___

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

Tuesday, December 19, 2017 / Agrahayana 28, 1939 (Saka) ______

SUBMISSION BY MEMBERS

(i) Re: The retention of Head Office of Hindustan Steelworks

Construction Limited at Kolkata.

THE MINISTER OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS AND

MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ANANTHKUMAR) responding to the issue raised by an hon'ble Member, said: He has raised a valid issue. I will convey his feelings to the concerned Minister.

(ii) Re: Need to take up with China on the issue of contamination of

River Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.

THE MINISTER OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS AND

MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ANANTHKUMAR) responding to the issue raised by several hon'ble Members, said: The issue raised by our esteemed colleague and veteran Parliamentarian regarding contamination of

River Brahmaputra is a matter of serious concern. He also narrated to this august

House about the important meetings held at various levels and even about the contamination and NTU level in River Siang in China. This will definitely have a great effect in that place, especially in Assam and North-Eastern parts of our country. I will definitely be bringing this issue to the notice of the Government at the highest level.

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*MATTERS UNDER RULE 377

(1) SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM laid a statement regarding need to

provide adequate human resource for public service in government

departments in States particularly in Jharkhand.

(2) SHRI MAHEISH GIRRI laid a statement regarding need to ban

pesticides harmful to humans in the country.

(3) SHRIMATI DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH laid a statement

regarding need to provide insurance cover for women who suffer from

depression.

(4) SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI laid a statement regarding

need to exempt players and coaches from paying toll tax on national

highways.

(5) SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL laid a statement regarding

need to promote lichen-farming and research in the country

particularly in .

(6) SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH laid a statement regarding need to

construct ROB at Rafiganj and Guraru railway stations in .

* Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (7) SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH laid a statement regarding need to

establish a Passport Sewa Kendra/Post Office Passport Sewa Kendra

in Latehar district of Jharkhand.

(8) SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY laid a statement regarding need

to amend Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to save stone crushing

industry in Jharkhand.

(9) SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL laid a statement regarding need to

establish a Textile Park in Jalgaon in .

(10) SHRI HARIOM SINGH RATHORE laid a statement regarding

need to continue operation of trains on metre gauge railway line from

Mavli to Marwar in Rajsamand Parliamentary Constituency.

(11) SHRI NIHAL CHAND laid a statement regarding need to provide

compensation to farmers whose land falls beyond the fencing on

international border.

(12) KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL laid a statement

regarding need to improve healthcare and nutritional services in

Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.

(13) SHRI GANESH SINGH laid a statement regarding need to provide

financial assistance to drought affected Madhya Pradesh.

(14) SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL laid a statement regarding need to

increase the honorarium of Anganwadi workers in the country. (15) SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI laid a statement regarding need to grant

the status of 'Shaheed' to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and other

revolutionaries of Indian Freedom Movement.

(16) SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN laid a statement regarding need to

extend the dam on river Kosi in and Madhubani districts to

Saharsa district in Bihar.

(17) SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN laid a statement regarding need to set up

an AIIMS like institute at Kozhikode, Kerala.

(18) SHRI DEEPENDER SINGH HOODA laid a statement regarding

need to grant 'Shaheed' status to personnel of paramilitary forces and

also take welfare measures for them.

(19) SHRI P. NAGARAJAN laid a statement regarding need to continue

Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, the National Research

Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli and the Central Institute of

Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai as the premier Research Centres

under ICAR.

(20) DR. RATNA DE (NAG) laid a statement regarding need to

discourage youngsters from playing 'Blue Whale' game.

(21) SHRI BALBHADRA MAJHI laid a statement regarding need for

improvement in BSNL services in Nabarangpur Parliamentary

Constituency of Odisha. (22) SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE laid a statement regarding need

to provide remunerative price of paddy and soyabean to farmers in

Maharashtra.

(23) SHRIMATI P.K. SHREEMATHI TEACHER laid a statement

regarding need to set up a CGHS dispensary at Kannur in Kerala.

(24) SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA laid a statement regarding

need to set up a Railway Zone at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

(25) SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE laid a statement regarding need to

regulate use and sale of pesticides in the country.

(26) SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV laid a statement regarding

need to establish a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Mainpuri district, Uttar

Pradesh.

(27) SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA laid a statement regarding rural

electrification in Hisar Parliamentary Constituency of Haryana.

(28) SHRI JOSE K. MANI laid a statement regarding late running of

trains in Trivandrum Division of Southern Railway.

