Tapas Mandal speaks on The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018

Tapas Mandal speaks on The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you, Deputy Speaker Sir, for allowing me to speak on The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018. I am much thankful to my party leader, Mamata Banerjee, my other party leaders and Trinamool Congress, and the people of Bengal belonging to the SC and ST communities.

Our leader Mamata Banerjee is trying hard to protect the people from the downtrodden classes. In Bengal, our leader cares for them and that is not my claim. The report itself says that SCs and STs are taken care of very well and are safe in the state of Bengal, as compared to the other States of India.

Today we are very happy to see the Amendment, long awaited and a welcome decision by the Government. The Government has brought this Amendment following huge pressure in this country – agitation and a lot of unrest among the Dalit communities – and due to this huge pressure the Government was bound to come to Parliament with this Amendment. It is not their intention but they have been pressured to do so. My point is that if they were really willing to make this Amendment, why then did they not come up with an Ordinance earlier? The judgement of the Supreme Court came on March 20, in the case Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs the State of Maharashtra, where the Supreme Court gave the following judgement: “The essence is that the preliminary inquiry must be prior to FIR if the member of the scheduled caste community or scheduled tribe community was harassed by the common people.”

Another concern of mine is that if the Government was really in favour of this Amendment, why then was the judge who gave a judgement against the Dalit community in the Supreme Court appointed by the Government the very next day in the National Green Tribunal? Why? This is against the interests of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities of this country. However, we feel relieved that our party, under the guidance of Mamata Banerjee, supports the Bill and the Amendment since coming to power in Bangla. People from the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities feel safe in our State and Mamata Banerjee cares for them. This is not just our claim but is borne out by the evidence of the public report of the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau).

If we look at the national statistics, we can see that since 2014, Bihar is the state which has recorded the highest rate of crime against the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe populations. For crimes against the scheduled castes specifically, Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled State is at the top, with 43.4 per cent of the crimes. For crimes against the scheduled tribe population, Rajasthan, again a BJP-ruled state, is at the top, with 12.9 per cent of the crimes. It is a shame for the country that wherever the NDA or the BJP are in power, crimes against SCs and STs are the highest.

Sir, you see, seven members of a Dalit family were publicly beaten up by a group of ‘gau-rakshaks’ for skinning a dead cow in Una town in Gujarat on May 21, 2018. Five people were accused of flogging Mukesh Vaniya, a 30-year old Dalit man, who tried to get out of a factory, to death in Rajkot, Gujarat. So a lot of crimes against SCs and STs have happened in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and in so many other States where the BJP is in power.

This Amendment proposes that preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of a first information report (FIR) against any person and secondly, the investigating officer shall not require approval for arrest, if necessary, of any person. We support these clauses. We support them for the sake of the SC and ST communities. I think nobody in this Parliament will oppose this section and this Amendment because it is a long-pending demand. It is the demand of the depressed classes, it is the demand of the SC and ST communities and all of us support this Amendment.

If we look at the statistics, then we will see over 1.44 lakh cases of atrocities against scheduled castes and 23,408 cases of atrocities against scheduled tribes came for trial before the judiciary in 2016, as per the last available data of NCRB. In the case of scheduled castes, trial was completed in only 10 per cent of the cases and just a fourth of those ended in convictions. In case of scheduled tribes, trial was completed in only 12 per cent of the cases and only a fifth of those ended in conviction. So the number of courts exclusively for cases under the SC/ST Act is very less as compared to the requirement. Out of the 700-odd districts, only 194 have exclusive courts for the SC/ST Act. The other districts also need these kind of exclusive courts to give proper justice to the communities.

