Tag: Rajya Sabha

SS Roy speaks during Short Duration Discussion on the power of the Governor

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Sir, with the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, it became the 115th instance since 1950. All States except Chhattisgarh and Telangana had to face President’s Rule at least once. In this respect, according to the latest Home Ministry figures, made available through RTI application, UP leads the chart: in UP, President’s Rule was imposed 10 times, followed by Bihar with nine times, Kerala, Manipur, Punjab and Odisha with eight times.

Out of 115 times, Congress and Congress-led coalitions imposed President’s Rule 84 times, that is, 73% of the total number of such instances. The BJP or BJP-led Governments imposed President’s Rule seven times. And interestingly, the Janata Party Government (the BJP’s erstwhile outfit, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh merged with Janata Party) in power from 1977 to ’79, that is, two years, imposed President’s Rule 16 times, on some flimsy and unprecedented grounds.

Sir, all of us know that the makers of our Constitution, to some extent, followed Article IV Section 4 of the American Constitution while incorporating Articles 355 and 356 in our Constitution. Sir, the background is that in 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States, he had to face some internal disturbances on the issue of slavery and the South wanted to secede from the Union. That is why he wanted to use some sweeping powers to checkmate the situation, to arrest the situation. This is how Article IV Section 4 of the American Constitution came into being.

But our Article 355 and 356 are also patterned on Section 93 of the Government of India Act, 1935; the only exception being that, under the Government of India Act, 1935, it was the Governor or the Governor-General, now the powers are vested with the President of India.

Now, the Chairman of the Drafts Committee of our Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar said – “In short, I share the sentiments that such Articles will never be called into operation and they would remain a dead letter. If at all they are brought into operation, I hope the President, who is endowed with these powers, will take proper precautions before actually suspending the administration of the provinces.”

Sir, We have not learnt from the lessons of Dr BR Ambedkar. Sir, in spite of the nine-judge Constitution Bench judgement of the Supreme Court in the SR Bommai case, no Government at the Centre had abided by the ruling of the Supreme Court and this is how the present Government has burnt its fingers intrhe case of Aruncahal and Uttarkhand.

Sir, insofar as the role of the Governors is concerned – because this discussion has two parts, one is Article 356 and the other is the role of the Governors – it seems that some of them act as agents or agents provocateurs of the ruling party at the Centre in some States. Sir, recent happenings in Arunachal and Uttarakhand have proved this once again.

Sir, now, ek Rajyapal, ek mahamahim Rajyapal, jab ki woh koi rajya mein Mukhya Mantri they, aur ek dharmiya dhancha ko giraya giya – who abhi doosre kahin Governor hain – unhone hamare national anthem ke khilaf publicly bol diya, disgraceful remarks he made against our national anthem in a public function. I made a petition to the Honourable President. I preferred substantial motion here in the House. Twice it was listed as ‘No-Day-Yet-Named-Motion’ during two sessions in quick succession – in the Budget Session and the Winter Session last – but the Government ran away from discussion. That motion was never taken up because I wanted to tell this august House that how a Governor, who has taken an oath under the Constitution, can question our national anthem; they have gone to that extent also.

How these people are appointed as Governors? This is why my party, All India Trinamool Congress, demands that Article 157 of the Constitution, which deals with the appointment of the Governor, must be reviewed and more specific and broad criteria and /or eligibility and/or qualification must be provided in the appointment of Governors if we at all want that this institution should continue.

Sir, to conclude, I would like to refer, with your permission, to one short point from a consultation paper on Article 356 of the Constitution by an Advisory Panel of National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution. So, it is a Government document. From this Government document I want to refer to only one point, my last point, and then I will conclude:

“We therefore think it advisable to suggest that Article 356 be amended to provide for the following” (there are many suggestions; I am placing only one suggestion here) – “whether the Ministry is a State has lost the confidence of the Legislative Assembly or not should be decided only on the floor of the Assembly and nowhere else. If necessary, the Central Government should take necessary steps to enable the Legislative Assembly to meet and freely transact its business. The Governor should not be allowed to dismiss the Ministry so long as it enjoys the confidence of the House. Only where a Chief Minister of the Ministry refuses to resign after his Ministry is defeated on a motion of no-confidence, should the Governor dismiss the State Government.”

Therefore, even the ruling party at the Centre, did not have any respect for the provisions of the Constitution, for the spirit of the Constitution, on what the Constitution-makers, particularly Dr BR Ambedkar, while drafting the Constitution, had given warning that you should be treated as a dead letter. The dead letter has been alive for 115 times since 1950. If we do not put a stop, it will continue for an indefinite period. The time has come that this august House must decide on this issue.

Yeh tu-tu main-main karne se kuch hone wala nahin. kabhi idhar khushi kabhi udhar gham, kabhi idhar gham udhar khushi. Yeh silsila nahin chalna chahiye. Is mein thora end lana chahiye. Is liye mein aap se nivedan karta hoon, hamare sabhi Honourable Members se, is gambhir vishay ko aur bhi charcha kare, vistar se charcha kare, aur isko review kiya jaaye whether Article 356 should be there or not, and whether the Governors, who are essentially the agents and agents provocateurs of the ruling party at the Centre, should be appointed in the States to curb the democratic elected Governments’ activities.

It must come to an end.

This is my humble submission to this august House on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress.

Thank you, Sir.    

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?

