Md Nadimul Haque asks a Question on losses faced by e-commerce companies due to internet shutdowns

Md Nadimul Haque asks a Question on losses faced by e-commerce companies due to internet shutdowns

Posted on March 13, 2020 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

(a) whether e-Commerce companies have seen economic losses due to internet shutdown in different parts of the country;

(b) whether Government has estimated the same and if so, the details thereof; and

FIRST SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION

Sir, over 150 days of internet shut down in the State of Jammu & Kashmir has led to many businesses and start-ups, especially in IT and E-commerce, to shut down or leave for better opportunities. Young entrepreneurs have been discouraged from starting online businesses. Sir, my question is, when will the Government take actual steps and not totalistic measures to address this serious crisis?

SECOND SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION

The order for internet shut down is rarely open to the public. It has been reported that only secretary-level officers can issue such orders like internet shut down, even DMs can also order, Sir.

So my question is, how has the Government allowed internet shut down to be imposed so easily, especially when the repercussions are not just on an area but across whole of India?

Md Nadimul Haque speaks about misuse of public data on govt mobile app

Posted on March 13, 2020 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, it has been reported that public data published by a Government of India mobile application called the ‘Vahan App’, is being misused. There is serious concern that this transport ministry app, which allows users to identify vehicle owners, is being used by miscreants for targeted violence through ascertaining identity of vehicle owners.

The Vahan app makes all vehicle registration records across India publicly available. It allows people to look up the name of a car owner by simply using their vehicle registration number. Such open access to citizens’ personal data poses not only a huge privacy risk but may also lead to a potential risk to human life and private property.

However, in March 2019, the Ministry for Road, Transport and Highways rolled out the Bulk Data Sharing Policy, under which it chose to make the vehicle registration database public. Individual consent was not sought for this. It allowed organisations to pay an annual fee of 3 crore rupees, and research and education institutions 5 lakh rupees, to access these databases. In July 2019, the databases were sold to about 87 private and 32 government entities, at a cost of Rs 65 crore.

In the absence of a personal data protection law to protect people’s online privacy, such selling and misuse of data is deeply worrying. I urge the ministry to conceal personal details of individuals in the database and even stop public as well as private access to the data on the portal.

Sir, may I take this opportunity to urge to protect all of us members not only from our right to data privacy but also to ask for clarification from the Minister after he delivers his speech. Sir, what happened yesterday, when Opposition members were not allowed to seek clarification, was totally unacceptable.

Nadimul Haque speaks on The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Posted on March 12, 2020 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity. The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill was passed in only four minutes in the Lok Sabha. No fruitful discussion could happen on it. I would like to take this opportunity to point out several issues with the Bill and the circumstances around its introduction and hasty passage.

The All India Trinamool Congress has categorically opposed the excessive use of Ordinances to enact legislation. The framers of the Constitution didn’t want Ordinances to enact legislation. The BJP doesn’t care about the framers of the Constitution. Many Bills moved by the Government using the Ordinance route are not of an urgent nature and this method is a way to skip scrutiny by Parliamentary Committees.

Is the Ordinance justified in this case? The question arises. No Sir, it is not. The expiration of lease of these mining units was foreseeable. The mineral industry’s demands, which are sought to be addressed by this Bill, did not arise overnight. These demands have been long-standing ones and yet the Government chose to incorporate them through an Ordinance. This just shows the lack of vision in the law-making capacity of the Government.

Coming to the bill, the mining leases of 334 mines were expiring and the Ordinance was brought to sustain their functioning. However there are several issues in the industry that must be addressed first. So far, only a few of the 204 blocks that were cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014 have been auctioned.

Next, production from captive coal blocks had fallen to 25.1 million tonnes in FY19, down from 43.2 million tonnes in 2015, this when more than 50 per cent of India’s total primary energy comes from coal. The plant load factor at thermal power plants remains depressed due to the economic slowdown.