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THE REPEALING AND AMENDING BILL, 2017

AND

THE REPEALING AND AMENDING (SECOND) BILL, 2017

THE MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND MINISTER OF

ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD) moving the motion for consideration of the Bills, said: We are taking up two important Bills together, through which, we shall be repealing a large number of old Acts. It was done last time in 2004 by the Vajpayee

Government. Thereafter, nothing of this sort was taken up. After coming to power, this Government decided to repeal old Acts. It was found that we need to repeal 1824 Acts, out of which 1183 Acts have been repealed till now. There are three types of Acts which are repealed. First is the substantial Act which had been enacted before and after Independence and which are irrelevant now. Second is the amending Act and the third includes the ordinances which had been promulgated during the British times. There are several Acts also which fall in the

State list. In that case, we request to the States to repeal those Act. We have written to a number of States, and the State Governments of Mizoram, Madhya

Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Rajasthan and Assam have repealed certain

Appropriation Bills also. With these words, I commend the Bill for consideration of the House.

SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI initiating said: The Act seeks to get rid of archaic laws which have stayed on the Table of the House and in the law books only to cause confusion to many legislators and other researchers. The Law

Commission, in 2014, recommended repealing and amendment of certain Acts which were of such a nature. Then, the whole matter was sent to a Select

Committee. It suggested that there should be an automatic repeal clause in all the

Bills which are going to be changed. It further noted that all the repeal actions should happen every five years. The 2015 Bill repealed about 295 laws;

Appropriation (Repeal) Bill repealed about 758 laws. Once these two Bills are passed, a close to 1178 Acts would be made redundant. Ordinances are often treated as law. These ordinances replace a statue in the absence of a law on a particular subject. In the absence of a specific law, these ordinances remain laws.

In the present circumstances, as ordinances do not have a permanent nature under the Constitution, it is also in violation of the Constitution when we keep repeating the ordinances and each ordinance finally needs to be replaced by an enactment. In the present Bill also, certain ordinances are being gotten rid of. These colonial practices need to be removed and all ordinances should be replaced soon by the enactments.

SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE: I agree that all these Acts which have been referred to here have no relevance today. But today's problem lies somewhere else.

Today, we are talking about Digital , but the Government could not provide

WiFi facility even in the Supreme Court of India or any single High Court, leave aside the District Courts and other courts. So, I request the hon. Minister to pay attention to this aspect. Moreover, there are many vacancies in courts in our country, which are required to be filled up. So far as the Repealing and Amending

Bill, 2017 is concerned. It is a good step. At least, being a Law Minister, kindly introduce now the infrastructures and also make arrangement of WiFi in the

Supreme Court and in all the High Courts and even in the District Courts. SHRI PINAKI MISRA: The hon. Prime Minister in 2014 had given a clarion call for cooperative federalism which essentially means a partnership between the Centre and the various State Governments in this country in a federal polity. In that spirit, today, I rise on behalf of the Biju Janata Dal to support the

Government in the passage of these two Bills. Moreover, this Government, in a passage of three years, has already attempted or rather done away with 1824 obsolete laws. We hope that this Government will accelerate the process even faster.

There are still far too many obsolete laws which unfortunately continue to clog and clutter our system. We follow a system of enactment and repeal. It is the right of Parliament to enact laws and to repeal them. Therefore, I commend the

Government for having taken a positive step of repealing. At the same time, I would request the Government that today there are thousands of laws which require active repealment. Government must follow the UK's system of automatic repeal. Once the law has served its purpose, it is repealed. It is bizarre, today, almost 200 years later, there are laws which have not been in use for the last 200 years, that continue to be on the statute books which needs repealment.

Now, I come to a very important issue of digital era. Why does not the Law

Minister consider putting everything online because the moment you have all your acts and rules online, then we will be able to actually get a lot of feedback as to how many law, acts and rules today are so obsolete that they should actually be done away with. Coming to my last point, which I think affects hundreds and thousands of people in this country is Section 377 in the IPC. We are in the 21st century. The facts that obtain at the ground level now ought not to be wished away. Everything should not be left to the Supreme Court. Let us debate it in this

House.

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: I rise to support this Bill. It is unfortunate that even 70 years after Independence, 167 year old law dating back to

1850 is operative in a democratic country. It is my view that to safeguard the interests of the people in a better way, an effort has been made through this Bill to repeal obsolete laws and replace them with better ones. This is commendable. The

Government through this Bill will repeal about 245 obsolete laws. I congratulate the Hon. Minister for scraping the Refugee Relief Taxes Repeal Act as also

National Commission of Minority Educational Institution Act, 2010. This was solely needed. In the name of minority, educational industry flourished in place of educational institute. The Government should also scrap Article 370 which has divided the country into two parts so that akhand Hindustan comes into being.

