Month: April 2022

Sir, you did not allow us a discussion on price rise, but thank you for this. Sir, owing to poor computer programming, people are facing hardships in redeeming their Provident Fund, NEFT transfers are being refused by the EPFO. The EPFO software is unable to process the ‘apostrophe’ in some of the surnames. The EPFO officials now ask individuals to change their surname in Government issued KYC documents such as Aadhar/Passport in order to process the PF. These names were accepted earlier in official documents and by banks. Asking to change such surnames are unfair and illegal. Why should citizens who have the apostrophe or a hyphen in their names be pressurized to change their
names? This is unconstitutional and hurts the citizens, especially of Goa. Names with an apostrophe in their surnames such as D’Cruz, D’Rozario, D’Silva, D’Gama, D’Sa, D’Mello is common, especially amongst people from
Salcete in South Goa. Many with these surnames live in eight Assembly segments namely, Nuvem, Fatorda, Curtorim, Margoa, Navelim Benaulim, Velim, Cuncolim. Besides these names of Portuguese descent, the microscopic Anglo-Indian community also have names with apostrophes such as: O’Connor, O’Brien, O’Donnel. Similarly, double-barrel names like Taylor-Smith would be rejected by the EPFO. Asking Indian citizens to
change their names because the computer programme is unable to process them is unnecessary. The Government has promised a seamless digital experience to all. I urge the Government to modify the EPFO software to accommodate names with apostrophes and hyphens. No one should be deprived of their provident funds. No one is Goa must be humiliated.

Sir, the West Bengal Government has not received any money out of the Central funds since December 26, 2021, in exception to the rule that MGNREGA funds should be disbursed after 15 days of work. Rs. 1,613.61 crore against eight crore mandays have not been released by the Centre under the MGNREGA. Bengal is currently rated second in the country in terms of mandays created under the 100-day job scheme, and first in terms of workforce strength.
Until 7th March, 33,94,59,146 mandays had been created in the current fiscal year. In terms of workforce strength, the State stands first in the country, having managed to employ a total of 1,07,98,452 workers under this scheme
throughout this time. Moreover, the Union Government has given approval of Rs. 645 crore in connection with Mission Nirmal Bangla, but no money has been released till date in the financial year 2021-22. Similarly, 38.95 lakh families were determined eligible after 56.86 families were registered under the Bangla Abas Yojana. However, Bengal did not receive the sanction, despite the fact that 23 other States did.There is an urgent need to address the delays in disbursal of funds to the Bengal Government. In the past as well, there have been delays in clearing the dues of the State Government by the Union Government. It is, therefore, imperative that the Union Government takes cognizance of the situation and immediately disburses the dues owed to the State

Sir, Goa comprises 10.23 per cent Scheduled Tribes population consisting of Gowdas, Kunbis and Velips. Even after sixty years of Goa’s liberation, these members have been unable to find full and proper representation in the State Assembly of Goa. Gowdas, Kunbis and Velips were notified under Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Act, 2002 on 8th January, 2003, yet 19 years passed, they are kept outside the Goa Assembly. This is a clear violation of Article 332 and Article 330 of our Constitution. I remember with nostalgia in 1980, I was privileged to lead the
movement for Goa’s Scheduled Tribes as President of Gowda’s Vikas Mandal, even through, I don’t belong to this community. We fought for reservation in professional colleges and employment. Today, they have the reservation in Panchayats, Municipalities, Zila Panchayats except in the Goa Assembly. This step empowered the communities to live more dignified lives at par with other citizens of Goa. However, this progress has been left incomplete as these communities were not provided their due representation in the Goa Assembly. India is the world’s largest democracy
and yet it is very sad that Gowdas, Kunbis and Velips are oppressed, suppressed and exploited socially, economically and politically, ever after 60 years of liberation of Goa and 19 years after their declaration of India’s Scheduled Tribes, earlier by the colonial powers and now due to lack of political representation. I urge the Government of India to provide proportional and equitable representation in the Goa Assembly as per the mandate of the Constitution. Thank you.

