___

SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______

Friday, August 5, 2016 / Shravana 14, 1938 (Saka) ______

REFERENCES BY SPEAKER

(i) Re: 71st anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon'ble Members, you may recall that 71 years ago, atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August,

1945 respectively, which caused unprecedented devastation there. This tragedy resulted in death of thousands of innocent people and millions were also injured and crippled for life. Today, even after nearly seven decades, the residents of these two cities continue to suffer from the after-effects of radiations and it is still adversely affecting our environment.

India has always followed the path of harmony, peace and ahimsa and has always played a pioneering role in promoting these values.

On this day, let us resolve to create a world for peaceful co-existence.

We chant following Mantra for protecting of environment in our Indian culture:-

"Om dyoh Shantirantariksha shantih Prithavih Shantirapah shantiroshadhayah shantih

Vanaspatayah shantirvishwadevah shantirbrahma shantih

Sarva shantih shantirev shantih sa ma shantiredhi

Om shantih shantih shantih II"

The Members then stood in silence for a short while.

(ii) Re: The Indian Contingent's participation in the 31st Summer

Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5th August, 2016.

HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon. Members, as you are aware that 31st Summer

Olympic Games are going to start from today i.e. the 5th August, 2016 in Rio de

Janeiro of Brazil. This is the first Olympic Games to be organized on the South

American Continent.

Olympic Games play a significant role in the promotion of friendship, goodwill and harmony amongst athletes as well as nations.

The biggest ever contingent of is going to participate in this Olympic

Games. This House, on behalf of all countrymen, conveys its best-wishes to the Indian contingent that our players not only perform well and win, but also win the hearts of people through their sportsman spirit and enhance the glory of the nation.

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

Re: Recent visit of the Minister of Home Affairs to Pakistan to attend the

7th Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Interior/Home.

THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI RAJNATH SINGH): I had participated in the 7th Meeting of Home Ministers held on the 4th August, 2016.

The prominent items on the Agenda were terrorism, smuggling of narcotic drugs, cyber crime and human trafficking. Most of the participating nations strongly condemned terrorism in all its manifestations.

On India's behalf, I laid special emphasis on the scourge of terrorism. I am sure all the Members of this august House would agree with me that the biggest challenge to the peace and prosperity of South Asia is terrorism. I called for hardening our resolve to eradicate this menace of terrorism.

I also urged upon all the SAARC member nations to ensure that terrorism is not glorified and is not patronized by any State. One country's terrorist cannot be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone else. I had clearly pointed out that strongest possible steps need to be taken, not only against terrorists and terrorist organizations but also those individuals, institutions, organizations or nations that support them. Only this will ensure that the forces engaged in promoting the heinous crime of terrorism against humanity are effectively countered.

In addition, in this meeting of SAARC Home Ministers I, on India's behalf, placed the following suggestions:-

The ban on terrorism imposed by the international community must be

respected.

Attempts to distinguish between good and bad terrorists should be

done away with, as this would be a mistake.

Effective action is required against all those countries which

support or encourage terrorism in any way, whether they are state or

non-state actors.

Strict legal action to be taken to ensure that those involved in

terrorist acts do not escape prosecution and punishment, and are

extradited so that they cannot escape prosecution. The Government of

India has already written for extradition of many persons.

All the member states, who have not ratified SAARC convention on

Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters, need to ratify the same. The member states who have not yet given their acceptance to set up

SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) should give

their concurrence for the same.

I made a special mention at the Conference on the number of new initiatives taken in India such as 'Track Child' and 'Operation Smile'. In addition, I brought to the notice of the participants the measures taken by the Indian Government for honest, transparent and accountable governance through schemes such as 'Jan

Dhan Yojna' and 'Aadhar'.

The following initiatives were declared on India's Behalf in the SAARC meeting of Home Ministers and Home Secretaries:-

Technical assistance for effective implementation of STOMD and

SDOMD.

A meeting of eminent experts of the SAARC Anti-Terrorism

Mechanism is being hosted by India on September 22-23, 2016.

Fortunately, all the member states have agreed to participate the said

meeting

Capacity Building Programmes in India to strengthen drug control

mechanisms of the member states. Offered to host the first meeting of SAARC Computer Emergency

Response Teams (CERTs).

In so far as our neighbour is concerned, I would like to inform hon.

Members that Pakistan is yet to ratify the SAARC convention on Mutual

Assistance on Criminal Matters. Pakistan is also yet to convey its concurrence on setting up of STOMD and SDOMD. Pakistan mentioned that they would act soon on these issues. I only hope and wish that the 'soon' would actually be soon.

