Tag: question hour

From demonetisation to railways and online trolls – Trinamool MPs raise several issues of importance in Parliament

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It was a busy and productive day for Trinamool MPs in Parliament today. The day began with dharna on the completion of 90 days since demonetisation. The MPs highlighted the sufferings of the common people due to restrictions on cash withdrawal and demanded all restrictions be removed immediately.

Trinamool had given a Notice of Suspension of Business under Rule 267 to discuss the limits on withdrawal of cash. Speaking on the issue, Chief Whip of the party in Rajya Sabha, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said: “Three months have passed since the Government announced demonetisation.”

SS Roy reminded the House that the PM had asked for 50 days for situation to normalise but 90 days are over and cash crunch is still there. “Our party is against the restrictions on cash withdrawal. Govt must immediately remove these restrictions,” he added.

Read the full transcript of his speech

Dola Sen raised the issue of electoral reforms in her Zero Hour Mention in Rajya Sabha. She said, “The issue has been part of my party’s DNA, its very existence, since it was established on 1st January, 1998. In last 18 yrs, Trinamool has dedicated first section of every manifesto to electoral reforms.” She said solution to electoral reforms is state funding through Election Commission.

Read the full transcript of her speech

 

During Question Hour, Leader of the AITC Parliamentary Party in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien raised the issue of online trolls. He said: “In today’s digital medium, everyone from civil society, every citizen can be a journalist because you can broadcast from your mobile phones.” He wanted to know if the government is planning to issue an advisory for high Constitutional authorities, including the Prime Minister of India, who are following unknown people on the digital medium.

Read the full transcript of his speech

MP Ahamed Hasan Imran raised the issue of job losses due to demonetisation during Question Hour. He asked the government, “what steps have been initiated for rehabilitation and compensation of the workers who have lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector due to demonetisation.”

Read the full transcript of his speech

During Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Mathurapur MP CM Jatua raised the issue of railway connectivity in Sunderbans. Arambagh MP Aparupa Poddar asked a question about railway safety mechanisms. Balurghat MP Arpita Ghosh raised the issue of internet penetration in rural areas.

Read the full transcript of CM Jatua’s speech

Read the full transcript of Aparupa Poddar’s speech

Read the full transcript of Arpita Ghosh’s speech

Ratna De Nag speaks in LS during Question Hour on improvement of cold storages

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, wastage of fruits and vegetables are reported. There is a need to ensure more investment in improving the cold storage chains and preservation of infrastructure across the country to stop loss of food and vegetables.

Madam would the Minister state the benefits acquired in the last two years or since the implementation of the central sector scheme for cold chain and value addition infrastructure which was aimed at stopping loss of fruits and vegetables.

Thank you, Madam.

Md Nadimul Haque’s question on empowerment for rural women

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Chairman Sir, women are the best support system for other women. They understand the problems best and together they can solve the problems in the best manner. It is important that more and more mahila mandals of women’s self-help groups should come up. It will provide a forum for rural women to discuss their personal, family, social and economic concerns.

Sir, my question is, what steps are being taken by the Government to establish at least one mahila mandal in each village of the country or at least in those ones which have a population of at least 500?

Sir, women’s reservation is not enough; if we want to comprehensively address some of the major issues concerning a society, we need to make women aware about their rights so that they can deal with issues like poverty, health, education, environment and local self-governance.

 

My question is, what are the details of the training programme the Government is running specially to empower rural women to deal with issues of social justice, environment and local self-governance?

Kalyan Banerjee speaks during Question Hour on re-employment of retired bureaucrats

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Experience speaks. After retirement many bureaucrats, and even the judicial officers, are sent to tribunals etc. Who are these bureaucrats? Those who are in favour of the government of the day. Madam, they are sent to the tribunals and all they do is occupy the chairs. This is our experience.

Why are serving bureaucrats not appointed to administrative tribunals? What is the need to re-appoint retired bureaucrats? Then the system would be more beneficial.

This government is in power today; some other party will form the government tomorrow. This government will appoint their favourite people to the tribunals.

