee, the Honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal, started Kanyashree in which she has allotted Rs 1,500 crore, not a paltry Rs 100 crore, and 32 lakh girl children are being empowered. And she is giving them non-polluting vehicles in the form of cycles to paddle to school, because this paddling of cycles is not only allowing the girl to go safely to the school and come back, but the very effort of paddling the cycle is creating a proper cardiac output by which she will never get hypertension, she will never get diabetic, she will never have a heart attack, when she grows up. So this is the foresight of my leader, Mamata Banerjee. I think we should all accept and adopt these methods to create a sustainable development because a cycle is a non-polluting vehicle.

With perspective to India, 15% of homes are lit by kerosene. As far as industry is concerned, we are using fossil fuel. As far as production of electricity is concerned, we are using fossil fuel. And even for the lighting up of our homes, we are using kerosene. It is a polluting agent. It is disturbing the atmosphere. So we have to shift towards renewable and clean energy. But my personal experience is, I have allocated a lot of money from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund towards street lighting through solar power, but after two to three years there is no after-sales service. There is nobody to take care of the batteries. So once they stop working, there is no way by which we can take them forward.

The present Government has started the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Yojana in which vocational training is being given to young children, young dropouts. I would request the Government to train these young students to maintain the sources of renewable energy, the equipments of renewable energy and non-polluting equipments, so that they become a good workforce and maintain these renewable energy equipments for use for a very long time.

With the increase in purchasing power, wasteful consumption linked to market-driven consumerism is stressing the resource base of developing countries. So that we should go back to a traditional way of living in the fashion of our father of the nation’s teachings, for simple living.

We have to realize whether this is technology push or market pull that the nations today are responding to, the new generation is responding to. If it is only the technology push then dialogue through policy making would have to be started with the multinational who are forcing our youth to follow paths which are forcing them to buy equipment which are polluting.

Out of these different SDG goals agriculture is very important because it involves land use and water use. We should make available water for agriculture even to the remotest villages. We should start practicing multi-crop culture and have a proper land use policy. And depletion of land should be taken care of by scientists who can ensure nitrogen fixation by alternating crops with leguminous crops; this will not only will bring down the price of Dal as it is now but the legume will also stabilize the nitrogen of the soil.

The biomass which will continue for a long time to be a major source of fuel energy especially for rural poor, you are not actually being able to help them. Biomass will form their major source. But there are two kinds of biomass usage for combustion. The cow dung cake is polluting and it is also increasing in price at the moment. But the Gobar Gas is not; that should be made universally available to the rural poor.

The significance of the diversity in nature must be realized, must be appreciated and taught in schools because we need to protect and preserve our Earth. There is a strong relationship between health and the state of environment and employment. Because, the workers of asbestos, silicon and mines get silicosis. They are dying of lung diseases. So we have to give them a proper healthy atmosphere to work and earn living.

The overseas assistance is declining and the commitments industrialized countries gave in the Earth Summit a decade ago are mostly unmade. We have to turn our attention towards that. Environmental and social clauses which have been made implicitly or explicitly part of international agreement, must not be used selectively to erect trade barriers against us. We have to take this up at international forum. Mechanism must be put in place to make latest technology available to developing countries at reasonable cost. And mainstream education should include science and children should be taught basic science so that they know about the future. If they do not preserve this earth they have no home.

Thank you, Sir.

Derek O’Brien speaks on the GST Bill | Full Transcript

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, I’m still often asked, is your party supporting the Constitutional Amendment on GST? I’m sad actually that I’ve been asked this question, because we should put this question to the Government and the principal Opposition party. We often get confused when they are supporting and when they are not; what their stand is depends on where they sit.

Trinamool consistent on GST

There are many of us in the middle who have been the most consistent on this issue, like my party, the Trinamool Congress. In our 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016 manifestos we have promised GST – we promised it as an idea and also as an implementation. But we’ll come to that. But when people get up here to speak, especially when they are such articulate lawyers, I feel like a teenager in their presence.

Girgit Samjhauta Tax

I’m going to talk about the details of this Bill – I had great experience being on the Select Committee and I’m going to talk about that in great detail – but before we get into the nitty gritty of the Bill, Sir, there is the politics of the Bill. And sometimes, when it’s convenient, the Government or the principal opposition party do not want to discuss the politics of the Bill.