DR. RAVINDRA BABU: I fully support the Repealing and Amendment

Bill, 2017 on behalf of the Telugu Desam Party. But, I have a small suggestion for the hon. Minister of Law. Instead of us doing the scrutiny of the redundant, infructuous and irrelevant Acts, can we not leave it to judicial scrutiny? They will be in a better position to scrutinize these laws. There are many such Acts for example, the Police Act from which the Central Bureau of Investigation

(CBI) derives its power to investigate. The CBI has become the most powerful investigating agency. But, unfortunately, it does not have the original Act to act upon any crime or issue. I do not know whether the Delhi Police Act needs to be amended to separate the CBI or it can be made as a separate Act. The Hon. Law

Minister must have been in a correct position to say that. It also needs to be probed as to what the circumstances were in which these precursor Acts were enacted. By doing so, we will at least be able to know the history so that we may not repeat those mistakes during the present time.

ADV. NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR: I rise in support of the legislations which have been moved by the hon. Law Minister. We are celebrating

70th year of our Independence. We have noticed that there are various archaic laws which are obsolete and redundant, but still they find a place in the Statute Book.

Therefore, the decision which this Government has taken is a welcome one. The hon. Minister has moved two Bills to repeal nearly 245 laws. It is said that a law should be progressive. 65 per cent of population in India is young and they look for various avenues. They look for growth and development. In such a situation, in fact, the laws, which are existing but are obsolete and redundant, should be replaced. There is a need for simplification of the language which is being used in our laws. The poor persons, the common person should understand the language which is being used in the law. It is also the duty of the Legislature to see to it that the language of the law is simplified. I would also like to make a mention that Goa is the only State in India which practices a Uniform Civil Code. SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD replying said: I am extremely grateful for the meaningful discussion on both these Bills. Why should we have such laws even after 70 years of Independence- Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1911, and The Sheriff of Calcutta (Power of Custody) Act, 1931. These are the unfortunate legacy of our colonialism. This is not an ordinary repeal Bill.

Somehow, it is related to our legacy. The power to frame laws vests with the

Parliament. Whether a law should continue or not it should also be within the ambit of Parliament. We cannot outsource our power of law-making to even a

Judicial Office or to the courts. We went through all the process, namely, we constituted a two-Member Committee. The Law Commission examined it. The concerned Administrative Ministry must also be consulted whether the Bill is required or not. If certain laws concern the State, then it is necessary to consult them. Let us have a discussion one day so that I can explain the steps taken for the development of judicial infrastructure. More than 14,000 courts have been made e-courts and all the High Courts are now e-courts. National Judicial Data Grid has also established. You can access online more than 6 crore cases pending decision.

Automatic repeal must be left to the collective judgement of the House. Having a provision of automatic repeal in case of all the laws would be difficult. Section

377 of the Penal Code is a debatable question. What is important is that we need to have a proper national consensus on that. Our Shiv Sena colleague raised the issue of Article 370. The entire Jammu and Kashmir is part of India and will always remain so. The part under Pakistan as per the decision of the House also belongs to India and should remain so. More than 800 laws are available online.

Others are being worked out. In the scheduled section, the last schedule is a mere grammatical and clerical correction. My concluding request to this House is that this particular Repeal (Amendment) Bill is a great initiative in the quest for making our country reform-oriented

The Bills were passed.

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THE CENTRAL ROAD FUND (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS,

MINISTER OF SHIPPING AND MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES,

RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION (SHRI NITIN

GADKARI) moving the motion for consideration of the Bill, said: Our

Government accords top priority to inland waterways. This august House had passed a Bill to convert 111 waterways into National Waterways. This project requires fund and naturally my department does not have enough budget. Out of the funds received in the central road fund, 33.50 per cent i.e. 16,994 crore are earmarked for rural roads, 41.50 per cent i.e. 38,824 crore for National Highway and 7.2 and 14 per cent i.e. 10,668 crore railways. I am the Minister of Road

Transport and Highways, therefore I have reduced the budget of my Department by

2.5 per cent which will provide a sum of rupees 2.339 crores. This amount will be earmarked for inland waterways each year. This will usher in a great revolution in the country. Our Department is spending 5,000 crore rupees on Ganga. This project includes three multi-model hubs, 40 water-ports, nine ferry services, eight road services and an amount of Rs. 17,500 crore is being spent on dredging. The work on the Brahmaputra in the Bay of Bengal is being taken up. Our Government has also started dredging work at the cost of Rs. 250 crore in Bangladesh. Work has been started on Barak and Bakingham Canal also. Now our exports and imports will be carried out directly through river. The cost of transport by road is one and half rupees and by railways one rupee and transport through waterways is about 20 paise only. I am going to introduce a policy in the Parliament after sometime whereby all the barges will be run on methanol which will be produced by coal. Then the transport cost will come down from 20 paise to 10 paise only.