The dark clouds of terrorism are enveloping not only South Asia, but the entire world. The entire world community is aware and extremely worried of this grave danger. India has clearly given out its message against this evil which endangers humanity. Most of the participating Member Nations also have expressed their concerns against the scourge of terrorism. Hon'ble Speaker, I would like to emphasize that India had given this message for the sake of humanity and for protection of human rights. Hon'ble Members of this august House would agree with me that terrorism is the biggest enemy of mankind.

DISCUSSION UNDER RULE 193

Re: Sustainable Development Goals - Contd.

SHRI VIRENDRA SINGH: How to bring about sustainable development is the subject on which discussion is going on. In other countries of the world, development is achieved by squeezing out the nature but in our country, the nature is differently related to our society and individual. Nature is held in esteem as mother in our country. The sustainable development can be achieved only with the development of villages. I would like to say that there has been an absence of coordination among the departments associated with the development work since the attainment of independence which has resulted into the wastage of Government funds. So, the Government should ensure coordination among these departments.

The country can only develop by developing the villages. Country's sustainable development is possible only by developing the agricultural sector. Progress is only possible when the Government and the society works together. Farmers and the people living in villages can only make the country prosperous. Efforts should be made to give the farmers remunerative prices. The Government has encouraged the farmers due to which the area under pulses has increased. Pradhan Mantri

Sadak Yojna is a very effective scheme. If villages and farms are linked, it will lead to increased production by enabling the farmers to plant two crops. Pradhan

Mantri Sinchai Yojna too is a very beneficial scheme. I have made arrangements for irrigating my farms through solar energy which brought down the input cost by

30 per cent. If schemes are made in coordination with all departments, then wastage of public funds can be prevented. This will be sustainable development.

When there is drought, we should perform yajna for rains. Development based on the western model will ruin our country. Development of India should be reflected in the prosperity of our farmers. The present Prime Minister is the first Prime

Minister who inspired the Members of Parliament to adopt one village for model development. This is also an important part of sustainable development.

Production of milk and of food grains should be increased.

SHRI ABHIJIT MUKHERJEE: All 7 goals mentioned in SDG are relevant for India since successive governments, right from the time of Shrimati

Indira Gandhi, tried to develop the country in a specific manner by implementing several social welfare schemes in a phased manner. The present Government has done one great thing and that is providing training to all able, educated persons.

Let us make a resolution that each household should be supplied with piped or potable water sufficient in quantity within three years. Allow all MPs and MLAs to use some part of their Local Area Development Funds, which can also be dovetailed with schemes of the Central Government and State Governments.

Increase the MPLAD Funds so that we can also take up this job including development of model village. Second priority should be to control population or arrest the rate of growth of population. Huge population is also a boon for our country. Education of all has already been made practically a Constitutional Right for all Indians by the UPA-I Government. It is the responsibility of the present

Government to induct properly educated and trained teachers for these educational institutions. Successive Governments have not recruited fresh recruits in the

Government hospitals and other healthcare services, which is actually the root cause of shortage of trained manpower including doctors, nurses, etc., in

Government hospitals. Healthcare should be made a Constitutional Right for each and every citizen.

SHRI IDRIS ALI: In my Constituency of Basirhat and in the Ashoknagar area, there are several complaints made by the farmers that they are not getting fertilizers. My Basirhat Constituency has seven Assembly segments butthere is not a single Central School there. I am deeply grateful to our hon. Prime Minister for supporting the poor patients of my Constituency from PMNRF.

SHRI K. PARASURAMAN: Sustainable Development Goals reflect the things to be done by the Government for the next 15 years. The first Goal is “End

Poverty in all its forms everywhere”. The Government targeted to reduce by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions. Second Goal is, “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. It is primarily an important Goal which should be addressed on a war footing. The Government has fixed the following targets to be achieved by 2030 – to end hunger; sufficient food all year round, to end all forms of malnutrition and to double the agriculture productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers. Given its impact on health, education and productivity, persistent under nutrition is a major obstacle to human development and economic growth of the country. One of the major economic issues faced by the country is in agriculture sector as this is the sector, which is source of livelihood for about 54 per cent of Indians till date. The Government has implemented various schemes. However, the allocation made by the Government to achieve under the above schemes is not enough. Therefore, I would request the

Government to allocate more funds to achieve the said goals more effectively. Our

Ministry of Water Resource have painted a grim picture for the country which has

18 per cent of the world's population with only 4 per cent of the total usable water resources. Official data show that the annual per capita availability of water has already been decreased in the past 10 years which is alarming. In rural India, 21 per cent use improved sanitation facilities. Therefore, I request the Government to allocate more funds to achieve the said goal more effectively.