When you ask someone what is GST, they’ll probably tell you it’s Goods and Services Tax; but GST could also be interpreted as Girgit Samjhauta Tax, because the way these two parties have behaved, it has been ten years of ping-pong. The Olympics are coming, they would have won the us medals in ping pong, Sir.

Ping-pong politics

Now let me tell you about this ping-pong match between the treasury and the Opposition benches.

I would like to read from the election manifesto of 2009 of a party; page 19, point 6: “CST will be abolished and GST would be rationalised between 12% and 14%.”

Whose manifesto is this? The BJP. They haven’t taken it off, it’s still on their site.

My senior learned friend, now the Leader of the House once said: “We won’t be fairly treated. We wi’ll cut off our own hands, our constitutional authority and hand over all fiscal powers to the Centre.”

Mr Jaitley has said many things about FDI in retail also, when he was Leader of the Opposition. But as I said, they take their stand based on where they sit, Sir. And they are such great lawyers, you give them any brief, they’ll twist it to meet that only, with all due respect.

Sir, there’s a very interesting quote I found from 2011, Sir.

It says, “The new Constitution amendment draft proposed by the Government of India, is retrograde. It is completely against fiscal federalism.”

This was said by Saurabh Patel, Finance Minister of Gujarat in 2011. Now, I’ve forgotten who the Chief Minister of Gujarat was in 2011. but this was said, Sir. And, the now Honourable Prime Minister said in February 2014, “Without proper IT and infrastructure, GST is impossible to implement.”

Sir, this politics of GST is very very important because for two years, two Houses were stalled by two abbreviations by the BJP – one was GST and the other one was FDI. So, Sir, their memory is very very short.

Go Slow Tactics

Sir, we’re done with the BJP. Now we get to this side. My Chidambaram used a very nice phrase – GST, he said, was ‘Good Sense Triumphs’ – nice one, Sir. But our interpretation, or your interpretation when your colleagues came to the Select Committee, was not ‘Good Sense Triumphs,’ it was ‘Go Slow Tactics.’

This is exactly what your colleagues did in the Select Committee. And all of us here in the middle, who are not the Congress or the BJP – the SP, the BSP, the BJD, the DMK, the NCP, the CPI, all of us saw the go-slow tactics. Unfortunately the Select Committee is not telecast on prime-time television, these parliamentary debates are.

Implementation

Mr Chidambaram today made the point about his party supporting the idea of GST. Of course, we are also for the idea. But only having an idea is not good, we are for the IMPLEMENTATION of GST. And Mr Chidambaram made a nice point about the triangle. The triangle has to be decided between the Finance Minister and the States and the people. Yes, Sir, I want to tell the people, we also believe you have to find a solution. The difference between us and the Congress, we believe, the bottom of the triangle is the people.

GST cap

All of us are on the same page on this. Eighteen per cent cannot go into that constitutional amendment. You spend every minute of the Select Committee stopping it. The Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers, with 21-22, are unanimous that you cannot have the 18% either in the constitutional amendment or in the GST Bill.

But the language I was hearing today is the language of ‘hold on, we let you play the first innings, when it comes to the second innings, we’ll try and block you.’ I think if the tone is conciliatory, and the tone ought to be conciliatory, this Parliament must debate, must deliberate, must legislate, good – but we also need to implement, we must implement.

Role of Rajya Sabha

Sir, now let’s come to the role of the Select Committee. Thank heavens for the Rajya Sabha, because if there was no Rajya Sabha, there would have been no Select Committee, and then you would have not got the wisdom of the Rajya Sabha.

Let me give a quote to you, Sir. It was said in April 2016 (very recently, Sir) –

“To what extent the Upper House is going to be used to block economic decision-making? In Australia, the UK, Italy, the debate is on, because ultimately, the weight of a directly elected House will always have to be maintained”.

This was said by the Leader of the House. Mr Arun Jaitley, if you are being in a conciliatory mood this is not what the Leader of the House could have said. You used the Lok Sabha to bulldoze legislation. The Bill came to the Rajya Sabha, there were points made, everyone had points to make, and based on these points, Sir, there were lots of changes to the legislation.

