Nusrat Jahan speaks on the demand for construction of Kendriya Vidyalaya in her constituency

Nusrat Jahan speaks on the demand for construction of Kendriya Vidyalaya in her constituency

Posted on June 26, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Good afternoon, Speaker Sir. This is my first speech in the Parliament. Sir, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to raise a matter of urgent public importance. There has been a long standing demand to construct and start a Kendriya Vidyalaya within my Basirhat Parliamentary Constituency. There is no doubt that the Kendriya Vidyalayas are playing a pivotal role in imparting quality education in the country with uniform curriculum. And the performance of these schools are really appreciable.

Sir, I would request the Government to kindly expedite the setting up of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in my Basirhat Parliamentary Constituency of West Bengal.

Sir, Basirhat is in the border area where central employees are on vigil all through, 24X7. Moreover there are thousands of ex-servicemen and their families residing in and around Basirhat. Sir, within the 60 km radius there is no Kendriya Vidyalaya. The entire part of my constituency is backward with 86.81% of rural people and 13.19% of urban population. The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe ratio is 25.34% and 6.56% respectively and people residing here cannot afford to send their children to private schools because of their minimal income.

Sir, I would really request the government to kindly expedite the setting up of a Kendriya Vidyalaya and start the session from the next academic year. It’s of utmost importance.

Thank you, Sir.

Mimi Chakraborty speaks on the demand for flyovers at railway level crossings in her constituency

Posted on June 26, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you so much Speaker Sir for giving me an opportunity to speak. This is my first speech so I would like to seek all of your blessings.

It has been a long demand of the people of my constituency Jadavpur for the construction of a flyover at Champahati railway station which is in Baruipur East. But in the past years no initiative has been taken on the project, for which over lakhs of people are still facing traffic congestion because of existing railway level crossing. It is more painful when a patient suffers and gets delayed in treatment and for students who reach their school late.

There is also a similar problem in Sonarpur and in Bidyadharpur; both are under Sealdah division of Eastern Railway. I am sorry to inform the August House that there is no railway level crossing in Bidyadharpur as well, which is a prime demand to stop any accidents therein. I therefore urge upon the government to take immediate steps and start the projects urgently without any further delay.

Thank you so much, Sir.

Manas Bhunia asks Supplementary Questions on deaths due to air pollution

Posted on June 24, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Supplementary no. 1

Thank you, Chairman Sir. Will the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change please share whether the government is aware that 40 per cent of the deaths in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra were related to air pollution?

Supplementary no. 2

Is the government aware that there are more disability-adjusted life-years lost due to air pollution-related respiratory diseases than tobacco consumption? What steps does the government plan to take to counter the deaths due to the daily rising rate of air pollution?

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy asks Supplementary Questions on the import and production of coal, and on stopping illegal mining of coal

Posted on June 24, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Supplementary no. 1

Sir, it appears from the figures given in the reply that the domestic production of coal is declining whereas the supply of imported coal is rising very fast every year, despite the series of steps claimed to have been taken by the government. My question, through you Sir, to the Honourable Minister is, what are the reasons for the decline in the domestic production of coal and the sharp rise in the import of non-coking or thermal coal?

Supplementary no. 2

Sir, I would request the Minister, through you, to do more homework because what I have referred to pertains to his reply only which is printed here – domestic production is declining and import is rising.

My second supplementary is, whether the government or for that matter, Coal India Limited has initiated any plan of action ion consultation with the coal-producing States to stop the illegal mining of coal?

Manish Gupta asks a Supplementary Question on the Bharatmala 2.0 Project

Posted on June 24, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

There has been a delay in the project, Bharatmala 2.0. Is it because there is reluctance on the part of certain functionaries to proceed with the DPRs? This is directly affecting West Bengal. So we would like to know about the stretches in West Bengal that are envisaged within this project.

Saugata Roy asks a Supplementary Question on EPF-based pension

Posted on June 24, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you very much, Sir. You are very kind. I want to ask a straight question to the Minister. He has suggested a very complicated way of taking decisions – CBT ka meeting hoga, phir consultation hoga, phir budgetary help aayega. Yeh sab ke baad abhi worker ko keval Rs 1,000 minimum pension milta hain. Yeh pehle Rs 300 tha, sarkar ne bada ke Rs 1,000 kiya, lekin yeh bhi bahut kam hain, Mantri avagat honge. Main seedha ek declaration chahta hoon Mantri se: Yeh pension Rs 1,000 se bada ke kitna karenge aur kab karenge, iss ke bade mein aap kripiya yeh House ko avagat karainge?