The Union Government had set a target of 49 million households to provide piped water connections under Jal Mission in FY 2021-22. However, the Government has been able to cover only 19.8 million households which is far below the target. The pace of providing piped water connections in FY 2022-23 is also likely to drop by 60 per cent which is extremely concerning. Some States such as Uttar Pradesh are also lagging behind where the State Government has been able to provide hardly 6.5 lakh connections. Bengal, on the other hand, has outperformed all other States. It ranked first among all States in terms of providing tap water connections to households since November, 2021. Bengal has provided tap water connections to approximately 23 lakh households in the current fiscal year and has set a target of providing tap water connections to 1 crore 77 lakh families by 2024 under its Jal Swapna project. Bengal can be a golden example of how the targets of providing water connections to all households can be achieved in an expedited manner without any lags. I urge the Government to take steps to ensure that the work under the Jal Mission project is expedited to ensure that every household in our country has access to water.

Sir, updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) was conducted in Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court (SC). A draft NRC was published on 30.07.18 leaving out 40,70,707 persons as ineligible for inclusion. Vide order dated 13.08.19, the SC directed the NRC coordinator to set up a security regime for NRC biometric data as per Aadhaar regime. On 31.08.2019, a final list of NRC was released. Twenty-one lakh people were included and about 19 lakh were left out. The biometrics have been withheld of about 26 lakh people including those whose names appeared in the NRC final draft list citing the Modalities. Clause 9 of the said Modalities states that once the final NRC has been published, persons who are included in it will be given an Aadhaar number as citizens. However, that has not happened on the grounds that the process of claims and objections have to be completed which can take a
long time. As a consequence, lakhs of people are deprived of basic amenities connected to Aadhaar, even though they are not declared as foreigners depriving them of their Fundamental Right of life, livelihood, education and prevents access to Government schemes, requiring mandatory Aadhaar registration. The court has stated that no coercive
action shall be taken against the people left out of the NRC until final notification. The Central Government should take steps either in court or other legislative action to release the biometric data and remove this anomaly.