Madam, I have a question to the Hon’ble Minister to this extent. Would he kindly re-think about the appointment of retired Bureaucrats. Will you bring the bureaucrats who are in service and have the accountability?

 

Kalyan Banerjee speaks on external support to insurgent groups during Question Hour

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The Hon’ble minister has given a written reply. I have never seen such a cryptic reply of any Ministry in respect of such an important issue. So cryptic, I cannot imagine. This is not a reply at all.

For more than half a century, the people of North-East India have seen an unending cycle of violent conflicts dominated by insurgents with demands ranging from outright sorority to getting political autonomy.

Insurgency has taken a toll on thousands of lives of both of security forces and citizens. The root of insurgency in the North-Eastern region is imbedded in the geographic history and host of socio-economic factors. Ninety-eight percent of the borders of the region are international borders. While the population share is 3.90 crores (a mere 3 percent) but between 1951-2001 it has gone up by 200 percent.

Madam, there are recommendations of a high level commission regarding the transformation of the North-East.

Eight recommendations were made by this commission, constituted by the Centre:

  • A North-Eastern council should be implemented to fill the gaps in the infrastructure of the region.
  • A comprehensive framework to be involved and put in place to promote the region as a preferred investment destination.
  • A transport development fund to fund construction of important road corridor should be taking a set up.
  • Comprehension implementation of Look-East policy though relevant for the country as a whole is especially important for the long term board of the north east.
  • The agenda for the implementation must be prepared in active association with the State Government.
  • Rail connectivity has to be made.
  • Greater efforts are needed to establish bank branches and other credit disbursement
  • Setting up of Centers of Excellence for professional higher education in North-east.

There is a need to make an in-depth study. In 50 per cent of the border area, there is no fencing till now.

Madam, my question before the Hon’ble Minister is that whether the central government has gone through the recommendations made by the high level commission regarding the transformation of North-East. If so, what steps have been taken?

 

Second supplementary question

It is a fact that this central government has stopped the ‘Operation All Clear’ and ‘Operation Golden Bar’  – a joint military operation on the soil of neighbouring countries along the North-East border to pass out the insurgent militant grants.

If so what are the reasons? What is the cause behind the failure of the government to stop the repeated insurgency in the North-Eastern region of the country?

 

Derek O’Brien asks a question on electrification during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha

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Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) the number and proportion of households, rural and urban, that have a working electricity connection since 2013, State-wise and year-wise;

(b) the number and proportion of these households that have 24-hour supply of electricity; and

(c) the details of steps taken by Government to provide 24-hour electricity to all households?

Supplementary Questions

  1. According to a recent report by the Central Electricity Authority, the country is expected to become ‘power surplus’ in 2016-17. As per the report, Odisha, Mizoram and Tripura, which are expected to be power surplus in 2016-17. But as of May 2016, the percentage of un-electrified rural households varied 22 and 52 per cent.

 

Almost every village (100%) in West Bengal is electrified with 93% households having access to electricity. It is the best performing State in terms of access to power.

What steps are being taken to assess the real demand for electricity, especially in rural households and how is this real demand going to met?

 

  1. For the last two or three years, West Bengal has been a power surplus state, and continues to be power surplus even with rising industrial and domestic demand.

 

Will the Centre replicate the successful model implemented in Bengal and will the efforts of the State Government to transfer power to other States (and also neighbouring countries such as Bhutan) be supplemented by the Centre?

 

Tapas Pal speaks during Question Hour on the need for doctors in rural health centres

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There are not enough doctors at health centres in India. Whenever I visit my constituency, I meet patients with fatal diseases who tell me there are not enough doctors, please arrange doctors for us. I think this is the situation everywhere, not just my constituency. I would request the Hon. Health Minister to make arrangements for doctors; send the doctors to rural areas after they complete their studies.

Sunil Mandal speaks on National Centre for Disease Control during Question Hour

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I express my sincere gratitude to you for allowing me, a new Parliamentarian, to ask the first question. Respected Madam, I want to know from concerned Minister, through you, that several diseases are mentioned by the him in his reply to the question of National Centre of Disease Control.