SHRI PREM DAS RAI: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we only borrow it from our children. Now, this is precisely the reason why we need to look at development and the use of this plant's resource in a manner in which we leave enough of the resources for the future as well. WE have to actually look at

SDG from the prism of equity as well as we have to look at it from the prism of inclusive growth. (Speech unfinished)

The discussion was not concluded. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILLS

(i) Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014

(As Passed By Rajya Sabha)

The Bill was deferred.

(ii) Sixth Schedule to the Constitution

(Amendment) Bill, 2015

SHRI VINCENT H. PALA moving the motion for consideration of the

Bill, said: I intend to move three amendments in the Sixth Schedule. First is to increase the number of members of the District Council from 30, at present, to 40.

This number should be equal in all the ten Autonomous District Councils. Second is to bring up traditional occupation of the tribal relating to mines and minerals legislative competence of the District Council and third is to protect the customary practices and interests of the tribals. In the Schedule Areas, the rules, the laws, the practices of the tribals are totally different from other people of the mainland.

Therefore, the British allowed them to practice those rules. If you look at the history, a lot of speciality was given to the people in the backward areas of the

North-East. The introduction of Sixth Schedule is based on principles of fraternity and equality. The Part IX of the report of National Commission to review the working of the Constitution especially deals with the North-Eastern Region. There is recommendation for the 123rd Amendment of the Constitution. It has recommended to increase the number of members in the District Councils. The funds for the Councils should be proportionate to their power. The District

Councils have more power but they have no funds. The elections to the District

Councils are made by the State Governments. There must be a separate

Commission for conducting elections to the District Councils, or the Election

Commission of India should conduct elections to these Councils. There should be reservation for women in the District Councils also. The Anti-Defection Law should apply to the Councils. The mandate of the Council should be clear. As of now, there is a lot of clash between the State Government and the Council. Funds released by the Centre reach the Council after six months. It hampers the developmental works. Since the money comes from the Centre, the CAG must audit the accounts of the Council and give a report on it. As of now, mines and minerals are outside the purview of the Sixth Schedule. There is a series of judgements that whoever owns the land, all the mines and minerals below that land belong to the owner of the land especially in the tribal areas. But, recently, there has been a judgement of the National Green Tribunal stopping the business of coal of the people who have been doing it for the last 70 to 80 years. Therefore, I would request that, in the 123rd Amendment, the subject of mines and minerals in the tribal areas of the Sixth Schedule must be brought under the Council for better implementation. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice have suggested that there must be a synergy between the tribal justice systems and the legal justice systems of the country. In December, 2014 the hon. High Court of has derecognized the powers of traditional village heads called rangbah shnongs. This has led to a number of problems including law and order situation. There is no proper mandate given in the Sixth Schedule, which needs to be amended. All this is possible only if we follow the recommendations of the Standing Committee to find solutions. One of the main features of the Sixth Schedule is to preserve, protect the culture of the people. There are various art forms in the North Eastern states. I would request the Government to build infrastructure in the Northeast so that there are schools to teach these are forms art preserve these rich culture of the Northeast. There must be a law in the Sixth Schedule areas which exempts the Government from taking

NoC from different agencies for building National Highways, Airports, railway lines etc. So, the State Government must be empowered in this matter. Until and unless there is development, there will be no employment; until and unless there is employment, there cannot be empowerment to the tribal people. I think the

Government should look into this matter and recommend whatever is required for the development of the tribal areas. I would request the Government that when they bring the 3rd Constitution Amendment, they should look into all these issues and implement these recommendations of the Standing Committee. There is a District Mineral

Foundation Fund. As per the Act, the Chairman of the District Mineral Foundation will be the DC. But the land owner has a very less role to play. Therefore, in the district Mineral Foundation, the owner of the land who has the rights over land, who has the rights over surface of the land, must have a say. He must also be a Member of the Foundation compulsorily.

SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA initiating said: Certainly, the condition of

Northeast is different from the rest of India and it is also an important part of the country.