Lastly, the import bill for coal rose to $26 billion in 2019, up from $16 billion in 2014.

With the measures adopted by the Bill, the Government is also facilitating the entry of major global mining players.

To ensure that the investments enabled by this Bill fructify, the Government should make sure that the surrounding factors are enabling in nature, like the kinds of coal blocks offered, the infrastructure available, the Government’s ability to ease the regulatory hurdles such as the process of obtaining clearances, and clearing of mining plans and leases.

Another point I want to say is that while on one hand you want to open up the coal mining market,on the other, the opening up to private players would effectively end Coal India’s monopoly status. The company has been set a production target of 1 billion tonnes by FY 2023-24. But last year, it produced only 606 million tonnes. So what is the plan to attain the target?

I would like to rest my case by reminding the Government that Parliament need not be reduced to a rubber stamp. Let debates happen and let legislations be enacted after healthy discussions. The Indian people deserve at least this much from their elected representatives.

Thank you, Sir.

Manas Bhunia speaks on The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Posted on March 12, 2020 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Honourable Deputy Chairman Sir, the Honourable Finance Minister has brought this Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020. I personally feel it is a compulsive stand of the Government to bring this Bill because the space and time of the Ordinance is lapsing. But I am confused. The Honourable Member was appreciating the Government for the recurrent, repeated Amendments to rectify the stand of the Government. But does it not show the hesitance and haziness of the Government, in knowledge and application, to enable this Bill to enact properly the IBC code?

Sir, I understand that since 2017, three times Ordinance have been brought and four times, Amendments to rectify this Act. Does it now show the confused attitude of the Government, lack of knowledge, lack of proper interpretation and lack of proper implementation on this subject?

Sir, the Honourable Member rightly raised the case of MSME. The sector will die if the businesses are not protected, considering MSME is the pillar of the economic structure of our country, as industrial production is going down, down, down. Agriculture is in the doldrums. Mining and manufacturing are facing a serious, critical situation. When the entire country and economy is reeling under crisis, this IBC Bill, reflective of the Government’s compulsive attitude, was again brought to this august House.

So the question of goods and service, for the survival of the MSMEs, should be the Clause 5 and should be examined with proper attention by the Honourable Finance Minister. At the same time, in the case of real estate, which is Clause 3, the aggregation of home buyers should be looked into. How can home buyers be aggregated, as then they will have to run from pillar to post? Individual buyers have to be called to please come so that their association can be formed, and there has to be a minimum of 100 buyers for proceeding for resolution. How can it be so? Is it not the responsibility of the Government to protect the home buyers from the attitude and stand taken by the realtors? So the attitude of the Government is a central point and it is confusing as to whether it is interested in protecting the buyers or the realtors or both of them. We are not clear.

Sir, so many cases are filed with the NCLT. Till date, 10,860 cases are pending. There is no attempt to open more NCLTs in the country, as a result of which the pendency of the cases is increasing and resolutions are not being properly done. The people who have gone to the appellate authority are not getting justice.

In such a situation, I feel that this Bill is about the compulsive attitude of the Government. It is in a hazy state of mind when the economy is in a critical situation and when we are talking about coronavirus, pandemic situation, World Health Organisation advisory, the Government of India advisory. The Finance Department, in my opinion, has been totally engulfed by the financial coronavirus.

Dr Santanu Sen speaks on practice of hiring villagers as dummy patients to get MCI recognition

Posted on December 12, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, I would request you to kindly allow me to read out.

The subject is ‘hiring villagers to show as patients for medical college hospitals before Medical Council of India to get recognition of MCI’. RIMS Medical College of Raipur, Chattisgarh, is hiring villagers at the rate of Rs 100 to 200 per day to show them as patients to MCI. So most of the admitted patients are healthy villagers. Every day, dummy files of emergency and OPD patients are being prepared. College buses are being used to bring children, youth and elderly persons from villages. Adults are being given Rs 100 to 200 per day and children, Rs 50 to 100 per day. No investigation for them, no dietary request for them. They are there just to make up IPD and OPD numbers.