Poor rate of convictions point to an unfinished agenda identified with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The law commonly called the SC ST Act requires all states to provide for an ample number of special courts that can hear cases of atrocities against SC/STs. The rising tendency of atrocities and falling convictions are the concerns of the country right now. Thus almost 90% of the cases filed under SC/ST Act languish at the end of every year and when they do manage to complete trial, on an average five years later, and majority of the accused are acquitted. If we go to the increase of crimes against SC/STs between 2010 and 2016, we will see crime has increased by 10% against SC and 6% against ST. We see a rise of the pending cases against SC and ST. During 2016 pending cases were 91% against SC and 78% against STs. Conviction for crimes against SC/ST during 2016 was only 16% and 2010 it was 38%. My question is it was far better in 2010 where the conviction was 38% and, when this present government took over, the percentage came down to 16%. This means conviction is reduced to very large extent and pendency of the cases are increasing.

As much as 98.6% of all the crimes against Scheduled Castes that came for trial in 2016 did not end in conviction. In the cases of crimes against ST, 99.2 % cases did not see conviction, and this is the failure of the present government. Total 14 states have special courts mandated by Section 14 of the Act. Others have designated district and the sessions courts for this purpose; 10% of the cases of the crimes against SC/ST under police investigation are labelled as false.

So these are the problems that we are having in our country. If we see the crimes and atrocities against persons of SC, we will see high prevalence states like Uttar Pradesh 25.6%, Rajasthan 12.6 %; if we see metropolitan cities, high prevalence of the crimes and atrocities against SC, the cities are Jaipur in Rajasthan, Lucknow, Kanpur in UP. These all are the states ruled by BJP governments. Since 2014, crimes against STs have seen an overall decrease of 3.8% only with a significant drop of 8% in 2015. So it is our concern also. High convictions but huge backlog. The judiciary is the body in charge of enforcing the rights of SC/STs under the Act by conducting a fair trial and convicting in case of guilt. Conviction rate for cases involving SC/ST atrocities are slightly below the all India rate of 21% and for STs 20.8% and are significantly higher in cases involving SC 25%. Conviction rates are particularly low in states like Karnataka, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. In case of Rajasthan, a lot of incidents and crimes against SC/STs have happened, and at the police investigations stage, a total number of 1,060 cases were disposed by the police due to mistake of fact of the victim. Out of these cases, 691 of these took place in the state of Rajasthan. This is a serious concern where most of the SC/ST people are being beaten up by the mob and in the name of mob-lynching, in the name of hate crimes, mostly the downtrodden people the SC/ST and the minorities are the victims. So, these things happened mostly in the states where the BJP government rules.

Many of the people Honourable members they were talking about Ambedkar and his contributions. I only want to make few points. Ambedkar is now a point of business. BJP is doing business with this name, INC is doing business with this name. We, the common people, we the people from the downtrodden classes, we should not see Ambedkar will be a point of business. Baba Saheb Ambedkar is a father-figure and if we want to respect him, we have to pay respect to the downtrodden community of this country. That is not there in this country specially in the BJP ruled areas.

I want to give some suggestions, number one, establishment of the courts exclusively for SC/ST communities in the whole country, the number of courts is very less as compared to the present requirement. Therefore establishing the maximum number of courts exclusively for the cases for the SC/STs should be established. Vacancies in the courts to be filled up immediately with priority. So that the increasing tendency of the cases could be minimum.

Then, justice, that is the ultimate objective for downtrodden people. They should not wait for a long time. They have to wait for five years, ten years, fifteen years and after that no judgement comes. Therefore speedy justice is required for the people.

Empowerment of the SC/ST community people, that is another issue. By giving them the proper education, legal facilities, you can improve their social status. And lastly, I want to highlight those points, the implement of the Tribal Sub Plan, SC Sub Plan, the implement of funds under these plans. It is required and the diversion of the funds is not required. Deputy Speaker Sir, with these words I from my party rise for supporting this amendment. Thank you.

Tapas Mandal asks a Supplementary Question on poor quality of food served in trains

Posted on March 29, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, an incident happened yesterday on board the Rajdhani Express bound for Sealdah. Many passengers started vomiting after consuming the food served on the train for dinner. They became unwell.

Passengers travelling in B-8, B-9, B-10 compartments demonstrated at Asansol station regarding the poor quality of food served on train. One passenger lodged a complaint at Sealdah station. One official of Eastern Railways said incidents like this happen very often.

