Tag: Pratima Mandal

Pratima Mandal speaks on The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2017

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to speak on the The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2017. The Bill proposes to set up Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) in PPP mode.

In this model there will be autonomy in governance that will help in addressing the present challenges faced by the IT industry in our country. It will help in growth of the domestic information technology market including developing new knowledge areas and creating skilled manpower of global markets.

Presently the IT sector is going through turbulent times. Most IT companies are witnessing some notable layouts across the technology sector. This increasing pace of layoffs the number of employees who have lost their jobs are likely to be more compare to last three years. 

The Indian startup ecosystem, along with the big companies, has not been able to save itself from various problems like funding and investments. So it is extremely necessary at this juncture that we create world class education centres to develop skilled manpower in emerging sectors and address this issue.

Four IIITs have been established at Jabalpur, Kanchipuram, Gwalior and Allahabad, which are publicly funded and governed by the IIIT Act, 2014, to provide under-graduate as well as postgraduate education and specialisation in allied areas.

The government proposes to set up 20 IIITs in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Presently, 15 functional IIITs in PPP mode are proposed to be declared as institutes of National importance.

The IIIT set up in PPP mode is required to be given statutory status that should enable the Institutes to grant degrees to the students. Every IT Institute shall strive to raise funds for creation of a purpose for self sufficiency, sustainability and future development of this institute. The State Government shall identify at least one industry partner and preferably three industry partners for collaboration and submit a proposal to the Central Government.

The Government hopes that trained personnel from this institution shall fulfill the growing demands for skilled technical manpower in emerging IT sector and the economy as a whole. The institute shall be open to all persons irrespective of gender, caste, creed, disability and domicile and ethnicity, social or economic background. This is indeed a commendable initiative taken by the government.

Establishing IIITs in PPP more and subsequently declaring them as institute of national importance would help in providing vital education to students for research and development and make the way for India becoming a world class leader. These institutes then declared as institutes of national importance are expected to come up as institutes of excellence that would facilitate and promote the competitive advantage of Indian information technology products.

For competing in the global market, IT sector requires developing quality products with leading technologies and competitive advantage. It would be provided with adequate infrastructure, along with their own buildings. Many IIITs, including IIIT, Kalyani in Bengal do not have their own building and occupy rental premises, resulting in operational problems.

Also standardising the fee structure amongst the different IIITs would help in promoting standardisation and equality. I would request the Hon. Human Resource Development Minister to please take all this into consideration.

In this Bill, it is mentioned the investment of capital required to establish the proposed institute will be borne by the Central Government, the concerned State Government and industry partners in the ratio of 60:35:15. The recurring expenditure in the last five of operation will be made available by the Central Government.

I would request the Hon Minister to clarify this point because after the Government provides funds only for five years, they can withdraw the funding. Due to the increase of fees the students cannot get a chance.

We are aware that many talented students are the leaving the country in search for better option to enhance their academic career. Also people get disenchanted with the low results available for their qualifications and experience which compels them to migrate to developed countries in search of better options. To attract this talented pool and encourage them to remain in the country, programmes at such institutions of national importance should be aimed at providing solution to current technical challenges in wide domains like robotics, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, internet of things and automated systems.

They should also offer academic and resource programs that integrate engineering design, manufacturing and management with information technology. World class infrastructure along with competent faculty is a must for these institutions. The information technology and research graduates from these institutions can become entrepreneurs and start their own organisations.

So, I would ask the Government to ensure that the course design, infrastructure and faculty are world class. With these words I would like to request the Honorable Minister to please consider my point as I rest here.

Thank you on behalf of my party.

 

Pratima Mandal speaks on The Constitution (Schedules Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2017

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Deputy Speaker Sir, for giving me the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Sir, it is nearly 70 years since the country got its freedom and almost 70 years since our Constitution came into effect. However, it is a matter of regret that even after 70 years, our policy on reservation had little impact on the lives of ‘Scheduled Caste’ and ‘Scheduled Tribe’ people. They live a precarious life, unable to bear their necessities of life. The caste system is mainly responsible for the prevailing inequality in the country. It has largely contributed in keeping a large of India’s population backwards.

Caste and creed based division still dominate in service, marriage, education, employment and general social interaction in our country. We should. therefore. make all the effort to fight back so that we live in a society that encourages only liberty, equality and fraternity, irrespective of our caste, which our Constitution promises. Although our Constitution has provisions for reservation for these socially-deprived people, they have benefited from reservation only in a limited way. We need to put effort to make these people a part of the mainstream society. We should attempt to help the weak grow strong; not let the weak become weaker and give them a level playing ground with all members of the society. To echo what Dr BR Ambedkar said, our efforts must be aimed to “break the chains” for once and forever.