As per MCI guidelines, for the first four years after the opening of a medical college, a minimum of four OPD patients per day per student intake are required and at the end of fourth year, this should increase to a minimum of eight OPD patients per day per student intake are required.

Sir, it is reflecting on the level of performance of the present board of governors of MCI which has replaced the actual proper functioning of the original MCI. So the Government needs to be very much careful to look after the proper functioning of the MCI and the board of governors.

Abir Ranjan Biswas speaks on The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019

Posted on November 19, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Today is the second day of the session. Full afternoon, Rajya Sabha is running smoothly. Government Legislative Business is on track because all of us are cooperating 100%. We can also expect that the Government shows the same spirit of cooperation every morning always and also when Opposition voices are heard in the morning during Zero Hour and Question Hour.

My party All India Trinamool Congress stands and strongly believes that Bills must be scrutinised by Standing Committees before they are passed. This is a good way to improve legislation and not rush with them. This was one of the few Bills to be scrutinised by the Standing Committee and we welcome it, though the recommendations were not aptly taken. Sir, even though the BJP speaker who spoke highlighted the shortcomings of the Bill, you can really imagine the quality of drafting.

Sir, Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, in his novel, Never Let Me Go, portrays a scenario where a community of human clones exist only to serve the medical needs of more privileged class providing organs and bodies for use. Arti Prasad, eminent biologist and author of several nonfiction books have observed in her book, Like A Virgin, and I quote, “In the last few years, India has actually illustrated the extreme of what commercialising women’s body for reproduction looks like, something akin to the handmade steel come to life with a certain demographic, taking away the responsibility of producing children, for those who can afford the service.

Surrogacy is inherently a practice of open exploitation, particularly in a place like India, where gender inequality is so marked. In United Nations Development Programme Report 2017 on Gender Inequality, India ranked 125th among 129 countries. In 2016, Sir, a study found that expenditure on major illness for women was 28% lesser than on men in India. An analysis of (?) from numerous medical and research institutions reveal that Indian women are 74% of living kidney donors and 61% of living liver donors, but only a meagre 19% of kidney and 24% of liver recipients. Each was a legitimate donation where the woman had given consent.

Thus we can easily say, that in South Asian patriarchal society, in general and in Indian particularly, they are often told to donate organs and not asked to do so. Now, if this is the situation, an altruistic donation that is related to livers and kidneys we can well imagine the plight of Indian women in case of commercial surrogacy – a system only women are biologically equipped for. Poor women folk in India can be pressured to the brink of their existence by the family to bear a child of a rich couple who fancies such commercial surrogacy as going to a luxury store and asking for a service in view of money, may be little for them, but a questionable amount for the poor surrogate family.

I welcome this Bill as it will, with the provisions in it, serve as a good deterrent against repeat surrogates due to family pressure. Gynaecologists are often of the opinion that only women who do not have wombs, or have cancer, actually require surrogacy. But taking unethical advantages of situations, there are unethical practitioners and unscrupulous fertility clinics who make billions of people’s natural inability to conceive advertising themselves by inviting media to their facilities to exhibit the stay homes for surrogate mothers which are essentially jails. They appear on paid slots of TV, these professionals and fraudulent representatives. They appear on TV channels to advocate the pros and cons of surrogacy in a way as if bearing a child in a natural way is unfashionable and we find most eminent of Bollywood stars getting carried away by it and falling into the trap.

Many such clinics are rampantly present in the western part of India. Recent stories have come up in the media that rural women being exploited severely by certain unscrupulous persons by clinically unethical medical persons where a paltry sum is paid to them but they charge few millions in each case.

