Special Mention – Page 2 – All India Trinamool Congress

Nadimul Haque makes Special Mention on increased representation of minorities in PSUs | Transcript

Posted on March 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full transcript:

Sir, through you I wish to mention about worrisome low trend of representation of minorities in the public sector employment as well as in the central police forces which is only 7.8% and 9.9% respectively now.

Sir, there have been many studies conducted regarding the socio-economic condition of minorities and recommendations have been submitted to the Government and in those reports, it has been argued that minorities especially Muslims continue to be left out of both government jobs and the urbanisation wave.

Moreover, basic advantages of a better sex ratio and higher birth rate have been wasted due to lack of health facilities in areas dominated by Muslims and a high school drop-out rate. Sir, nearly six months have passed since the submission of Post-Sachar Evaluation Committee’s report but no action has been taken by the Government.

Sir, I wish to request the Government, through you, that it must incentivise both private and public sector companies to undertake large scale and strong affirmative action initiatives in skill trainings and employment opportunities for minority and especially Muslim youths. Also, there should be Government led planned recruitment drives in the time bound manner for them.

Finally, I wish to conclude by saying that the true idea of India resides in representation by we all, and it must be respected.

Thank you.

D Bandyapadhyay makes Special Mention on adverse conditions of Kolkata Metro Railway | Transcript

Posted on March 13, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full transcript:

Kolkata Metro Railway has a number of problems. They relate to infrastructure, safety as well as delay. Incidents bear out the current state of affairs.

On February 12, 2012 passengers had to be evacuated as smoke blew out of the bottom of a metro coach. A similar incident occurred on August 30, 2012.

In 2014 similar incidents again occurred. June 23, 2014, 600 passengers were stuck in a dark metro tunnel for one hour. Again on July 31, 2014 smoke was detected in a rake.

These similar incidents have clearly jeopardised lives of people. Other infrastructure related problems are also happening frequently. For example, on September 26, 2014 metro was hit by auto-signaling failure. These infrastructure and safety related problems have also disrupted the schedule of people. Schedules went haywire.

Due to lack of proper maintenance, even minor issues have turned into major problems. Even when the fares have been increased in November, 2013 up to a substantial amount of maximum of 78%, the increased earnings have not translated into better functions.

Railways must immediately take up the problem faced by the Kolkata Metro and find a permanent solution. Efficiency of services and safety has been hallmark of the Metro Railway so far. The Government must ensure serious deficiencies are ironed out quickly, in a time bound manner.

Thank You.

Vivek Gupta makes Special Mention on IMR and universal immunization in India | Transcript

Posted on March 3, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full transcript:

Sir, the gravity of child mortality in India varies significantly among the States. While West Bengal has succeeded in meeting the national targets, many States have a high infant mortality rate. We are missing the targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) – 4 and child survival goals under the 11th and the 12th Five Year Plans, falling short of the target of 27 per 1,000 live births by a considerable 15 percentage points, with the present level of 42 per 1,000 live births.

Neo-natal mortality is one of the major contributors to infant mortality, amounting to 68.5 per cent of the National Infant Mortality rate. Social determinants are as important as the direct cause of such deaths. In India, malnutrition, poverty, mother’s health, medical care, immunization. Health conditions are major causes of persisting significant rates of under-five mortality and infant mortality.

As regards the number of children dying due to pneumonia and diarrhoea, which occurs in 15 countries of the world, India has the highest number of such cases. About 40 per cent hospitalization of below-five years of children is due to rotavirus. India is expected to cover about 89 per cent children for immunization against measles by 2015 and, thus, likely to fall short of universal immunization by about 11 percent.

West Bengal has already achieved the national level MDG target of under-five mortality rate with 38 per 1,000 live births. The Government has not taken any serious measures for curtailing such an alarming situation. The need of the hour is to create a stage-wise action plan that includes nutrition, sanitation and vaccination to reduce these high figures of children’s mortality.

Derek O’Brien makes a Special Mention on the denial of Gorkha certificates to Christian Gorkhas | Transcript

Posted on December 9, 2014 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Gorkha community is famous worldwide for producing the fiercest soldiers. Serving India, Nepal and Great Britain, the people of the Gorkha community have been recruited by the army for decades.

One has to be certified as a Gorkha in order to avail relaxations in physical standards for recruitments in Military and Para Military services etc. The certificates are issued by District Magistrates or other competent authority.

Christian ‘Gorkha’ minorities are being denied the ‘Gorkha Certificate’ since, very strangely, only Hindu and Buddhist Gorkhas are considered eligible for the Gorkha Certificate. This has unfairly deprived the Christian minorities from applying for the Armed and Security Forces. Gorkhas who have converted to Christianity have been demanding the issuance of certificates for a significant period of time now.

The denial of Gorkha certificates to Christian youth smacks of discrimination. These young people are being unfairly denied the opportunity of seeking employment with the Government. They are disqualified from interviews for Police and the Center Reserve Police Forces due to their inability producing a Gorkha Certificate. Converting to Christianity does not take away from their Gorkha heritage and should not be used as a pretext for denying them the benefits that are due.

I urge the Government to intervene in this matter urgently and ensure that this anomaly in eligibility for Gorkha certification is corrected immediately. The Government must ensure that all Gorkhas are issued the required certificates in a timely manner, irrespective of their religion.

Vivek Gupta makes a Special Mention on jute industry | Transcript

Posted on July 25, 2014 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, my special mention is with reference to problems faced by jute mills in West Bengal. Our jute industry employs labour workforce of 2.5 lakh belonging to the economically lower strata of the society. The discontent of workers of such nature is alarming. The industry faces difficult situations over the past 3 years, primarily, due to competition from synthetic packaging, cheap jute imports from Nepal and Bangladesh and inconsistent supply of raw jute. The Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPMA), 1987 supports the survival of the Jute Industry by providing for provisions of compulsory packaging of grains and 20 percent of the sugar production of our 408 Uncorrected/ Not for Publication-25.07.2014 country, procured by FCI, in Jute Bags.

However, it is not being followed in true spirit. The large orders from the Government to jute mills two years ago, forced by the synthetic industry, were a target difficult to achieve. This is being used as an excuse to dilute packaging orders. Dilution of Jute packaging has hit the industry hard. They have no orders and are forced to shut the units causing severe social unrest and hardship to mill workers.

To prevent such a scenario from deteriorating any further, it is the urgent need of the hour that the Central Government must include potato in the list of items under JPMA to resuscitate the Jute sector. I urge upon the Government to provide training and focus on skill development in this sector along with technology modernisation.