I want to ask the Hon. Minister for how long will incidents like this happen? For how long will passengers have to bear the brunt? If this is the condition of Rajdhani Express, I wonder what is the situation in other trains.

Tapas Mandal speaks on Demands for Grants for the Agriculture Ministry

Posted on March 15, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam Speaker thank you for allowing me to raise the points on Demands for Grants 2017-18 for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Agriculture continues to be backbone of the economy. It employs 56% of the workforce.

The total share of agriculture and allied sectors in terms of GDP is 13.9%.

Over 58% of the rural households depend on the agriculture as their principal means of livelihood.

India’s GDP is expected to grow at 7.1% in the financial year of the 2016-17 while agriculture GDP is expected to grow at 4.1%.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spice products.

India’s fruit production has grown faster than vegetables making in the second largest fruit producer in the world.

The agro-industry in India is divided into several sub segments such as canned, dairy and frozen fruits to fisheries, meat, poultry and grains.

But there are some other points:

70% of the farmers never heard about the direct cash transfer.
Only 27% have heard about land acquisition law.
83% of the farmers are clueless about the foreign direct investment.
70% of the farmers never contacted any Kisan Call Centres.

Demonetisation affected the farmers adversely. What steps taken by the government given importance to the agriculture sector? What are the benefits and what is the road map of the agriculture sector? The economy contribution of agriculture to India’s GDP is steadily declining with the country’s broad based economic growth. Still agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the human and socio-economic fabric of India. Slow agricultural growth is a concern for policy makers as some two third of India’s population depend on rural employment for a living.

Current agricultural practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable and India’s yields for many agricultural commodities are low. Poorly maintained irrigation systems and almost universal lack of good extensional services are among the factors responsible. Farmers’ access to markets is hampered by poor roads, rudimentary marketing infrastructure and excessive regulation.

It will be essential for India to build up productive, competitive and diversified agricultural sector and facilitate rural non-farming entrepreneurship and employment. Encouraging policies that promote competitions in agricultural marketing will ensure farmers receive better prices. Although India has attained self sufficiency in food staples the productivity of its farm is below that of Brazil, United States, France and many other even developing countries.

Indian wheat farms, for example, produce about 1/3 of the width per hectare per year compared to farms in France. Rice productivity in India was less than that of China. Other staple crops’ productivity in India is similarly low. Indian Total Factor Productivity growth remains below 2% p.a.; in contrast, China’s Total Factor Productivity growth is above 6% p.a, even though China also has small holding farmers. Several studies suggest that India could eradicate its hunger and malnutrition to become a major source of food for the world by achieving productivity comparable to other countries.

Regarding farmers suicide, in 2012 the National Crimes Record Bureau of India reported 13,754 farmers committed suicide. Farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides in India. Activists and scholars have offered a number of conflicting reasons for farmer suicides such as monsoon failure, high debt burdens, genetically modified crops, government policies, public mental health, personal issues and family problems. But we are going through a heavy agrarian crisis of Indian agriculture.

Indian agriculture is undergoing a structural change leading to a crisis situation. The rate of growth of agriculture output is gradually declining in the recent years. The contribution of agriculture to GDP comes down to less than half within the third years span. The deceleration of agriculture started from the early 1990s and it became sharp from the late 1990s.

The trend in the areas input use and capital stock and technology also reflect the agricultural downfall. All these trends show that the agricultural sector in India is facing a crisis today. It is alarming that the average monthly income of farmer houses is quite less considering minimum living standards. The suicide in farming and the agricultural sector in India is a matter of concern.

About 40 % of the farming community is on the verge of leaving agriculture as their profession due to huge loss in farming practices. The young generation is not interested in farming any more; it is said that the root cause of the crisis is that agriculture is no more a profitable economic activity when compared to the other enterprises. It means the economic activities derived from these activities not sufficient enough to meet the expenditures of the cultivators and therefore unless agriculture is made a profitable enterprise the present crisis cannot be solved.