Sir, the Confederation of Indian Industries valued the surrogacy industry to the tune of $2 billion as per their report in 2012 and it has grown much meantime. This has been a result of processes of surrogacy by being governed by mere sort of guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Resource in 2002 which permitted the use of women to bear a child at a price. Such lax regulations gave rise to the term ‘rent ovum’.

Sir, this has unsettling implications despite its mainly ubiquitous use. The spirit of the new Surrogacy Bill seems to be guided by the framework of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, which permits only altruistic donations for all donors living or deceased and Sir Donations must be weighed for a reason of love though the donor can be compensated for medical and surgical costs.

Sir, we welcome this Bill as it will make legal provisions to take care, also legal and illegal ventures but also there are a number of areas of which more and legal provisions are needed by which this Bill can achieve the goal it is for.

Sir, I would like to elaborate on these but there are a number of cases which need our immediate attention. Firstly Sir, relating to concerns to check the rampant use of commissions and services at National and Regional levels when Boards are formed. There should be a highly powered committee in place till these are formed, which includes Members of Parliament and eminent persons in the field of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) which could inspect and monitor these clinics. The composition of national, regional service boards are dubious Sir. It should be seen that the ones who head the boards as Directors have at least 25 years of experience in ART and the members should also have experience of 20 years.

Also Sir, we can say that there are many clauses which my colleagues have mentioned, I would not repeat them but few things. Like in case of abortion, in addition to Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Act ,1971, the approval of appropriate authority and surrogate mother is required. There is no time limit to grant such an approval but this time is crucial in the times of medical emergencies and pregnancies and this could prove fatal for a surrogate mother. This should be taken care of.

Sir, this is discriminatory in nature as it limits the option of surrogacy to legally married Indian couples. The Standing Committee that was headed by one of our Hon’ble colleagues in this August House, Ram Gopal Yadav Ji, recommended that this overlooks a section of society that wants a surrogate child. Sir, they recommended the eligibility be widened to include live-in couples, divorced women, widows, NRIs, Person of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India Card Holders, This is Sir, because if NRIs are going to take these opportunities outside it would be very costly for them.

Also Sir, there is a clause that to initiate the surrogacy procedure the couple needs to obtain an eligibility certificate. But for which there is time limit mentioned in this Bill. This is not in right spirit. There is no scope for appeal once the application is rejected. This should be recommended to the Standing Committee and this should be taken care of.

Thank you, Sir.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray speaks on The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019

Posted on August 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

The first point is that this is a potentially dangerous Amendment Bill which empowers officials of the Union Government to brand a person as terrorist without following the due process of law. Now the name of such a person will be included in the Fourth Schedule as has been mentioned in this Bill, proposed to be added in the parent Act.

The only statutory remedy available to that person whose name will be included into the Fourth Schedule is that he will be able to appeal before the Central Government, but that committee is a drawing room committee of the Central Government and if he is not happy with the findings of the Appellate Committee, he can go for a further representation review application before the Reviewing Committee and that reviewing authority is also this same committee, a drawing room committee of the Government because as already mentioned by Kapil Sibal, this UAPA Act has in fact become redundant because in 75 per cent of the cases, people have either acquited or released.

I am giving you a recent example. Last week, a gentleman was acquitted after spending 23 years in jail on the charge of terrorist activities, because they could find no evidence against him.

Sir, his was a very pathetic situation. The ordeal began with his arrest by the Gujarat ATS in 1996 and ended with his release after 23 years from the Jaipur Central Jail last week. After his release, he said,“I was falsely implicated in case after case and prolonged trials had ruined my life. I could not meet my mother who died in hospital as I could not get parole even from the Supreme Court. So this is the ugliest situation under which a person will undergo an ordeal if this Fourth Schedule is included in the parent Act. The funny thing is that this fourth schedule, this fourth schedule does not prescribe for any per say, conviction or punishment as such. Then what is the need for the inclusion of this fourth schedule in the parent Act?”