 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hails passage of GST Bill

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Welcoming the passage of the GST bill in Rajya Sabha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed hope that it will give relief to micro and small businesses and remain under single control of the states.

“We have consistently supported the idea and implementation of GST. Good constitutional amendment was passed today,” she said in a tweet.

“Now in GST Bill in Nov, all states want to give relief to micro and small businesses which must remain single control of the states,” WB CM posted on Twitter soon after the Bill passed in the Upper House of Parliament.

 

জিএসটি বিল পাস হওয়ায় খুশি মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা

রাজ্যসভায় জিএসটি বিল পাস হওয়ায় খুশি মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়। তিনি আশা প্রকাশ করেন যে ভবিষ্যতে জিএসটি বিলে ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি ব্যবসায়ীদের স্বার্থরক্ষা করা হবে এবং তারা রাজ্যের আওতায় থাকবে।

“আমরা ধারাবাহিকভাবে জিএসটি বিলের ভাবনাকে সমর্থন করে এসেছি। আজ যে সাংবিধানিক সংশোধনী পাস হয়েছে সেটি ভালো” টুইটে বলেন মুখ্যমন্ত্রী।

“নভেম্বরে যে বিলটি আনা হবে তাতে সব রাজ্যই চায় যেন ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি ব্যবসায়ীদের স্বার্থরক্ষা করা এবং তারা যেন রাজ্যের আওতায় থাকে,” তিনি বলেন।

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

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

Trinamool consistent on GST

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

Girgit Samjhauta Tax

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

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

Ping-pong politics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Slow Tactics

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

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

Implementation

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

GST cap

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

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

Role of Rajya Sabha

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

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

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

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

Consensus among States and Centre

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

Compensation

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

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

Clause 10

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

Dual control

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

Registration and Compliance

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

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

Empowered Committee

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

Move over electoral politics

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

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

Bottomline

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

 

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

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

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

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

Regional parties are consistent

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

Girgit Samjhauta Tax

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

The ping pong on GST

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

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

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

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

Who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2011?

Cap of 18% on GST rate

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

Role of a Select Committee

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

CST compensation

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

Dual control

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

Implementation

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

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

Empowered Committee

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

Rise above electoral politics

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

Bottomline

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

 

The image is representative

Md Nadimul Haque speaks during Zero Hour on adulteration of food

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Sir, main aaj ek bahut zaroori subject par baat karna chah raha hoon: adulteration in food. Sir, pehle sabzi ghee mein banti thi. Ab toh aisa ho gaya ki ghee bhi sabzi se banti hain.

Abhi Puja, Dussehra aur Diwali aane wali hain, Jaise hi teohar ka mausam aata hain, jitni mithaiyan hain, sab banna start ho jati hain. Lekin jitni mithaiyan ban rahi hain, uske andar jo ingredients ja rahe hain, us sab mein adulteration hain, Sir. Abhi doodh mein dekhiye, urea se doodh banaya ja raha hain ki mithai me usko lagaya ja sakey.

Ab kisi bhi market mein aap chale jaiyen, toh wahan par jahan par mithai banti hain, sabke haath agar dekhiyega, sab alag alag rang ke hain, jaise lag rahe hain ki Holi ho gayi hain. Kisi ka blue hain, peela hain, sab mithayi mein rang milaya ja raha hain. Aur yeh rang jo hote hain yeh bahut achhe standards ke nahin hote, aur isse aage jakar ke maulik vimari bhi. Sir, abhi TV par dikhaya tha, ki ek drum hain, usme kachhe kela ko dubaya jata aur jab nikala jata doosre din toh pak jata hai.

Toh, Sir, yeh kya ho raha hain? Main bolna chahta hoon ki cigarette mein aap warning dete hain, ki cigarette peene se yeh yeh beemari hoti hain. Toh yeh sab khane par kyon nahin hain? Har khane par bhi de dijiye. Ki wahan par kele par ki mithaiyon par ya iss par bhi, yeh sab khane par aap ko cancer ya aur bimari ho sakti hain.

Sir, healthy people will lead to a healthy nation. Jab nation healthy hogitoh jaise Olympic mein sab hamara contingent gaya hain toh medal bhi jeet ke aayenge.

Sir, one very important issue I want to raise is that of the brand called Maggi. It was recently banned by many States for various reasons, Sir. But only the State of West Bengal gave it a clean chit after examining it. Later on this ban was lifted. Sir, isme jo sabak humko sikhna hain, is that we need to be strict but we should not go on a witch-hunt and genuine manufacturers should not be harassed.

As per the Annual Public Laboratory Testing Report for the year 2014-15, Sir, 17% of the samples tested were adulterated; and it is an increase of 2 to 3% over the previous year. Whereas the conviction rate has gone down – from 3001 in ’75 it has gone down to 1445. Sir, fines collected by the FSSAI has doubled.

 

SS Roy speaks during Zero Hour regarding TPAs cheating Mediclaim policyholders

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

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

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

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

 

Thank you, Sir.

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

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

Gumnaam hain koi benaam hain koi

Kisko khabar kaun hain woh anjaan hain koi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Thank you sir.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sir, I end with this Urdu couplet:

Raat ko jeet toh sakta nahin lekin yeh chiraag

Raat ko jeet toh sakta nahin lekin yeh chiraag

Kam se kam raat ka nuksaan bahut karta.

 

Thank you, Sir

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

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

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

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