Consensus among States and Centre

Yes, there was the exempted category on petroleum. States had a problem with that, and we appreciate that it was taken care of. So were tobacco products, so were inter-State transactions, so was the dispute redressal mechanism; we did not want a separate authority. All that is fine. We appreciate that the Government reached out to the States, worked with the States, worked with the Finance Ministers.

Compensation

Sir, but on the ground I want to flag one issue regarding implementation. It is the issue of compensation for CST; I am giving you one example because it concerns my State. I am trying to flag how difficult it is to implement this. Sir on CST, Centre owes my State dues worth Rs 6,500 crore. Not only my State, Odisha has about is also owed Rs 3000 crore. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Telangana all have a lot of outstanding dues, Sir, because of CST.

Sir, in Clause 19, we did make the point, the word MAY will become SHALL and the compensation will be taken care of (up to was dropped) for five years. We appreciate that, Sir. The word ‘full’ compensation was not used in the legislation. I would request the Finance Minister to please clarify that on the floor of this House.

Clause 10

Sir, I want to refer one point about The Constitution One Twenty-Second Amendment Bill as reported by the Select Committee of the Rajya sabha. Here if you look at Clause 10 it is not what was unanimously recommended at the Select Committee. I will read the Clause 10 which was Select Committee Recommendation – “The goods and services tax levied and collected by the Government of India, except the tax apportioned with the States under clause (1) of Article 169A, shall also be distributed between the Union and the States in the manner provided in clause (2).”

Dual control

Sir, small business with less than Rs. 1.5 crore turnover should be kept out of dual control and once that figure goes above Rs 1.5 crore then it should be done jointly between the Centre and the State. Sir, this is very crucial because we don’t want to go into November, and then hit a roadblock for rolling out GST in April, 2017. I need this clarification. I am very scared when I hear April, 2017. Because it is April Fools’ Day. And this ping pong match cannot continue any longer. We need to implement GST in April, 2017. That’s why I am being specific, Sir.

Registration and Compliance

Sir, there are other issues on the implementation. Through you, Sir, I want to flag these issues for the Finance Minister. One of these is not a legislative issue but concerns implementation – GST registration. People will be registering not once not twice but three times in a state.

GST compliance also cannot be 4 or 5 per cent. Sir there is ambiguity, and I don’t want to get technical in the discussion, of supply and value of taxable supply. I think in the implementations, Sir, we seriously need to look at this.

Empowered Committee

Sir, I would be failing in my duty if I did not put on record here the great job done by the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers across the States. It is my pleasure and privilege that my colleague Dr Amit Mitra, the Hon’ble Finance Minister of Bengal, in 150 days led the team and developed a very broad consensus among the States.

Move over electoral politics

Sir, I was wondering if the politics of the GST will continue into November or from this being a ping-pong match it will become a cricket match where you will play the first innings and then in the 2nd innings it will stop because of rain or other reasons.

Sir, so I did a research on a few countries where GST was passed and in one or two years elections were held. To assure the BJP, after the GST was passed the ruling party won the elections in Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina and Indonesia. That was the good news, now the bad news. There are also some countries where after GST was implemented, the elections were lost – Brazil, UK, Germany and South Africa. So, it’s a 50-50 toss. So my appeal to the BJP and the Congress is that don’t let those election results bother you because they could go either way; bring in this GST.

Bottomline

Sir, I will end with a little story. Sir, in 2005, there was a small boy in class X in a little-known school in Delhi – Saviour School. Sir, he was born around the time when the GST concept was first introduced. This boy is now winning us great victories in cricket matches. He is Virat Kohli.

There are millions of Virat Kohlis who are looking at us today. For their sake and for the sake of India tomorrow we need to deliberate, we need to debate, we need to legislate and we need to implement this GST. The faster we do it the better.

Trinamool supports GST Bill in RS, slams ping-pong politics of Congress-BJP

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Consistent with the party’s stand in favour of GST, leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien today reiterated the support for GST Bill in the Upper House.

He said that the issue of Goods and Services Tax feature in all the manifestos of the Trinamool Congress since 2009 while the current ruling party and the principal Opposition party have changed their stands based on where they sit.

Regional parties are consistent

The Government and Opposition party often change their stand based on where they sit. Parties in the middle are consistent on their stand on the GST.