Then what is the need for inclusion of this Fourth Schedule in the parent Act because ab hamre mathe pe yeh tilak laga diya jayega, ke mai terrorist hu, Fourth Schedule me law diya jaiga. And I will be vulnerable to mob lynching and other elements who are now playing a very dominant role in our society. Jaisa Amitabh Bacchan ka film dekha tha, hath me likh diya tha “mera baap chor hai”, waise hi mere mathe pe ek tika laga dega ki mai terrorist hu, kyu ki mei sarkar ka birodhi hu, koi bi birodhi ho urban-naxal, jo log tribal rights k liye lar rahe hai, jo log environment protection ke liye lar rahe hai, usko bhi koi Urban Naxal bolke, Maoist bolke fourth schedule mei naam utha dega terrorist hai, terrorist ke liye aapka section 124A IPC act hai uspe sedition ka charge aap kisike khilaf la shakte ho, current act bohut sare prabdhan hai, NIA mei hai, aur sedition and anti-national activities, uske bare mei ek-do ullekh karna chahta hu.

August 1 se July 30 1900 Vande Mataram Patrika mei Aurobinda Ghosh ne kuch likha tha, 124 A sedition charge British ne lagaya aur kachhare mei khara kar diya, aur uske paksh mei Barrister Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das ne fight kiya, unone kya bola tha, kanuniwala jo hua o hua, CR Das ne jo bola who quote karna chahta hu, “Man like this who is been charged with the offence imputed to him stands not only before the bar of the court but stands before the bar of the Hight Court of history that long after the controversy is hushed in silence long after this turmoil. This agitation sieges long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and lover of humanity.”

So aj jisko aap urban naxal kehte hai, maoist kehte hai, ho chahe nah ho, kyu ki bichar ka usko jaroorat nehi hai, inspector ke pas abhi power de diya gaya jo Assistant commissioner ke pas tha, DSP ke pas tha, Abhi Inspector ke pas vi de diya gaya, wo kisi ko vi pakar ke suparish karega iska nam fourth schedule mei karo, ye atankwadi hai, Yeh ‘atankwadi’ shabd vi British logo ka paida huy hai.

Hamare shahid Bhagat Singh ke khilaf, Khudiram Bose ke khilaf terrorist takma diya jata tha, Chandresekhar Azar ke khilaf. Sir, unko terrorist kitne banaya tha, Biritish government. Lekin aaj, unka murti kahin 6000 crore rupaya khoroch karke banaye yea na banaye, lekin har Hindustani ke dil me uyo base huye hain.

Aaj jisko hum Maoist terrorist kahte hain, aisa na ho ki 50 saal, 100 saal bad, uska tasveer ghar ghar me koyi lagaye. Sir, Gandhiji, uske khilaf bhi sedition charge lagaya gaya tha. Unhone, ‘Young India’, bolke jo magazine nikal te the, unme 1929 me unhe likha that, to unke naam mei sedition law ke – the Section 124A, uyo abhibhi hain, usme Gandhiji ne bola tha, ki sedition constituted ‘a rape of the word l”law” ‘.

Sir is tarah agar Sarkar ne chahte hain ke birodhi logoko hum tang kare, mere kheyal se yeh kanoon bhi ekdin wapas lena parega kyunki jaise Kapil Sibbalji ne bataya, yeh unconstitutional thayraha jayga, wahi PIL hoga, wahi court me jayga. Hamara pass bahut saare judgement hain, mein kah sakta tha, lekin Sir, itne kam samay me ek sirf judgment aapke saamne pesh karna chahta hu. Balbant Singh vs State of Punjab aur Anoop Bhuiyan vs State of Assam. Isme free speech ke liye jo position hona chahiye, Supreme Court has gave it pretty clear aur ant me kyonki mera time khatam hona hain, Sarkar job hi kuch karna chahte hain kar le, bahut din ke baad bhari bahumat mein, so they can follow the politics of majoretarian rule. Let them do that Sir, Hitler, Mussolini aur Stalin bhi kiya tha. Main itihas ka pyramid nehi kholna chahta hu lekin chetavani deta hu, kahi aisa na ho inko bhi yeh face karna parega. Edmund Burke 250 saal pehle kaha tha- “People crushed by law have no hopes but from power, if the laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to law”.