The Bill under discussion aims to strengthen efforts by including in Part 13, Entry 79 of the Bill, the castes Sabakhia, Sualgiri, Swalgiri as Scheduled Caste in the State of Odisha. It is a commendable step forward. The Bill also aims to replace Pondicherry with Puducherry at two places where it occurs in the Bill.

However, in the Financial Memorandum,  the Bill brings out, due to non availability of casewise data, a precise estimate of expenditure of which would have to be incurred is not possible. I would like to draw the attention of the House that it is evident that with inclusion of more castes under the Scheduled Caste category the government will require more funds to make sure that every such member is enabled to access all opportunities and facilities. So I would like to request the Hon. Minister, through you Sir, that the government may consider it beneficial to revise the fund allocation towards the welfare of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people.

Our Hon. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has introduced a unique team Shikshashree to encourage the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students towards their education and as well as their social upliftment. Government of West Bengal have already issued more than 11 lakh caste certificates and online procedure has also been introduced to expedite the process.

Sir the time has come to provide quality education to our children from the nursery level, so that our children can make a good educational future. With these words I would like to conclude my speech. On behalf of my party, All India Trinamool Congress, I wholeheartedly support this Bill.

 

Pratima Mandal speaks on Demands for Grants for Ministry of Defence

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

National Security is the most important thing for our country to maintain peace and stability both within and outside the country. India’s strategic location is crucial both for the South Asian region and for the whole world. Of late, terrorism, insurgency and sectarian conflicts are on rise both at national and international arena. Internal security is under threat from cross border terrorism, militancy in the North-East, Left-Wing extremism and terrorism in the hinterland.

Madam, while announcing the allocation for defence, the Finance Minister avoided any mention of the previous year’s allocation. Perhaps it was for a reason. At Rs 2,74,114 crore – excluding the outlay of Rs 85,740 crore for defence pension – it was only 6% more than the comparable Budget Estimate of Rs 2,58,589 crore for 2016-17. The allocation is grossly inadequate to meet the security needs of the country.

The noticeable feature is the gradual decline in the defence budget share in both Central Government expenditure and the GDP with a share of 1.56% of the estimated GDP for 2017-18. This budget is the lowest since 1956-57. Madam, the revenue stores and capital modernisation together play a vital role in the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces. The combination shared of these two elements has declined from 55 per cent in 2007-08 to 40 per cent in 2016-17. The present ratio needs to change for the better for which the allocations under revenue stores and capital modernisation need to be augmented substantially.

Among the Defence Services, the Indian Army, with a budget of Rs 1,49,369 crore, accounts for the biggest share in the Defence budget, followed by the Air Force, the Navy, the DRDO and the ordnance factories. But the bulk of the Army’s budget, nearly 85 per cent goes into meeting pay and allowances. Only 17 per cent of the Army’s total allocation has been earmarked for capital expenditure, whereas for the Air Force, it is 58 per cent and for the Navy, it is 51 per cent.

Madam, under the head of modernisation, the Army’s fund has been decreased by 6.4 per cent and the Navy’s by 12.1 per cent; only the Air Force’s fund has been increased, by 12.1 per cent. The increase in the Air Force’s budget is in the view of its signing several mega-contracts like Rafale fighters and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Madam, only 12 per cent of the total modernisation budget of Rs 70,000 crore is available for the signing of new contracts. There is a whooping under-utilisation of funds of Rs 7,393 crore and the Army accounts for 50 per cent of the total unspent funds. Under-utilisation of funds has become a recurring feature of the Indian Defence budget because of the Finance Ministry’s machinations. Poor allocation, coupled with under-utilisation, is severely affecting modernisation and procurement.

Unlike in the previous Budget, this Union Budget has not provided any specific incentive to push the Make in India initiative in the defence sector. There is a reduction on income tax to 25 percent from 30 percent for the micro, small and medium enterprises with an annual turnover upto Rs 50 crores. This may benefit six thousand MSME’s which supply components to DRDO, defence public sector undertakings, ordnance factories and large private companies. Perhaps infrastructure status, which has been given for affordable housing should have been giving for availing tax benefit which is a long pending issue.

There is only a mere five percent increase into official defence budget and is grossly inadequate, taking the inflation and external and internal trade into consideration. Madam, we are a country that has one of the largest armed forces. They selflessly do the work that we cannot imagine to do for a day. It is unfortunate that they are not receiving the support they deserve. The fact that our country allocates crores every year on defence but hardly provides adequate funds to support these courageous souls is of great concern to us.

Winston Churchill had said: “ We sleep soundly in our bed because rough stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm”. So, even one soldier treated improperly is unacceptable to us. I appeal to consider increasing the defence budget allocation specially to support not only our serving soldiers but war veterans struggling to survive physical, psychological and financial trauma.
Thank you, Madam, for giving me the opportunity to speak.