Girgit Samjhauta Tax

GST has been pending from 2006 to 2016. GST could also be interpreted as Girgit Samjhauta Tax. GST has been 10 years of ping-pong politics between the ruling party and the principal Opposition party. They could win India a medal in Olympics in ping pong.

The ping pong on GST

In their election Manifesto in 2009 BJP said CST will be abolished and GST will be rationalised between 12 and 14 percent.

As the Leader of the Opposition, Jaitley ji in 2011 said, “We won’t be fairly treated. We will cut off our own hands, our Constitutional authority and hand over our fiscal powers to the Centre.”

Again in 2012, on FDI in retail he said, “Structured international retail chains would source the products internationally, to the detriment of India’s manufacturing sector.”

In 2011, the Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabh Patel said, “The new constitution amendment draft proposed by the Government of India is retrograde in nature and completely against the fiscal federalism.”

Who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2011?

Cap of 18% on GST rate

Only having an idea of GST is not enough. We are for the implementation of GST. All of us are on the same page. 18 percent cannot go into the Constitutional Amendment.

Role of a Select Committee

BJP uses the Lok Sabha to bulldoze legislation. Thanks to Rajya Sabha, many positive changes were made. Clause 10 in the Bill is not what was unanimously recommended by the Select Committee. The proceedings of the Select Committee are not televised or else the country would have seen how Congress used ‘Go Slow Tactics’ in the committee.

CST compensation

My State is still owed Rs 6500 Cr as CST compensation. Even Odisha is owed Rs 3000 Cr. I want the Finance Minister to clarify on full compensation.

Dual control

Small business with less than Rs. 1.5 crore turnover should be kept out of dual control. The government must assure the House they will pass a Bill in November and not let the ping-pong match turn the GST Bill into an April Fools’ joke in 2017.

Implementation

Under the three level tax structure proposed under GST (Central, State, interstate), people selling their products or supplying them, across the country will have to get three different registrations in every state.

How does the Government propose to ensure that compliance in GST will not be as low as it is in income tax collections?

Empowered Committee

We appreciate the fact that the Government reached out to the States and worked with the Finance Ministers. I want to put on record the great job done by Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers. Dr Amit Mitra, the Finance Minister of Bengal, who headed the Empowered Committee for 150 days also deserves credit.

Rise above electoral politics

Governments lost elections in Brazil, UK, Germany and South Africa after passing GST Bill. In Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina and Indonesia, they came back to power. Don’t let the election results bother you, bring about the GST Bill legislation.

Bottomline

A boy who was in Class X in 2005 when GST Bill was first introduced, is winning us cricket matches now. He is Virat Kohli. For the sake of many more Virat Kohlis,the young generation of tomorrow, we must debate, deliberate and legislate and take the country forward.

The image is representative

Mamata Bala Thakur speaks on the river bank erosion of Ichhamati river

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

ধন্যবাদ। আমি পশ্চিম বাংলার সীমান্ত এলাকা বনগাঁর জনপ্রতিনিধি। কিংবদন্তি ধর্মস্থানের জন্য বনগাঁ বিখ্যাত একটি তীর্থ ক্ষেত্রে পরিণত হয়েছে। কয়েক দশক আগেই মতুয়াদের ঠাকুরনগরকে কেন্দ্র করে যে ধর্মযাত্রা চলেছে অসংখ্য ভক্তদের পাশাপাশি রয়েছেন স্বয়ং দেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রীও। আপনারা অনেকেই জানেন এই এলাকার জীবনরেখা হল ইছামতী নদী।

ভাগীরথী নদীর পূর্ব দিকে একমাত্র বড় জলস্রোত হিসেবে ইছামতী নদী group of rivers এর মাঝে যোগসূত্র হিসেবে কাজ করেছে। যে group of rivers এর মধ্যে রয়েছে মাথাভাঙা, চুর্নী আর জলঙ্গি নদী।

বাস্তবে ভারত-বাংলাদেশ সীমান্ত এলাকায় যে মূল জীবনরেখা তার অন্যতম অংশীদার ইছামতী আজ নিজেই তার বিস্তীর্ণ এলাকায় ভূ-খণ্ড দ্বার মানব জীবনের জন্য একটি অতি বিপজ্জনক আর্থ-সামাজিক এবং পরিবেশগত সংকট তৈরি করে ফেলেছে। আর এই ভয়াবহ সমস্যার সমাধান করা শুধুমাত্র রাজ্য স্তরের পক্ষে কখনোই সম্ভব নয়।