Sir, my time should start from now. …(Interruptions).. Sir, my time should run from now only. …(Interruptions).. Let me submit before this august House about the historical background of enactment of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. It was, in fact, in 1915 that the Government of Bengal drew attention to two revolutionaries convicted in the Raja Bazaar Bomb Case in Calcutta, who were most persistent in the refusal to be photographed, and as a result thereof, the Government of Bengal suggested amendment to the Police Act and the Prisoners Act. This was how the 1920 Act came into being. But it was done by the colonial rulers to suppress our liberation struggle for the Freedom of our Motherland. Sir, now after 75 years of Independence, after so many sacrifices made by our
forefathers, the present rulers have stepped further in the name of developing the criminal justice system to throttle the voice of all those who are opposed to the anti-people policies of this Government. This is my first charge against this Government so far as this Bill is concerned. Sir, there cannot be clause-by-clause discussion due to paucity of time, only three hours, I don’t know why; this draconian Bill shall be discussed within three hours. Anyway,
the Government even does not agree to refer the Bill to a Select Committee. The way personal and biological data intended to be collected by force and the Government desires to pass this Bill by use of brute majority * Sir, if this Bill is a foolproof of bringing the culprit to book, then why was this Bill not referred to the Standing Committee? This is my second charge against this Government so far as this Bill is concerned. …(Interruptions).. No, no, it is Standing Committee. …(Interruptions).. It was not done before the introduction of the Bill. …(Interruptions).. Forcible collection of physical and biological samples of arrested persons, under-trials and those held under preventive laws and convicts, and keeping the data for 75 years violate the principles of natural justice. This is my third charge against this Government. Sir, equality before the law and equal protection of law under Article 14 shall be a myth if this Bill is passed. There shall be denial of protection under Article 2(3), of the Constitution which says, and I
quote, “No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against him.” But Clause 6(I) of the Bill prescribes inter alia for that if a person refuses to allow taking of such measurements, it shall be lawful for the police officer or the prison officer to take such measurements in such manner, as it may be prescribed. This is completely vague. This is against the provisions of Article 20(3), of the Constitution, and such vague and unlimited prescription has the competence to allow the Head Constable or the Head Warden to adopt even third degree method to compel a person by physical torture for taking the measurements. This is my fourth charge. Sir, my fifth charge is that the Bill also poses danger of DNA profiling of certain communities or groups. Everybody should remember that according
to the available data, 60 per cent of under-trials in Indian jails belong to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. With the effective and extensive use of DNA data in cases, these communities will increasingly suffer the burden of perceived criminality. Sir, arrested persons or undertrial prisoners will be vulnerable in the absence of personal data protection law, which has been pending since 2019, as rightly pointed out by Mr. Chidambaram. The draconian provisions of this Bill will be considered as part of other measures enacted and implemented by the Government for
control and surveillance of the people, even after the ruling of the Supreme Court that right to privacy constitutes fundamental right. Therefore *My next charge to this Government is that it should consider the opinion of the scientific community. Has this Government taken the opinion of the scientific community about the measurements? The scientific community has serious concerns about the foundational validity and the value of many measurements covered by the Bill and the inadequacy of the legal standards used to assess them. I will give you one example. There is no scientific basis for attributing uniqueness to hand-writing samples which is one of the measurements covered under the Bill. Lack of clarity in the collection and usage of the measurements heightens the possibility of
misuse, particularly of biological samples and their analysis. The Bill presents significant concerns of excessive delegation of legislative authority to the rule-making bodies as well as excess delegation of power to functionaries under the Bill, in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. These functionaries include police officers at the rank of Head Constable Magistrates as well as prison officers. In addition, the Bill creates an unreasonable classification between classes of arrestees that may be compelled to give biological samples and those who may not. Several other
provisions fail to disclose any adequate determining principle at all, and pose grave concerns of manifest arbitrariness. Sir, the Bill also fails to meet the four-fold requirement of the doctrine of proportionality laid down in the court case, Puttaswamy Vs. Government of India. The absence of demonstrated rationale nexus between the
legitimate aims of the Bill and its coverage of persons who may be compelled to provide their measurements renders the Bill an unsuitable means of achieving those aims, regardless of the provisions of the Bill, which also constitute an unnecessary and disproportionate infringement of the right of privacy. This Bill has wide-ranging implications for the right to privacy, equality and for the integrity of the investigative process. Before I conclude, I would like to say what the assessment of the scientific community is. These will be in one or two bullet points. So far as Clause 2(1)(b) of the Bill is concerned, it says about different measurements. …(Interruptions)… There is no scientific basis to attribute uniqueness to an individual. Writing samples, identification by footprint impression is an imperfect science and this alone is insufficient to connect the accused to the crime. There are no standards for guiding the examination of the fingerprints. The same thing can produce different fingerprints under different circumstances. No consensus exists while comparing palm impressions and the analysis also is prone to errors with the high rate of false negativism. Authentification failure at the national level is 8.54 per cent. I conclude by saying that I oppose the Bill. Before that, I would urge upon the Government to send this Bill to a Select Committee. Thank you.

Sir, I do not like to disturb the Member because it breaks the flow. My point of order is under Rule 238. It is under Rule 238, page 84, sub-rule (v), which says, “Reflect upon the conduct of persons in high authority…”. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra is high authority. …(Interruptions)… Wait, let me finish. …(Interruptions)… Let me finish.
…(Interruptions)…Sir, …(Interruptions)… This is the problem. Sir, it is not whether good, bad, indifferent. I am
only sticking to the rules. I do not want to disturb the Member. Simple, if you mention, it has to be based on a
substantive motion drawn in proper terms.I am afraid, this is not drawn on proper terms; substantive motion. Why should I want to disturb you? If you are… The newspaper, you cannot show