 

 

Pratima Mandal speaks on The Employee’s Compensation Amendment Bill, 2016 in LS

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Thank you Deputy Chairman Sir for giving me the opportunity to speak on The Employee’s Compensation Amendment Bill, 2016. This is surely an important initiative since it recognizes the importance of workers employed in any capacity specified in Schedule II of the 1923 Act. It includes factories, mines, construction works and certain other hazardous occupations and seeks to better protect the right of employees’ compensation.

It is revealed in the Bill that every employer shall immediately at the time of employment of the employee inform about his right to compensation under this Act in writing as well as through electronic means in English or Hindi or in official languages of the area of employment. In my opinion it is a very good move and House should appreciate the inclusion of such a good provision.

The Bill also provides for increase in penalty for contravention of the Act of Rs 50000 – from the current Rs 5000 – that may be later raised to Rs 1 lakh. In today’s socio-economic scenario this is a very commendable initiative and we look forward to many such initiatives.

Section 30 of The Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923 provides for appeal in High Court whenever the disputed amount of compensation is more than Rs 300. The Bill seeks to raise this to Rs 10000, which may be further increased through a notification later.

The one of the major objective of the Bill is to reduce litigation. The proposed Bill is based on the report of the Law Commission which intends to close more litigation at the level of Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation, appointed by State Government for a particular area.

I would like to mention here that from the reply of the answered Question No 3198 dated 16-03-2015, it is clear that there are a large number of cases pending to be disposed of. You must appreciate, Sir, that many of these people have become incapacitated. So, I would like to request that special provisions – by holding special court or any other means – are undertaken to expedite the cases to help these people.

Sir, I would also like to mention here that from the reply of the answered Question No 6070 dated 30-04-2015, it is mentioned that the reason for delay of giving compensation by different companies is non-submission of requisite documents by the claimants, verification of the genuineness of the claimants, delay in obtaining of the verification report.

In that case company should take all the required documents including health status during the process of employment. I would like to point out here that hardly any companies follow the safety measures to avoid hazardous disease like silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhalation of dust containing silica. The employees working in the coal mines and iron factories also need preventive measures for any sudden accident. I would like to urge that in case the company does not provide the workers with the safety aid, the company should be penalized, this should be taken care of by the Government.

In hazardous environment like coal mine, stone quarry and others the workers must be made aware of the safety measure that they should abide by, there should be surprise audit to check whether they are following them or not. Awareness should also be created through lecture sessions, posters, videos to make them understand what would happen if they do not follow the safety measures. If there is no health insurance it must be made mandatory so that the company provides health insurance scheme to all the employees.

Sir, I would also like to mention here that if there is any death in harness then the company should provide adequate compensation like pension to their employee so they can survive and carry on their life. With these words I on behalf of my party All India Trinamool Congress wholeheartedly support this Bill.

Thank you.

 

Pratima Mandal speaks during Zero Hour about beneficiaries for rural development scheme

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Thank you Madam for giving me the opportunity to speak on Zero hour.

Madam the government has drawn up a list of beneficiaries based on ACPC 2011 data. As per data, 13 percent or 2.37 crore houses have only kutcha walls, one room and kutcha roof. But Madam there are large number of cases pending those who have the same category, belong to same category but their name has not been entered in this list.

And on the other hand Madam, for instances when one beneficiary whose name was entered the list, dies before getting the benefit, details of his/ her legal dependence have not been entered. There is no provision in this case to include their name.

So, I would like to request the Hon’ble Minister of rural development to consider the cases of beneficiaries whose names have not been entered into the list and also consider the case for legal aids in case of death of beneficiaries.

 

Pratima Mandal demands railway connectivity in Kultali during Zero Hour

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Thank you Hon’ble Deputy Speaker Sir, for giving me an opportunity to speak during Zero hour.

Sir, my parliamentary constituency is Joynagar.  Under this parliamentary constituency Kultali is commonly known as Sundarbens area because small part of Sundarbens falls under this block and surrounded by Thakurain, Bidyadhari Muni river.

Sir, we are going to celebrate the 70th anniversary of our Independence Day but this block has no rail line. The people of this block are getting deprived of railway connectivity. So, I would like to request the Hon’ble Minister that he should ask his department to conduct a survey for this block. He should consider the demand for railway connectivity in Kultali.

Pratima Mandal speaks during Zero Hour in LS on rural post offices

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Madam more than 20 years back my father had donated an office room to open a post office in his village with the intention to motivate and encourage poor villages to use the facilities of post offices and at the same time to protect them from the private moneylenders.

Being a public representative of a rural constituency, I have experienced that most of the rural post offices are running either at the house of postmaster or at some villager’s house.

I would like to ask the Hon’ble Minister, through you, Madam, whether the ministry has conducted any survey to know the actual number of post offices running in such a manner and what steps have been taken in this regard.