বিদ্যাসাগর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের real sensing and GIS বিভাগের remote scholar এর উদ্যোগে চালু একটি geo-morphological গবেষনায় ধরা পড়েছে যে প্রতি বছর ইছামতী নদীর পাড় ভাঙছে প্রায় ৩ মিটার হারে। পরিণামে অববাহিকা বিস্তীর্ণ এলাকা জলের তলায় তার অস্তিত্ব হারাচ্ছে। অন্যদিকে ইছামতী নদীর প্রায় ২০ কিলোমিটার এলাকায় নদীগর্ভে প্রায় ব্যাপক পলি জমেছে দীর্ঘদিন ধরে। যার কারণে ২০১৩ সাল থেকে এই নদী প্রায় ১৫ মিটার গতিপথ পরিবর্তন করে ফেলেছে। দীর্ঘদিন কোন সংস্কার না হওয়ার ফলে ইছামতী নদীর জমা পলির জন্য প্রতি বছর গঙ্গা ও তার পার্শ্ববর্তী এলাকা ভয়াবহ বন্যার স্বীকার হচ্ছে।

বর্তমানে নির্দিষ্ট কয়েকটি নদী সংস্কার ও উন্নয়নের বিষয়ে গুরুত্ব দিচ্ছে কেন্দ্রীয় মন্ত্রকের আওতাধীন ন্যাশনাল রিভারস কনভারসেশন ডাইরেক্টর। কিন্তু ইছামতী নদীর বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রণে আর পাড়ের ভাঙন বন্ধ করার জন্য কেন কোন উদ্যোগ নেওয়া হচ্ছে না।

কৃষি জমি, বাস্তু জমি, গবাধি পশু আর লক্ষ লক্ষ মানুষের জীবন রক্ষায় কেন্দ্র কি কোন দায়িত্ব নেবে না? বনগাঁ আর ভারত-বাংলাদেশের সীমান্তবর্তী এলাকায় নদী সংস্কার কি অবহেলিতই থেকে যাবে? স্বাধীনতার এত বছর পর কেন বঞ্চিত আর অবহেলিত থেকে যাবে বনগাঁ আর সীমান্ত জেলাগুলি।

Water Resource and Development of Ganga Rejuvenation মন্ত্রকের প্রিয় মন্ত্রীর কাছে আমার আবেদন ভারত-বাংলাদেশের সীমান্তবর্তী এলাকার অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ইছামতী নদীর সংস্কার করে মানুষের জীবন জীবিকা রক্ষার জন্য মন্ত্রক কি কোন ব্যবস্থা নিতে আদৌ আগ্রহী? যদি মন্ত্রক কোন পদক্ষেপ নেওয়ার পরিকল্পনা ইতিমধ্যে নিয়ে থাকে তবে তার রূপরেখা কি? কি পরিমাণে অর্থ বরাদ্দ করা হচ্ছে প্রকল্পের জন্য। এছাড়া মন্ত্রকের হাতে প্রকল্প বহির্ভূত খাতে অর্থ বরাদ্দ করার কোন ক্ষমতা কি রয়েছে যাতে ইছামতীর ভাঙন ও বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রণ করা সম্ভব।

আমার আর একটি দাবি এই যে ইছামতীকে ন্যাশনাল রিভারস কনভারসেশনের ডাইরেক্টরের আওতাধীন করা হোক অবিলম্বে।
ধন্যবাদ।

Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks on Kolkata Metro during Question Hour

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

I am the local MP of Kolkata. There was a major problem with the metro route but due to our Chief Minister’s intervention the issue raised by the Railway authorities was sorted. A meeting was held at my house last week. We have sorted the issue along with the General Manager of Indian Railways as well as the Urban Development Ministry. This matter is going to be implemented very soon. I would like to give credit for this to the Trinamool Government under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.

Arpita Ghosh speaks on Funds under PMKVY during Question Hour

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Actually I have a very small Question. I have seen that Hon’ble Minister is saying that it is a nationwide scheme which is operated by Central Government. And some state-wise things are there.

The total enrollment in West Bengal was 1,17925 and till date training process has been completed for 76,400. There is no provision for jobs for those trained under PMKVY 1. My question is that has the government thought about jobs for those who have already been trained?