The related factors responsible for the crisis include dependence on rainfall and climate, liberal import of agricultural products, reduction in agricultural subsidies, lack of ease credit to agricultural dependence on money lenders, decline of government investment in agricultural sectors and conversion of agricultural land into alternative uses.

The government invokes the name of Ambedkar all the time but does nothing for the people of Ambedkar; please allocate proportionate part to agriculture following SC/ST sub plan not through SC/ST welfare schemes.

The government talks of giving emphasis on looking towards Eastern India but what has the government given Eastern India, specially West Bengal, which is the gateway of Eastern India?

We have a legitimate demand for setting up of a Central Agricultural University in West Bengal. West Bengal is playing a leading role in the country in agriculture and horticulture sector. In spite of that, West Bengal is deprived from getting Central Agricultural University. Central Horticulture University is also a demand from the Government. In Horticulture, West Bengal Government is much ahead of other states. As compared to other major states, West Bengal has very few ICR Research Institutes. We need more institutes, sub-centres, like, CRIDA, IIHR, IIVR, RRI etc. in the state of West Bengal. I hope that the Minister will consider these aspects in his next Budget.

This government talks of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash, but is depriving West Bengal. We need more funds to be allocated for the development of agriculture in the state of West Bengal.

There is a saying in Bengali: “Ghoray Choriya Moddo Hantiya Cholilo” meaning a very dangerous man is riding on the horse gently. The actions of this government, which has a huge mandate, reminds us of that saying.

In the end, I would like to add that West Bengal is an example for the rest of the country to follow regarding implementing crop insurance scheme. Thank You.

Tapas Mandal speaks on The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Posted on February 7, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, Iss Bill ke virodh mein nahin hain hum, lekin kuch kuch iss Bill mein hain jiske bare mein hum question kar sakte hain. Kyunki jo Bill hain, jo pehle Ordinance tha, and that was the 26th ordinance made by the Government since inception – inn logon ka aur iss Government ka loktantra par kitna vishwas hain isi se hi pata chalta hain.

Minimum wages ke bare mein kuch iss Bill pa nahin hain. Saare desh main unorganised sector mein bahut log kaam kar rahe hain, jin logon ko bahut kam tankhwa milte hain. Yeh minimm wages ko badana chahiye – iska pravdhan iss Bill pe nahin hain. Iss Bill pe yeh nahin kaha gaya ki hamara Paschim Bangal mein bahut saare tea workers hain, jute workers hain, jin logon ko tankhwa nahin mil rahe hain.

Mamata Bandyopadhyay ne bahut bar keh chuke hain, hamare mananiye sansadon ne baar baar yeh mudda uthaya hain iss Sansad mein. Lekin Government ka dhyan iss par nahin hain.

Iss mauke pe main phir appeal karta hoon, hamare tea workers ke liye, jute workers ke liye aap rupiya bheje jis se un log zindagi achhe se jee sakey. Yeh jo kanoon tha 1936 ka – 80 saal purana ek kanoon – jis mein rupiya milne ka ek hi tarika tha, jab paid through coins or cash. Abhi iss mein kya mila? In addition to the existing payment modes, unka account mein rupiya jayega aur cheque mein jayega. Toh kiya iss mein jo exploitation ho raha hain, kam ho jayeja? Yeh mera sawal hain. If you want to continue and maintain transparency in transaction modes, at least make it digital, and not retain payment through cash or coins. Yeh nahin hona chahiye. Yeh hamara kehna hain.

Hamare iss Bill pe jo kuch hain hum sweekar karte hain, lekin jo nahin hain iske bare mein thoda sa vichar kare, kyun ki jo companiyan hain, industry hain, woh log exploit karte rehte hain. Uske bare mein kya action lena hoga, kya mudda uthana hain iske bare mein koi provision nahin hain. Iske bare mein the Government should think about, and they should take some stringent actions against those who are violating the laws. Iss ke liye hum kehte hain ki to take actions to set up an institute that will monitor the transparency in mode of payment, and if there is any discrepancy they can sort it out, and take actions according to the law. Yeh hamare kehna hain.