It is a matter of severe anxiety as several times the doctors do not know the proper treatment of unknown diseases and hence patients die due to lack of proper treatment. Actually it is a matter of regret that NCDC has not made any awareness programme in Panchayat or block level through knowledgeable doctors and experts. The respected Minister must be aware that Asha and Anganwadi workers in Panchayat and block level detect those persons and bring them of the hospitals and arrange their treatment thus saving their lives. It is a matter of regret that those workers are under NGOs and their salary is very poor. Please help Asha and Anganwadi workers.

These diseases are not controlled in primary level. Respected Speaker Madam, I want to know from the Hon’ble Minister, through you, whether the government has any plan regarding awareness programames for these diseases? What are their plans for health care of sick new-born babies? Do they have any plans for offering free surgery to children with cardiac ailments?

Diseases like Kala-azar, dengue and various other unknown diseases spread all over the country. There are few genetic diseases, AIDS, filariasis, pox, chikunguniya, influenza, thalassemia, meningitis and other diseases which make the patient sick  during the whole year; every state government has to make arrangements for the treatment of those diseases.

Madam Speaker, it is a matter of regret that often after the detection of those diseases, central government sends observer teams to the affected area and only after that the central government approves a certain fund for use of the state government. The whole process takes much time.

For that reason it is important to increase awareness among people for which funds are necessary to made available to the state governments.

Hon’ble Minister in his reply stated that 8 states have NCDC and assured another 13 institutes. Bengal has made huge progress in the field of health care but does not have any NCDC yet. I want to know from the Hon’ble Minister, through you, whether there is any plan to open NCDC in West Bengal. If yes, then in which financial year and on what basis?

Thank you.

 

Md Nadimul Haque speaks during Question Hour on the condition of Urdu schools

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Sir, before I ask my question I would like to say that all parties have given a notice for Short Duration Discussion on the new Education Policy. That should be taken up on Monday.

Now, Sir, my question is, jab Urdu ki baat hoti hain wahi Mirza Ghalib ka naam aata hain. Humlog sab Ghalib ko pasand karte hain lekin 1969 mein jab Ghalib sakribad manayi ja rahi thi, us waqt Sahir Ludhiyanvi ne kaha tha, “Jis ahd-e-sihasat ne zinda zaba kuchli/ Us ahd-e-sihasat ko mehrumo ka gham kyun hain/ Ghalib jis se kehte the Urdu ka hi shayar tha/ Urdu pe sitam dhakar Ghalib par kalam kyun hain.”

Sir, aj bhi laghbhag yehi halat hain aur yeh sautela suluk jari hain. Mera sawaal hain ke kisi bhi zabaan ko bachane ke liye zaroori hain ki usse rozi roti se jora jaaye. Lekin sarkari aur sarkari tawun se chalne wale Urdu-medium school-o ki poore mulk mein bahut boori halat hain. Ek taraf un school-o mein teacher-o ki jagah khali hain aur doosri taraf un khali asamiyo ko sirf SC/ST umeedwaro se hi poorkh kiya ja sakta hain.

Sir, beshtar SC/ST umeedwar Urdu jante nahin hain aur aur jo log Urdu se wakib hain unki yeh naukriya nahin mil sakti. Aisi soorat hal-po-hal karne ke liye Mantri Ji kya karenge?

 

Saugata Roy speaks during Question Hour on renovation of Ganga ghats in Bengal

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The Minister spoke at length about the Mission but did not say a word about any project for West Bengal. The river Ganges flows for about 400 km in West Bengal, as far as I know. Ganga flows from Manikchak till Gangasagar in our State. But the Minister is silent on Bengal.

In my constituency there are four municipalities on the banks of river Ganga. In three of those municipalities we renovated the ghats during UPA 2 time. We have been writing letters for the last two years for the renovation of Baranagar ghat and setting up electric crematorium there. The Minister only acknowledges the letters but has not taken any concrete action.

The Minister mentioned 6 cities, five of which are in UP and one in Bihar. What about rejuvenation of Ganga in West Bengal? Will the Minister please shed light on that. This is my question.