Thank you very much.

SS Roy speaks during Zero Hour regarding TPAs cheating Mediclaim policyholders

Posted on August 3, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Third Party Administrators (TPAs) appointed by the Government Insurance companies are cheating mediclaim policyholders. This has been going on for a long time. They have no right to do so.

As par Insurance Regulatory & Development Guidelines, TPAs cannot slash either the claims or reject the claim in any manner, whatsoever. This is the right of an insurance company to assess claims and then reduce or reject them. TPAs cannot do that. But thousands of mediclaim policy holders are suffering because of them.

We demand that a special audit be conducted with the help of CAG to ascertain the number of policy holders duped by the TPAs in the last five years. This is nothing less than a scam. There is a nexus between insurance companies and NPAs.

Let the audit be conducted and a report be submitted before the Parliament.

Thank you, Sir.

Vivek Gupta speaks on Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2016 | Full Transcript

Posted on August 2, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, pehle main aapko dhanyavad dena chahta hoon mujhe is Benami Bill par bolne ka mauka dene ke liye. Bolne se pehle ek purani Hindi film se do line sunana chahta hoon. Yeh sarkar shayad yeh hi khojne ki cheshta kar rahi hain:

Gumnaam hain koi benaam hain koi

Kisko khabar kaun hain woh anjaan hain koi

Sir, aj main khara hua hoon Bill ko support karne ke liye. Sarkar ka kale dhan ko wapas karne ke liye sarkar jo bhi kanoon banana chahti usme hum log hamesha saath the aur rahenge. But, Sir, kuch baatein dimag ke samajh main nahin aa rahi. Mein aap ke madhyam se mananiya mantra ji se clarification chahunga.

Sir, yeh ek proven fact hain ki 1% se kam abaadi jo hain yeh crimes commit karti kale dhan wale. Magar kanoon aisa banaye jaata ki 99% ko takleef ho jati hain. Main udaharan de ke bataunga. Is benami kanoon mein yeh kaha gaya hain ki kuch mahino main ya kuch dino mein aap ko bata dena hain ki benami hain ki nahi hain. Sir, ek hamara fauji hain, woh Kashmir mein jang lar raha hain, woh jang chor ke wapas aayega batane ke liye ki yeh property benami hain ki nahin?

Sir, criminal court mein bhi, CPC mein bhi 7 saal tak kisi bhi aadmi ko gumshuda nahin mana jata hain. Toh, Sir, yeh kis kanoon ko hum mane; alag alag kanoon mein, Sir, alag alag pravdhaan hain. Inko agar clarify karke ek jagah ek kanoon kar diya jaaye.

Thodi din pehle Sushma Ji bata rahi thi ki hazaron log Saudi Arabia mein phase huye. Ab jab tak woh wapas nahin aayenge, toh unki property yahan koi na koi benaam bata kar harap dega. Sir, unki madat kaise ki jaaye us bare mein hum logon ko sochna chahiye. Jabhi bhi iske rules bane, aisa pravdhaan hona chahiye ki jo log kisi bhi karan se do do teen teen saal bahar rehte – kaam ke liye rehna parta, kisi ko ilaaj ke liye rehna parta, kabhi koi kisi cheez ke liye rehna parta hain – toh unko unnecessary takleef yahan par nahin ho.

Sir, yeh Bill ki jo bhasha hain, jab humlog parte hain – meri samajh mein jo aa raha wohi bol raha hoon, agar Mantri ji chahe toh correct kar de, ho sakta hain mera samjha hua galat hain – yeh maan liya gaya hain is Bill mein ki jitne land records hain Bharatvarsh mein, sare computerised aur saare up-to-date hain. Matlab sab ko maloom hain sabki zameen kaun kaun kab kab kahan kahan hain, sabka demarcation hua hain. Sir, mujhe toh aisa nazar nahin aata hain. Agar Mantri ji bata de ki saare Bharatvarsh mein sari zameen ekdum computerised, digitised aur saara sab kuch hain, saare land records up-to-date hain, bahut badhiya baat hain. Lekin aisa baat hain nahin, Sir. Aur iske karan bahut baat vivaad hota hain.