Sir, in reality, it is very, very painful to see the dalits getting mob lynched. It is even more painful to see that the
Union Ministers take food from 7 star hotels to their houses, sit there and eat there just to catch votes and then once again start ignoring them. It is very unfortunate. Article 342 of Indian Constitution speaks about Scheduled Tribes.
India has 427 tribal communities of which 130 major categories are from North East India. If we count the sub-tribes, it comes to around 300. Sir, 9 per cent of total Indian population belongs to them. Unfortunately, 92 per
cent of them stay in the remote villages without having any proper access to health, education, transport, drinking water etc. So far as Tripura is concerned, incidentally and fortunately, I got an opportunity to visit that double engine run Tripura for several purposes including political purposes. In true sense, I got the opportunity to experience how miserable the situation is so far as the lifestyle of these tribals are concerned. One-third population of total Tripura belongs to Scheduled Tribes. 19 Tribes are there. I must tell my previous speaker, who happens to be the State BJP President of Tripura, they are not at all concerned about these Tribes. They have never fulfilled their pre-poll
policies and that is why our supremo Madam Mamata Banerjee became so much concerned. My humble submission is that if you cannot fulfil your prepoll promises, give it to us, we would fulfil it. The Report of Tripura Tribal
Area Autonomous District Council says that Infant Mortality Rate is maximum in Dhalai district due to poor knowledge about breastfeeding. Maternal Mortality Rate is extremely high because of lack of knowledge about health, hygiene and malnutrition and still, even today, the rate of institutional delivery is less so far as the tribal communities are concerned. Other health issues from which they are suffering are Goitre, Pellagra, Anaemia, Beri-beri, vitamin deficiency and Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV. So far as education is concerned, more than 20 per cent school dropout cases are there. There is still gender inequality existence. So far as the Gross Enrollment Ratio is concerned, when the national average is 26.3 per cent, in Tripura, for SCs, it is 23 per cent and for STs, it is 17 per cent. …(Interruptions)… Because of poor literacy, major Tribals of Tripura could not register themselves under the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960. That is why they are still considered as encroachers most unfortunately. Even during this post-Covid employment generation, the budget was decreased. For SCs, earlier it was Rs.171 crores and it has come down to Rs.23 crores. For STs, it was Rs.89 crores and it has come
down to Rs.11 crores. The budget for Labour Welfare Scheme has also been slashed down like anything. I am requesting my previous speaker, please come over to our State of West Bengal. Just see what we have done. Sir, so far as the literacy rate of STs in West Bengal is concerned — the national average in Male is 68 per cent — it is 74
per cent. In Female, it is 49 per cent in Tripura and 51 per cent in our State of West Bengal. There is Aikyashree Project to promote education. There is post-matric scholarship to promote education, and Oasis Scholarship to
promote education. There is Jai Johar Pension Scheme, 2022, thousand rupees per month, and free electricity up to 75 units in three months and a dedicated Advisory Council. Instead of using this marginalized section of the society for political purpose, the Government of India must take up this issue seriously. My final submission will be, as this
proposed Bill seeks to amend the ST List to include the Darlong Community as a sub-tribe of Kuki which will enable to get them the benefit of reservation, I sincerely, urge all of you to support this Bill.My request to my previous speaker is to please give the opportunity to us to do it as you failed and we will prove that we can do it.

Sir, it is heard and felt that whenever there is any disaster taking place in any State, the representatives of NDMA visit that State. But it is seen that they visit and report with some ulterior motive for some particular States. So far as our State of West Bengal is concerned, in the recent past, West Bengal was badly affected by cyclones like Amphan,
Yaas, Bulbul and by Covid-19. We have seen the NDMA team visited. We have also seen our respected Prime Minister visited. But, unfortunately, we are yet to get the financial aid which we are supposed to get from the
Central Government. My question to the hon. Minister is: Why is there such a discrepancy with the most potential State run by the Opposition in West Bengal?