And finally, hamare mahakabi Haribans Rai Bachchan ji ka tin line

Tu na thakega kabhi,
Tu na rukega kabhi,
Tu na mudega kabhi,
Kar shapath! Kar shapath! Kar shapath!
Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!

Hamare Didi ne is Agneepath me chalne ke liye shapath dilaye hain, aur hum chalet rahenge is Agneepath por.

Jodi tor daak shune keu na ashe, tobe ekla cholo re.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray makes Zero Hour mention on the tragic death of the renowned founder of a chain of coffee outlets

Posted on August 1, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, the recent tragic death of the renowned entrepreneur who had set up a chain of very popular outlets all over the country has brought shock and agony to Indian corporates in particular and to the people in general. The Honourable Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Karnataka, and other leaders, including corporate leaders, have expressed their concern in the matter.

A letter was reportedly written by the deceased one day before his death to the board of directors of his company, from which it appears that he was under tremendous pressure from other stakeholders of the company as well as a particular senior officer of the Income Tax Department, whom he named. I am not in a blame game but the matter is very serious. The Government has announced and taken up so many measures for the ‘ease of doing business’; according to reports, about 5,000 million years, they have left this country last year only. If we fail to regenerate confidence among industrialists and investors, the growth rate will decrease alarmingly and the unemployment rate will also increase alarmingly. This is the position.

Therefore, my suggestion to the Government, through you, Sir, would be, let it introspect as to why an environment of despair is looming large among the industrialists and investors, including the person I mentioned here. Why did he have to commit suicide? The Government has to introspect and take adequate measures so that the confidence of the corporates and investors is re-established. This is my humble submission. Thank you.

Sisir Adhikari speaks on the rising price of cow feed

Posted on July 31, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Speaker Sir, I want to raise one important question. Garib kisano ke liye har roj Parliament mein baat chalta hain. The Government is thinking, we are also thinking. Desh mein jo gaupalak hain unlogon ke liye samasya yeh hain ki rice bran, jo cow feed hota hain, uska price Rs 10 per kg tha, woh per kg Rs 4 badh gaya hain. Har gaon mein trahi utha hain. Iske bade mein kaun dekhega? 2014 mein I had raised this question in Parliament. Toh Parliament bhej diya State ko. State bhej diya Central Government ko.

I want the matter to be examined by the Government. Who is responsible for the rise in price? You know the maze production in the country this year has already failed. A man from Tamil Nadu has had to import maze. But nowadays there is a serious crisis regarding the rising price of cow feed. Doodh ke liye aur jo gaupalan karte hain, woh bahut dukh mein hain. I want to raise this question. The whole country is suffering and the production of milk is being totally hampered.

Dola Sen speaks on The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019

Posted on July 30, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, you have rightly decided to allow discussions on two Motions together. The first Motion, moved by an Honourable Member, is for sending the bill to a Select Committee. The second Motion, moved by the Honourable Minister, is for the consideration and passing of the Bill. I will first speak on why this Bill needs to be sent for proper scrutiny to a Select Committee of Parliament. Then I will speak on the second Motion.

Let me give you some numbers. Any Honourable Member may file a Privilege Motion against me if these numbers are wrong. In earlier Lok Sabhas, 60 to 70 per cent of Bills were sent to Standing or Select Committees for scrutiny. In the last Lok Sabha, only 26 per cent of Bills were sent to committees for scrutiny. In the current session, more bulldozing is happening. Out of the 16 Bills passed by both Houses, only one has been sent to a committee for scrutiny. This is Bill number 17.