Yeh jo Bill hain hum swagat karte hain lekin hamare desh mein itne saare workers hain, itse saare sramik hain organised aur unorganised sector mein, un logon par dhyan digiye. Hamare tankha bahut hain, hamare salary bahut hain lekin jo aam aadmi hain, jo garib hain, jinke liye Mananiye Pradhan Mantri ne sawal uthate hain, unka koi nahin hain. Un par dhyan digiye,, unka tankha badhaiye, aur unko jo minimum wages de rahe hain usko bhi badhaiye – aap ka bhala hoga, hamare liye achha rahega, desh ka bhala hoga. Isi shabdo ke saath mein aap ko dhanyavad deta hoon. Dhanyavad.

Tapas Mandal speaks on Railway Budget 2016

Posted on March 8, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

I am thankful to you for allowing me to speak on the Railway Budget and I am also thankful to my leader Ms. Mamata Banerjee. She was the Railway Minister for two times in the Union Cabinet and she did a wonderful job. After her departure from the Ministry, it remained vacant. She glorified the Ministry. She was the ornament of that Ministry. Right now, when we are looking at the Ministry, nobody is there who is really fighting for the common people of this country. Suresh Prabhu Ji, I think, has some management background. He has that kind of outlook and he has got nobody to satisfy. He pleased some sections of this country, including Maharashtra. The Government is all the time talking that it is looking towards eastern India but his Railway Budget has not reflected that.

West Bengal is deprived of getting anything from the Railway Budget 2016-17. Nothing has been given to the State of West Bengal. That is why, as an initial repercussion, our hon. Chief Minister told the media that it was a big zero. That was the first expression to the media. The Railway Minister announced a lot of things and unlike other Ministers, if we look towards the Budget Speech of the former Railway Ministers, all of them usually used to announce a lot of new trains and the survey of new lines, Suresh Prabhu Ji has set a new trend by not announcing any new train. I think this is a good step. What he has started may be helpful for the future of this country but right now, we are the elected Members of Parliament and we have some expectations. People have some expectations from us. By this way, we cannot please our constituency people. This is our compulsion. I request the hon. Railway Minister to look into the matter and when you go for presenting your next Budget, at least do something so that we can tell our people that Suresh Prabhu Ji has done a good thing.

Most of the times, you are talking about the cleanliness of the railway stations and trains. Most of the times, the railway stations, including town stations, urban stations, semi-urban stations and village stations, are very much ugly. The toilets and the urinals are very dirty.

Nobody can go there. These are fully neglected. People are not working there. So, when you are talking and giving more emphasis on cleanliness of the station, please ensure that the toilets, washrooms of the stations, be cleaned.

The bed-rolls, particularly, served for the higher classes of different express trains are not washed regularly or rather, I should say, not even washed. You give some instructions so that cleaned and washed bed-rolls should be provided to passengers because this is their legitimate demand.

The welcome decision is that there is no price-hike in this Budget. I welcome this decision. Then, announcement of Wi-Fi connection at 100 stations and in the coming years it would be increased to 400 stations is a very good decision and that can fulfill the aspirations of the youth of this country. There are a lot of poor passengers who really need the help of the Ministry. So, by announcing Deen Dayal coaches, you can cater to the needs of the everincreasing demand of the poor sections of our community. In the tropical areas, particularly in the southern part of our country, the railway stations do not have water freezers. It is a long pending demand of the passengers. So, please ensure to install water freezers at each and every station. This is the minimum requirement of the passengers.

The Railways has a bad reputation of running the trains late. This is also a very important aspect. Please look into this matter so that the trains can run on time. People say that the staff members of the Railways are discourteous. Their behaviour is not passenger-friendly.

So, the staff members of the Railways need to be trained and they should be provided with some other facilities so that in future, in due course of time, they can behave friendly with passengers and other people.