Sir, doosra isme yeh maan liye giya hain ki Bharat ki jitne bhi nagarik hain woh kisi na kisi High Court ke aas paas mein rehte hain ta ki koi unki property benaami ghoshit karein aur turant 30 deen ke andar woh pahunch jaaye. Sir, mujhe nahin pata ki log court mein woh adjudication aur court ke prakriya se kaise guzar payenge.

Teesra, isme yeh maan liya gaya hain ki jo babulog hain aur jitne bhi log zimmedar hain, woh jitni bhi shikayetein honge woh ekdam samay samay mitwara kar denge. Sir yahan 3 crore cases pending pare huye hain, woh nahin salat rahin hain, complaints kahan se niptenge mujhe samajh mein nahin aata. Mein aapke madhyam se Mantri ji se puchunga agar woh kuch roshni daal sake toh bahut achha rahega.

Sir, is mein maan liye gaya, Mantri ji ko dhanyavaad dena chahta hoon aapke madhyam se ki unhone known source kar diya. Sir, abhi bhi magar source poocha ja raha. Sir, source mein ek basic problem aa rahi ki bahut saari sampatti hum logon ko paitrik milti hain – hereditary, jo generations se pass-on hoti hain. Toh clarifications nahin hain is mein ki woh paitrik jo sampatti aa rahi hain usko known source mein maan liya jayega ki nahin jayega.

Toh yeh sab kahin na kahin, main definition mein ‘of income’ hata diya gaua hain magar baki jagah abhi bhi yeh hain ki mujhe aay (income) se, yeh sampatti maine aapne liye arjit ki hain, yeh nahin ki mujhe kahin aur se mili hain. Sir, git bhi hota, bahut saare hain, toh woh known source mein aa jayega. Main chahta hoon agar mantra ji aapka madhyam se clarify kar de toh aur achha rahega.

Sir, mein kuch logon se baat kar raha tha – khaas kar income tax ke log aur jo law-wale hain – woh bol rahe ki bhai Standing Committee se gaya, sab jagah se gaya, magar hum logon ko bula ke hum logon se koi consultation nahi kiya giya. Sir, yeh dukhat baat hain, nahin hona chahiye tha, Sir.

Sir, kuch jo problems mujhe nazar aa rahi hai is Bill me, woh main aap ke madhyam se batana chahta hoon. Jo dusre logon ne kahaan wo me dohoraunga nahi. Videshi dhan ke bare mein kaha gaya, Sir. HSBC aur kayi log aa aa kar humein information de rahe hai, humhe aaj tak kuch nahi kiya.

Sir, yeh jo Bill hai, yeh 1988 se hai. Aap ke madhyam se yeh jaan na chahunga Mantri ji se ki 1988 se le ke aaj tak kitni benami sampatti ko humne pakra aur kya hua uska kuch ankhre hum logon ko de toh pata chalega ki haa ye kaam karyakar kai. Nahi toh Sir hum log sirf kaanoon banate jayenge aur koi fayda nahi hoga.

Sir, 2008 se organized crime pe jo report hai wo Parliament me pending pari hui hai aaj tak koi karwahi nahi ki gayi. Us mein pura list diya gaya hai ki Bharat ke alag alag shehron me kaha kaha crime walo ki konsi benami sampatti hai.

Sir, Adjudicating Authority mein, ek income tax officer ko aur ek judge ko barabar kar diya gaya hai. Yeh ho nahi sakta Bharat mein. Isko thik kiya jaye. Is pe koi clarification diya jaye. Sir, appeal ke jo pravdhan hai, usko thik se define nahi kiya gaya hai. Is mein logon ko bahut problems ayegi baad me.

Sir, gaon mein – hum sabko pata hai, kayi log yahaan rural areas se hai – jaha trust nahi hota hai aur waha bank nahi hai. Humein prashno se pata chalta hai ki dur dur tak koi bank aur branches nahi hai. Toh wahan pe cash mein transaction karna parta hai.

Sir, bohot pahele yahaan pe ek proposal aya tha ki DEMAT facility di jayegi, logon ke record electronically store kiye jayenge, woh abhi tak nahin hua, yeh aapko aur humko bhi maloom hain. Gaon mein barh aate hain jis mein log, ghar beh jate hain, usme dalil bhi beh jati hain. Aise logon ko thori rihai honi chahiye, Sir.