Sudip Bandyopadhyay asks a Supplementary Question on GST

Posted on June 24, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, the concept of GST had been read by the Honourable President in his address as “one country one tax one market,” and that is why GST was announced so hurriedly. For this reason, GST has really thrown up huge difficulties. My question to the minister is that, whether the government is now going to simplify GST further and if so, what steps are they going to take, and what would be the time limit to save the small industries of the country?

Shanta Chhetri makes Zero Hour mention on Centre’s delay in giving Scheduled Tribe status to 11 Hill communities

Posted on June 21, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

I would like to draw the kind attention of this august House to the matter that the West Bengal Government vide their letter dated February 28, 2014 had recommended granting of schedule tribe status to 11 communities living in Sikkim, Darjeeling and other Gorkha-dominated areas.

In consequence to this proposal of West Bengal, the Central Government had constituted a committee to examine and recommend the granting of schedule tribe status to those 11 communities. However, several years have rolled by since.

The West Bengal Government has recommended these 11 communities because they fulfil the criteria of having primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with communities at large and extreme backwardness.

There is an urgent need to bring the highly deprived communities into the mainstream. There has already been a huge delay since the West Bengal Government submitted its recommendation way back in 2014.

Sir, its my humble request to the august House to seek a detailed explanation on the delay and set up a definite timeframe within which the Central Government would approve the State Government’s recommendations and grant these 11 communities scheduled tribe status and help create equal opportunities for all, which is the constitutional right of every Indian.

Thank you, Sir.

BJP MP ran away after winning 2014 election: Mamata Banerjee in Darjeeling

Posted on April 11, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Trinamool Chairperson Mamata Banerjee today addressed a public meeting at Darjeeling. She said that the BJP MP ran away after winning in 2014 elections.

Highlights of her speech:

My salute to the Gorkha contingent. They are the pride of the country. They have sacrificed their lives for the country.

It is my humble request to you to cast your vote in favour of GJM-supported Trinamool candidate Amar Singh Rai

I do not come to the Hills only during elections, and run away thereafter. I come here regularly.

In the last seven years, I have come to the Hills more than 100 times

Bimal Gurung supported BJP in the elections. After winning, did SS Ahluwalia come to the Hills?

We had requested the Centre to set up a university in the Hills. They did not. So, we set up the Hill University here

They incite violence and tension in the Hills for political reasons. They don’t want the Hills to prosper

Amar Singh Rai was the MLA of Darjeeling. He is a bhumiputra of the Hills.

We have not brought any candidate from Delhi. They gave a ticket to Ahluwalia, who ran after eating halua.

Their candidate is from Manipur. He will campaign, distribute money and disappear

We set up a committee for industries in Darjeeling. Amar Singh Rai was the Chairman of the committee

We need three-pronged planning for the development of Hills – short-term, mid-term and long-term

Trinamool will play a significant role in the formation of the next government at Centre

Your MP also became a minister at Centre. Did the Hills benefit at all? What did he do for you?

He knew he’d lose from Darjeeling, so he ran away to Bardhaman

Has the BJP President ever visited the Hills by road? Does he know about the local places? He comes via helicopter, gives a speech and goes away

What has the BJP done for the country for five years

We made Kalimpong a new district. An education hub is coming up at Kurseong.

More than 2 crore people lost their jobs in 2017-18. 12,000 farmers committed suicide.

Demonetisation and GST destroyed the economy. Traders and businessmen suffered

They promised to bring back black money from abroad, and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every bank account. Did they do it?

Five years ago he was a chaiwallah. Now he has become chaiwallah. They have not kept their promises

Chowkidar chor hain, jhoota hain, lootera hain.

40 jawans died in Pulwama. He is asking for votes in the names of jawans. The Centre had information from intelligence. It is their responsibility because they did not take any action.

Terrorism has increased by 260% under Modi’s rule. Unemployment is at 45-year high.

In the name of NRC, they want to drive everyone away. Who are they to decide who will stay and who won’t?