Now, if we look back to our State, West Bengal, what have you done? What have you given? You have given nothing except 12 road-over-bridges, one doubling of the existing rail line, a new metro route in Kolkata and two freight corridors from Kharagpur. I am happy that you have given two road-over-bridges in my constituency, one is Simurali-Chakdaha and another is Birnagar-Badkulla. So, I am very much thankful to you.

But I have some other compulsions. Mr. Minister, many a time, I wrote letters to you regarding my constituency problems but even after a long period of two years, I did not get anything or any action from your end. First of all, what I mentioned was that the Ministry should take up the Ranaghat sub-way, and right now the sub-way is almost completed and that is made only for the use of pedestrians.

But the legitimate demand of the people of this town is to make this motorable because Rangaghat town is divided into two halves by the railway station and the railway lines. In the eastern part, there are no facilities.

In the western part of the city, hospitals, nursing homes, post office, college, banks—everything is there. So, when people are coming from the eastern part to western part for taking treatment, they are not coming easily because almost all the time the railway gate is being closed. That is why, there is a legitimate demand to make this sub-way motorable. You assured me verbally but still this work is pending. I request, through you, Sir, that before the completion of the subway, please make the sub-way motorable so that at least the small ambulances can come from the eastern side to the western side.

There are a number of unmanned level crossings in my Constituency. There are a number of railway stations at Bahirgachi. There is another important unmanned level crossing between Ranaghat and Coupers Halt. So, these need to be looked into so that the people will not be in danger.

You are talking about safety, security, etc., of the railways. So, there are a number of unmanned rail crossings under my constituency.

Please look into the matter and announce something in the next budget. The Union Government established an AIIMS at Kalyani. It is 50 kilometres away from Kolkata. It needs to be connected through metro stations because there is AIIMS, there is IISER and there are a number of institutes. So, a new metro route from Barrackpur to Kalyani is required. This was surveyed by the earlier Government. You do something so that this viable project can be completed in course of time.

Ghugia is another proposed halt station between Payradanga and Chakdaha. It is also a long pending demand. The former Minister inaugurated that station but still the work is not being done. It was just an announcement. I request the hon. Minister to start the work on Ghugia halt.

Then, a huge problem is being faced by daily passengers. The former Minister took a decision to increase the compartment numbers from nine to 12, which is still pending. Most of the stations are completed and can accommodate 12 compartments. But still the number of compartments in trains has not been increased. I request you to increase the same so that the increasing number of passengers can safely travel in them.

There is a huge rush during office hours. Millions of people travel during office hours in Sealdah-Bongaon section and Sealdah- Ranaghat section. I request you to increase the number of passenger trains so that the ever-increasing number of office goers can travel through them and get satisfied by your announcement of new trains in peak hours.

The two important stations – Nabadwip Dham and Shantipur Dham to Vaishnav Dham temple – fall under my constituency. I request you to announce them as heritage stations because millions of pilgrims go there and attend the festivals. I request you to extend more facilities to these stations.

With this, I conclude.

Thank you.

Tapas Mandal makes a Zero Hour Mention on better amenities for Ranaghat

Posted on February 25, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Ranaghat is the most important and busiest Railway station in my constituency. The Railway lines in Ranaghat divide the whole city into two parts. The western part has so many amenities like hospitals, nursing homes, banks etc but eastern part don’t have. Both the sides have equal population.

When the people eastern part comes to the western part most of the times the Railway gates its close duty high frequency of train movements. Therefore the critical patients they sometime breathe their last at the closed gate.

That’s why the local people have their demand for having a motor able subway so that the ambulances can come from the eastern part to western part. And that long pending demand has been neglected by the Ministry of Railway since 10-15 years.

My request to the Railway Minister through you Sir please, before completion of the pedestrian subway you convert it into a motor able subway so that critical patient can be saved.