Sir, ek hi admi ko alag alag kanoon mein alag alag prosecution hain. Is mein kayi kathinai aati hain. Yeh ek hi admi pe ED, Income tax ek sath toot padte hain aur, Sir ,usko bolte hain original record lekar aao. Woh kisko kisko dega uske bade mein bhi kuch synchronization ho jana chahiye.

Sir, main ye kanun pad raha tha. Main bahut bada vakil to nehi hu, thora sa kanun padke jo samajh mein aaya ke kahi kahi State ke laws ke saath conflict aayega, khaas kar tribal laws ke sath. Sir, is pe dhyan rakha jay, is pe kuch rule banaya hai is ko thik kar diya jaye.

Sir, do-tin suggestion hain. Jaisa ki hamare aur sathi ne kaha hum bhi chahenge jo ki land state subject hain, jab bhi aap confiscate karein, aap confiscate karne ke baad usko state ko handover kar de. Sir, yeh laws simplified bana dijiye ta ki logon ko, humko maloom hona chahiye ke kaun chor hain, kaun sadhu. Isko alag alag kar dena chahiye.

Aur Sir, time limits jo hain usko thoda sa relax kar dena chahiye jaise ki main ne kuch ghatanai bataya hain aapko un sab ke beech mein.

Sir ant mein ek line ke saath khatam kar raha hoon:

Pardanasheen logon ko ab beparda karne ka samay aa gaya hai.

Thank you sir.

Md Nadimul Haque speaks on The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, I’m happy to state that I come from a State which prides itself in having one of the crown jewels of education – IIT Kharagpur. IIT Kharagpur has thousands of alumni who have played a role in many fields across the world. Sir, IITs are among India’s finer institutes and it is necessary that they become one of the leading centres of excellence in the world.

It is important that the first focus should be on improving the infrastructure, research facilities and faculties in these institutes. It is really unfortunate that none of our IITs are among the top hundred institutes in the world. We actually do not figure in the top 250 in the global rankings. The present Government should invite top international institutes and universities from Europe, America and other parts of the world to bring in world-class infrastructure and research facilities in the already available IITs and also in the new IITs which the Government is planning to set up.

Focus should be more on student and faculty exchange. Joint research programmes should be initiated by both the present and the future IITs. Sir, it will improve the quality of education and will help bring in ideas and knowledge from across the world.

I would like to raise my concern over a fee hike which has happened in the IITs recently. It is unfortunate that the present Government has hiked the fees by more than 100%. I strictly oppose it and would request the Government to roll it back. Sir, there is also the question of scholarships. The amount which the students are getting at present amounts to Rs 12,600, which is very less. Sir, I appeal to them to raise it to Rs 20,000.

Sir, the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s initiatives to six IITs in Tirupati, Palakkad, Goa, Dharwad, Bhilai and Jammu and to bring the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad within the ambit of the Act is fully supported by me. In fact, we are in favour of setting up at least one I IT in each State. This will give more opportunities throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Sir, through you I would like to ask the Minister to not just focus on industry-institute relationship but also to work towards developing a strong alumni network for both cutting-edge technology as well as monetary support to IITs. The alumni network who have gained excellence in their fields and are in leading positions in multinational companies or research centres across the world should be regularly invited to the institutes and their experience and excellence should be utilised for the nation.

It is important that the Government makes sure of the availability of better choices for the students in the country itself so that the trend of going abroad after graduating from the IITs decreases. Thus more funds should be allotted for those students who want to pursue research after their college education is completed. The standards of the IITs which lag behind other IITs should also be raised so that they are brought on par with one another.

Sir, I end with this Urdu couplet:

Raat ko jeet toh sakta nahin lekin yeh chiraag

Kam se kam raat ka nuksaan bahut karta.

Thank you, Sir

Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien makes a Point of Order on the GST Bill

Posted on August 2, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, I have a serious Point of Order. Sir, the GST Bill which is circulating today is not the Bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha.

The amendments which the Hon’ble Finance Minister has moved are based on that as passed in Lok Sabha. My limited point is, the Bill which we now have with us is actually the Bill which is the one as recommended by the Select Committee.

In Clause 19, Sir, everybody has had an informal agreement that the State will be compensated for five years. But the amendments which are being circulated by the Finance Minister does not contain that amendment. So it may be an oversight. If it is so, let it be known.