Names of 40 lakh people were excluded in the NRC list in Assam. They excluded the names of Gorkhas, Bengalis, Hindus, Muslims, Biharis… everyone.

They brought the Citizenship Amendment Bill. We opposed the Bill in Parliament, because of which it could not be passed

Under this Bill, you will lose your citizenship for five years. If you become a foreigner for five years, what will be your future? It is not certain whether you will get citizenship again.

The country is under threat. Rights and freedom of the people are under threat

Those who raise the voice against the Centre, they send the agencies to intimidate them

Modi made a film on himself; he thinks he is great. A TV channel has been started in his name. They are only doing publicity

In 2014 itself we asked the Centre to include several communities in the Scheduled Tribe list. They did not do it. Now, they are asking votes on this issue

Many tea garden workers suffered during the strike. Many workers do not get salaries on time. Right now, we cannot announce any decision because of the model code of conduct but we will take a humanitarian decision after elections.

We have formed a review committee to look into the matter of giving pattas to long-time residents of tea gardens

We want the identity of Gorkha brothers and sisters to be safeguarded. We want a solution to the issue of Hills

We want bond of friendship and love between Hills and plains.

Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar speaks on The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

Posted on December 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Honourable Madam. I stand here to participate in the discussion on ‘The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016’. At the very outset, I would like to congratulate the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, for already having formed a board for the welfare of transgenders three years back, which is the call of the day. I think the Central Government and all other States should follow this to look after transgenders.

Now, I think that this is a very hastily drafted Bill, and the different clauses mentioned are totally inconclusive. We have to first define what ‘transgender’ means. Here it is written that a transgender person is one who is neither wholly female, neither wholly male, or a combination of female or male, neither female nor male. On this earth, as far as medical science is concerned, there can be no being that is neither a female nor a male. A person’s external sexuality, that is, the phenotype, determined by the internal sexuality, that is, the genotype, which is the combination of the genes; either it is XX or it is XY. A person who is XY is a male while a person who is XX is a female. But sometimes there are three X chromosomes, which person is known as ‘super-female’ or there is a combination of these. So then they are known as true hermaphrodite or false hermaphrodite.

But a transgender is not always a hermaphrodite. A transgender is a person who has the internal genetic code made up in such a way that the sexuality granted to the child after birth is not aligned to his or her mental capability, and gender dysphoria is a kind of distress such a person goes through. This can lead to distress related to eating disorder, suicide, depression, anxiety and social isolation.

None of these are mentioned in the copy of the draft that we have here. This is a hastily drafted Bill. I don’t know who has done it. Doctors are still grappling with it. The American Psychiatric Association, only as late as 2013, has defined this disease, and in this disease, when a person has no discrimination between genotype and phenotype, that is, between the internal and external manifestation of the chromosome, still might feel, being a female, that I am more comfortable being a male – that is an actual transgender, which is not mentioned in the Bill. The Bill is totally null and void in this respect.

A lawmaker’s actual duty is to look at the justice meted out to every kind of human being, as is given by Article 14 of the Constitution of India. We are indebted to the Honourable Supreme Court by the verdict given on April 15, 2014 in which various steps have been directed to be taken by the governments of the States and at the Centre for the welfare of transgenders.

So this Bill does not cater to those provisions. The American Psychiatric Association has described in detail the clauses that have to be brought into Bill in order to make it into welfare Bill for the actual transgenders. As far as their educational help is concerned, there should be a third column during admission – that is, male, female or third gender. They should be given reservation in jobs. Since they feel differently, and so might dress differently, the provision must be there. The social milieu must be such that society is compassionate to their diseased condition. This condition takes place because of their testosterone dysfunction.

So it appears, Honourable Madam, that this Bill has been very hastily drafted, and the opinion of specialists has not been taken, because it says that even after a person has been identified, they have to go to the municipality and then take a certificate from the municipal doctor. When the American Psychiatric Association has only described this in 2013, how will the municipal doctor be informed of the latest disease? We don’t take a transgender person as an abnormality any more, this is just a diseased condition. The disease has to be studied. So, a specialist board has to be formed and the person has to be certified through that specialist board whose members should be duly qualified.

It appears that while drafting the different clauses of the Bill, proper attention was not given. So this Bill has to be recalled and a properly drafted Bill has to be tabled.

Thank you, Madam.