Dr Tapas Mandal speaks on the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015

Posted on December 2, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, I am thankful to you for allowing me to speak on the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The amendment of the Bill is a reflection of the demands of the day. The Bill would enable the Government to revise the liability limits of air carriers in line with the Montreal Convention, which was acceded by India in 2009.

The amendment also enables the Government to revise the liability limits as per notification of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The International Civil Aviation Organization determined an inflation factor of 13.1 per cent which exceeded 10 per cent, the threshold stipulated for triggering an adjustment in the limit of liability. Article 24 of the Montreal Convention provides for revision of liability limits of air carriers for damages in relation to carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo at a five year interval.

As per revised compensation package, the Bill intends to review the liability limit for damage in course of death or body injury for individual from 1,00,000 SDRs to 1.131 SDRs that is, more or less equivalent to Rs 1 crore in Indian currency. The liability in case of destruction, loss or delay of baggage of individuals has been raised from 1000 SDRs to 1131 SDRs. The liability in case of destruction, loss or delay of carriage of cargo has been raised to 17 SDRs to 19 SDRs.

Presently, one SDR is equivalent to around Rs 88 or Rs 89 of Indian currency. The currency value of SDR varies, as Shri Rudy pointed out, with the market rates of major currency like US dollar, Pound Sterling, Japanese Yen and Euro. I support the Amendment which facilitates fire compensation and prevents Indian passengers from discrimination. I want to highlight some important issues for the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The most important aspect of consideration for air travellers is safety, security and comfort. Is it addressed at all by the Ministry?

The Government is often saying that India is a global player, a powerful tiger. Yes, India is a tiger. But if we see our safety and comfort in airports, India seems to be a sleeping tiger. Is there any unlawful nexus to promote private airlines by allotting the best departure time from different airports of this country? Why is the Air India not allocated prime times for its own flights? Why is the Air India only bridge to the North Eastern States and why not the private airlines? Why is the Government not giving its look towards the common passengers of this country? What about the service aspect of the pilots of Air India? Why are the most efficient and best performing pilots leaving Air India? Are they joining private airlines and foreign airlines for better salary, for tax free income?

If a pilot making expenditure from the Government’s end is about Rs 30 lakh, what is the cost of the service bond? What is the Government status to increase the amount of the service bond? I would urge upon the Minister to please look into the matter very seriously. The Bill is dealing with liability. But what is the duty of the Government to intervene? We know that prevention is always better than cure. Try to improve security, safety and comfort level for the common passengers. Try to ensure and maintain schedule time of departure and arrival, apologise timely, if not, let the passengers know the up-dates, serve better foods, issue boarding pass carefully, then you may not be worried about the amount of liability increase.

The Government may not spend much amount of money for liability because the money ultimately comes from the pocket of the common people. With these few words, I conclude my speech.

Tapas Mandal speaks during discussion on The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 | Transcript

Posted on March 18, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full transcript:

The premier warehousing agency in India, established in 1957 providing logistical support to the agricultural sector, is one of the biggest public warehouse operators in this country offering logistics service to a diverse group of clients. CWC is operating in 464 warehouses across the country with a storage capacity of 10.8 million tonnes; providing warehousing service for a wide range of products ranging from agricultural produce to sophisticated industrial products. Few amendments were introduced in the House for passing. The Corporation is a Schedule A, Mini Ratna Category 1 Public Sector Undertaking with effect from 23 September, 2009.

Based on that, the guarantee would be withdrawn as the Central Government disassociates from its responsibility from being a guarantor.

I am unable to understand why the Government is keeping away from the profit making body? What is the intention behind it? It is a fact that Mini Ratna awardee public enterprises do not get financial support or government guarantees as per the provisions.

I think by passing this Amendment the beneficiaries may feel insecure. It is an unwise decision where the Government is running with debts.

The Corporation is constantly making profits and paying dividends to its shareholders. CWC paid dividend at the rate of 41% of the equity for the year 2012-13.

According to the statement of the objects and reasons of the Bill, the Government has also not given any guarantee besides the payment of minimum guarantee dividend as required under some provisions of the Act.