 

 

Pratima Mandal speaks on Railway Budget 2016

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Madam,

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

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

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

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

Thank you Madam for giving me an opportunity.

Pratima Mandal speaks during discussion on the agrarian situation in the country | Transcript

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Full transcript:

Hon’ble Deputy Speaker,

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. 70% of our population earns its livelihood from agriculture.  Majority of our farmers of our country farm for own consumption also, majority of the production is largely consumed by the farmers and their family and they do not have any surplus to sell to the market because of small landholding.

Sir, I would like to bring to the notice of the Hon’ble Minister through you Sir; that more awareness programmes are to be arranged to make the farmers aware about using modern technology to increase the production and also to make them aware of the seasonal harmful insects so that they can protect their crops.

Soil test is a major issue in this regard so that the farmers can know which crop is suitable for which field.  Sir, digging of canals and installation of deep shallow are required to maintain the water flow to the field. I would like to request to the Hon’ble Minister to allot more fund in this respect.

Sir, Government should take initiative to regulate the market so that farmers can get actual price. Government should also kindly look into the matter of insurance policy to save the farmers’ lives.

Sir, farmers use chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase the production and we take poisonous food daily due to that reason. Sir, I would like to request to the Hon’ble Minister to take positive measures for use of vermicompost fertilizers instead of chemical fertilisers to save our life as well as to protect our environment.

I would like to inform Hon’ble Member Badruddoja Khan gave false statement regarding farmer’s suicide in West Bengal. Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken various measures to protect farmers of Bengal.

Sir, finally I would request the Hon’ble Minister to take measures for up-gradation of Kalyani Krishi Vidyalaya so that scientists can make an effort to innovate and devise more effective steps for the greater interest of the farmers of West Bengal.

Thank you.

 

 

Government must look at the interest of kisans and mazdoors: Trinamool in LS

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Sugata Bose, Arpita Ghosh, Pratima Mandal and Mamtaz Sanghamita spoke  in the Lok Sabha on the agrarian situation in the country.

Sugata Bose raised the concern regarding the agricultural sector. The agricultural output has grown by only 1% in the last year. Agricultural sector constitutes about 55% of the employment in the nation, but contributed less than 15% of the GDP.

He urged the Government to immediately focus on irrigation so that it provides rural employment in the short run and increase productivity in the long run.

“The West Bengal Government’s ‘Jol Dharo Jol Bharo‘ programme has been more farsighted and successful. The Central Government’s ‘Krishi Sichai Yojana‘ should take lessons from West Bengal’s scheme”, he said.

He highlighted the importance of increase in the cold storage capacity and took the example of Bhangar, where with the support of West Bengal’s State Horticulture Department, a vegetable producer’s company has been established. As a result, per hectare output has increased dramatically from 7500 kg to 9500 kg and average peasant’s income has risen from Rs 22000 in 140 days to Rs 88000 in 120 days

Sugata Bose concluded by urging the House to rise to its full stature and make sure that the peasants, agricultural labourers and the range of service providers in rural areas be made partners and not victims in India’s development story.

Click here for the full speech of Sugata Bose. 

Arpita Ghosh criticised the Government for focusing only on corporatisation, but not on the agricultural sector. She highlighted the West Bengal Government’s initiatives in the agricultural sector like setting up ‘Kisan Mandis’ in every block and ‘Jal Dharo Jal Bharo’ Scheme.

“According to many surveys, in the last 7-8 years, almost 3 Crore farmers have left farming, many are contemplating to leave farming and many have committed suicide,” said Arpita Ghosh.

She urged the Government to set up a dedicated research institute in arid areas of West Bengal like Purulia and Bankura and to focus on agro-based industries in the State.

Click here for the full speech of Arpita Ghosh. 

Pratima Mandal asked the Government to have more policies to regulate the market  to ensure that the farmers get the fair price for their productions.

She said, “Soil test is a major issue in this regard, so that the farmers can know which crop is suitable for which field. Digging of canals and installation of deep shallow are required to maintain the water flow to the field. I would request to the Minister to allot more fund in this respect.”

She urged the Government for upgradation of Kalyani Krishi Vidyalaya for more effective research in the interest of the farmers of West Bengal.

Click here for the full speech of Pratima Mandal.

Mamtaz Sanghamita pointed out that even though India is an agricultural country, with 70% of rural population of  India are dependent on agriculture, yet policies formulated are not sufficient. Farmers are facing obstacles in cultivation system, natural calamities, no subsidy on fertilisers making them to lead them a borderline life.

She said, “Even when there is surplus yield of the agricultural product, there is no uniform system or rule of distribution or export to different states of India or abroad.”

Click here for the full speech of Mamtaz Sanghamita.