It was keeping in mind these peculiar conditions that constitutional arrangement was made for constituting the Zila Parishads and they were vested with special powers so that they could frame regulations according to the local conditions to achieve development in those areas. They need to be empowered further. The people of tribal areas should be given rights on forests produce. Zila Parishads should be given a share in revenue and they should be vested with the right of imposing taxes and leasing the land. I think a committee should be formed and these issues considered therein because unless the Zila

Panchayats are prosperous and economically sound, it will not be possible for them to work smoothly. I hail from Bundelkhand. Zila Parishads have been constituted in our area also. Bundelkhand Development Council should be constituted for framing the development schemes of the area. The election of Members of Zila Panchayats and Zila

Parishads in Uttar Pradesh is not held directly and they are not directly elected by the people. The representatives of Zila Panchayats should be directly elected by the people and a law should be formulated to give effect to this demand. When Bundelkhand

Development Council is in place and it be vested with the power of leasing the land then this will check the ongoing loot of mineral wealth as well. If we are able to strengthen and empower the Region Councils, it will remove the bottlenecks from the path of development and the Central Government would also be able to take decisions on the proposals sent by them.

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: Customary lives of the tribe is protected under our Constitution, not necessarily only in Sixth Schedule. But customs of every citizens of this country are protected by the Constitution. But our founding fathers wanted that we should adopt modernity because no civilization in the world put prosper by perpetuating their old traditions. We have to leave certain customs which do not help us to progress and we have to adopt certain methods by which we can make our progress more strong. There are several tribes in Odisha and every tribe wants to continue with their old customs. Moreover, whichever government came to power in Odisha they also wanted that tribals of Odisha should observe their own customs. Despite the Sixth Schedule the protections of customs is merely on paper. This is not possible by just bringing in a Bill but it is possible by one's own volition because what we used to think earlier we do not think that now. Our 21st century's thinking is different that of our thinking in the decade of 1940 as the thinking always keeps changing. Because we have adopted modernity, we have rejected what needs to be done. Therefore, we should not impose anything on tribals by amending Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Simplicity of the tribals life needs to be protected which is never found anywhere.

At the same time they should get modern health support, modern education and they should get better living standards.

SHRI : After 66 years of the adoption of our

Constitution, we see that the Scheduled Tribes are not getting proper treatment from the Union of India. There is still unrest among the tribals of the North-

Eastern States. There is unrest within the tribal people of our country. Extremism is now growing. As the Government could not provide them the social security, adequate education, adequate healthcare, the extremism has been growing. In the

North-East there are 16 Autonomous District Councils. These councils have been formed for the purpose of socio-economic development of the tribal people of that region. These 16 Autonomous District Councils make up 28 percent of the North-

East region and 45.58 million people reside in these District Councils. In , these Autonomous District Councils are formed under Sixth and Seventh

Schedules of our Constitution. In Manipur, there are six councils. In ,

Meghalaya and there are three Autonomous District Councils in each

State. In there is also one Autonomous District council called Tripura

Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, 70 per cent of the land of our State is under this Council and 30 per cent of the population is within the purview of the

Autonomous District Council. The separatist movement was there and we know it very well but due to advancement of the tribal people of that area, the separatist movement of this region has been tackled. To give rehabilitation to the Zumia - the shifting cultivators - an initiative has been taken to give shelter to them. I demand that the ST sub-plan should be provided money according to the population as was done earlier. But in this year's budget money has not been allocated according to the population. Only half per cent has been allocated to the

ST people. So, the money should be provided according to the ST population of the country. More money should be provided to all the ADCs of the North-East region. The Central Government is now snatching the rights of the tribal people.

That should not be done. I would like to request the Union Government to include

Kokborok language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. There are many town areas inside the tribal areas of Autonomous District Council. Town

Committee should be formed inside the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District

Council.

SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY: Local people understand themselves the best and they should not only be independent but they should be empowered. So, I rise in support of the Bill moved by hon. Member. The Bill seeks to provide for formation of District and Regional Councils in the Sixth

Schedule. Let us not lose our traditional knowledge, traditional know-how, and most importantly, let us look at all the tribal knowledge, tribal wealth and the know-how more as a national wealth and they should be empowered. Every State should have its own High Court. Telangana does not have its own High Court. I fully support this Bill.

SHRI PREM DAS RAI: This is a Bill to further amend the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India in its application of the Constitution of the District

Councils and powers of the District Councils and Regional Councils. This Bill in many ways is for strengthening the Sixth Schedule and for giving further powers to the District Councils and the Regional Councils. There are times when we feel that tribal culture is exploited only in showcasing rather than in actually deepening the bonds of tribal culture within themselves and with the rest of the country. That is why it is important to note that this Bill seeks to enhance those powers so that their own autonomy can be further strengthened. (speech unfinished)

The discussion was not concluded.

ANOOP MISHRA Secretary General

© 2016 BY LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NOTE: It is the verbatim Debates of the Lok Sabha and not the Synopsis that should be considered authoritative.

English and Hindi versions of Synopsis of Debates are also available at http://loksabha.nic.in.