The storage capacity utilization was 86% in 2013-14. I think that needs to be probed in due course of time. Sufficient warehousing facilities need to be extended for agricultural produce. Around 20% to 30% of the total food grain harvested is wasted due to inadequate facilities. Only 29% of the space accounts for agro warehousing. India needs to recalibrate its strategy to mitigate the challenge of high food grain wastage due to lack of scientifically sound storage facilities in this country and high inflation due to lack infrastructures like cold storage and refrigerated transport as it leads to the wastage of food and vegetables.

The Central Railside Warehouse Company under this CWC decided to construct railside warehouse worth Rs 15 Crore in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam and Karnataka. There was a same proposal for Malda in West Bengal during the last financial year, which has been refused by the Railways.

I request the Government to rethink it as this project is vital for the merit and its vital geographical advantage for the whole country. I conclude with this expectation that the Government will look into it seriously.

Thank you.

Tapas Mandal speaks on Rail Budget 2015 – 16 | Transcript

Posted on March 12, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full transcript:

Thank you, Sir. I am thankful to you Sabhapati ji and my leader Mamata Banerjee, for allowing me to speak a few words on the Railway Budget 2015.

This is a unique Budget, propagating discomfort to the people of West Bengal.

First of all, I thank you Prabhu ji, to make it clear that West Bengal is not in the priority area of the NDA Government. Though, your Government is focussing on improvement of the eastern part of our country, as evidenced many times, inside the House and outside the House. By presenting this Budget, at least you have proved that either your leader is committing some mistake or you. It is my privilege, to hope that you are wrong.

Why, I am saying this, is because there are no specific budget allocations for projects in West Bengal. Projects of Rs 100 Crore are stuck in West Bengal. Allocation is very limited. Sometime back, Mr Ramesh Bidhuri from that side made adverse comments on Mamata Banerjee. She announced some viable projects in her tenure. It was not completed and continued due to the budgetary provisions by subsequent Government.

I would like to state that, Mamata Banerjee is the most popular Railway Minister in Independent India. Sir, there is no mention of Metro Railway projects in the annexure of Railway Budget 2015. Please take this proposal from the eastern part of the country, for execution and your kind consideration.

My concern is my people, the people of my constituency and the people of West Bengal. We have lots of complaints and lots of grievance. I hope, that this may be your problem also, because you are also an elected member.

Please look into the matter as the Prime Minister of our country is supposed to look at the east.

Last year when the Finance Minister presented his General Budget, he declared to set up an AIIMS at Kalyani in Nadia district of our State.

Kalyani is an upcoming smart city. May you, show your kripa on Kalyani Metro via Barrackpur proposed route. When our leaders were the Railway Ministers they had sanctioned some amount for surveying the possibility of those proposed line. I think this will be a vital proposal for implementation.

The numbers of local EMU trains running in Sealdah and Howrah station are not sufficient. The frequency of the local trains needs to be increased at least during the peak office hours. Millions of passengers are travelling in these sections each and every day. The number of compartments in the local trains needs to be increased from nine to 12, for accommodating the ever increasing number of the passengers.

The suburban railway stations of almost all states including West Bengal are being neglected for so many years. I want to draw you attention to the suburban railway stations. The toilets, the bathrooms of the suburban railway stations are in very bad conditions. You should look into the matter.

In my constituency, Ranaghat, the historical city, the railway station and the railway tracks run through the middle of the city. There should be an underpass for these areas. The initial work has already been done. The remaining part must be completed to facilitate the process of people’s movement from one place to other part.

There are a lot of unmanned level crossings falling under my constituency. One of such unmanned level crossing is between Ranaghat station and Cooper’s Camp Halt. This is a highly populated area and this should be looked into.

I would like to mention another important point. A lot of poor people live alongside the railway stations and railway tracks. They are from very poor background and they are from Bangladesh as refugees. Please look into the matter of their rehabilitation in better areas.

I conclude my speech with the expectation that all of these proposals will be looked into.

Thank you.