Just because an Ordinance has been brought multiple times does not mean it has been scrutinised. Just because a government has won a big majority in the Lok Sabha does not mean it can bypass the Constitution and bypass parliamentary democracy.

Since 1993, parliamentary committees have been doing a job. We have not yet become a presidential form of government nor have we yet become a dictatorship. Till that happens let us follow the rules of parliamentary democracy.

This government is desperately trying to link the passage of this Bill to women’s empowerment. So let us talk about women’s empowerment.

The present Lok Sabha has 78 women MPs. Only 14 per cent of the Members are women. The Government is saying that this is historic. No, sir, this is shameful. I should know about women’s empowerment. I represent All India Trinamool Congress, a party whose 41 per cent, yes, 41 per cent of MPs in the Lok Sabha are women. In the last Lok Sabha, 35 per cent of Trinamool Congress MPs were women. I represent a party where 50 per cent of seats at the Panchayat level are reserved for women. I represent a party which now has the only elected woman chief minister in India.

I represent a party which, through its government, has provided benefits to 60 lakh girls with its Kanyashree scheme. The United Nations awarded this initiative for women’s empowerment. Rs 7,000 crore has been spent on this scheme. Rs 7,000 crores in just one State. Beti Bachao, with due respect, has spent just Rs 700 crore for the entire country. This is just 10% of Kanyashree’s budget. We do not pay lip service to women’s empowerment like Beti Bachao, 56 per cent of whose funds were spent only for publicity. So humko women’s empowerment par bhashan nahin sunna hai, Sir.

What more can the BJP teach me about women’s empowerment? What more can the BJP teach me about supporting women? You owe your birth and identity to an organisation in Nagpur whose chief in 2013 said that a husband and a wife are bound by social contract, and if the woman fails to deliver her duties she can be abandoned. And that is why the figure for abandoned or deserted women is 23 lakh.

And I am in an organisation that gave me the chance to become the first woman State and all-India president of the trade union wing of our party.

If this government is really serious about women’s empowerment, bring the Women’s Reservation Bill. You are extending the Parliament session. Extend it by one more day and bring the Women’s Reservation Bill. Please introduce the Bill which will benefit 60 crore women. Otherwise shhussh!

During the discussion on the Triple Talaq Bill in 2017, this was said: Jahan Mardon ka sawaal aata hain wahan aap aasani se kanoon badal dete hain, aur jahan auraton ki suraksha ki baat aati hain, etc. Yeh kisne kahan tha? The Honourable BJP sansad, MJ Akbar. Chalo, main wahan nahin jayoonga nahin toh Treasury Bench embarrass ho jayenge.

So Sir, I spoke on why this Bill should go to a select committee. Now for some specifics on the Bill.

1.Remove the draconian criminality clause. As per the Bill, the husband can be jailed for three years for pronouncing triple talaq. Will the wife not be allowed to re-marry for three years? What will she do once the husband is out of jail?

2. The husband is also expected to pay for the maintenance of his wife and children. How will he pay if he is in jail? Where will he get the money from?

3. For bailable offences, bail is given as a matter of right. But in this case, subjecting the victim to additional testimony is just a formality and an additional burden on the woman. In the sayings of the Prophet, the Hadith, it is written, ‘Jitne bhi cheezon ki ejazat hai, usme sabse napasandeeda cheez talaq hai.’ So humko please lecture mat dijiye.

We are all for women’s empowerment, we are all for women’s rights. Two things I demand: One, remove the criminality clause and two, do not mock Parliament by passing this Bill today; send it to a Select Committee. Do these 2 things and we will be with you.

In conclusion, I would like to urge the Members to vote in favour of the Motion to send this Bill to a committee for scrutiny. If you actually stand for women’s empowerment, send this Bill to a committee. If you stand for Parliament, send this Bill to a Select Committee. Thank you.