This will also reduce the logistic cost. It will promote industry and will augment our exports. Besides, tourism is being promoted in river . I assure the august House that by the end of the year 2018, ten out of total 111 waterways will be taken up. In the days to come, the waterways network will be developed on the lines of our road network in the country. With the support of all the hon.

Members, a new era will usher in the country. Our hon. Prime Minister has given a lot of guidance about it. This will change the profile of our country. Therefore, I appeal to all the hon. Members to support this Bill unanimously.

SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY initiating said: Hon. Minister has introduced this Bill in the House to amend the Central Road Fund Act, 2000. This

Bill will provide 2.5 per cent of the cess of central road fund for inland waterways. The Governments who frame visionary policies ultimately benefit the country immensely. We can recall that in the year 2000 the Central Road Fund Bill was passed under the visionary leadership of our former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.

He made this beginning which has facilitated a vast road network constructed with the central road fund in the country. Today hon. Minister is taking a historic decision under the stewardship of our hon. Prime Minister. Hon. Minister has expedited the pace of construction of roads which had slowed down in the last 10 years. Now phase-6 of NHDP is about to be completed. The Golden Quadrilateral project was launched under the leadership of our former Prime Minister Shri A.B.

Vajpayee and today we are moving a step ahead in the field of inland waterways.

There was a missing link between the national highways and road connectivity which is being addressed today through this Bill. In the past, only ten per cent movement was through roads and 90 per cent of our businesses were carried out through rivers. But with the construction of rail lines and roads, our conventional waterways were neglected. The policy makers did not formulate a proper policy for our waterways. In India, about 65 per cent freight is carried out by roads, 27 per cent by railways and only 0.4 per cent by waterways. The length of the Ganga-

Haldia-Allahabad stretch on Ganga is about 1620 kms and Brahmaputra-Hoogli stretch is about 811 kms. Kollam to Kotpura stretch lies in south. The National

Waterways-4 runs through Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The National

Waterways-5 passes through Odisha and West Bengal. These are some waterways to which nobody has ever given any attention. A beginning has been made in this direction under the visionary leadership of our hon. Prime Minister and the

Minister. I, therefore, support this Bill wholeheartedly.

PROF. SAUGATA ROY: This Bill will provide about Rs. 2,345 crore rupees for the development of our inland waterways. We don't have any objection to it, rather we support it. However, my question is that the hon. Minister has got good reputation of the man of development. When he was the PWD minister in

Maharashtra, the Bombay-Pune highway, which is considered the best highway in the country was constructed. But today I feel that our Minister is no more the man of development rather he sells dreams. He has launched several schemes and projects but where from the necessary funds will be mobilized because there is no money in the budget. He says that he will arrange the funds from the world bank and the IMF but no funds have come from these institutions also. I would like to pose a straight question to hon. Minister that he has been the Union Minister for more than three and half years and he should inform me and the whole House as to where he has constructed a new highway or road,. He should bring a white paper on it in the House. Only dreams are being sold. The House deserves to know as to how much roads he has constructed. After he became the Minister, I had written a letter to him requesting to carry out a repair work on the embankment of the Ganga in my area as erosion was occurring. But nothing happened. The national waterways is a good concept but what progress has been made under it in the last one year. Our State Government has sent a proposal to set up a port at Tajpur on the sea but the Central Government is not according permission to it. SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA: In the olden days, we used to shape our boats to suit the river. But today we are shaping the rivers to suit the requirements of large vessels. In a country like ours the logistic cost accounts for about 14 per cent of our GDP which is nearly double of what it costs in many developing countries across the world. Now, inland waterway could be the largest and the biggest intervention in water, post-Independence. There are several areas of concern. According to a Report by RITES due to these inland waterways, 40 per cent of the cargo will move from railways to waterways, thus road will lose cargo only to the extent of 16 per cent. So, the benefit is just marginal. Most of the new national waterways included in this Bill are fresh water rivers. Post- monsoon the fresh water rivers get dried up. So, when we move the water towards navigation, we need to look at what its consequential impact will be on irrigation and drinking water.

National Waterway 5 and National Waterway 60 where the Bhiarkanika

National Park is put in great danger. The Ministry has allocated just Rs.3,100 crore for the maintenance of road infrastructure under National Highways which is just five per cent of the total expenditure whereas in developed countries it is about

40 to 48 per cent. Due to this poor allocation we have bad, unsafe roads where innocent people are getting killed every day. In 2016-17, Odisha has been allocated only 12 projects under the Central Road Fund whereas another State has been allocated 562 projects which defies any logic. So, I would urge upon the

Minister to do justice to Odisha. NH 49, NH 60 and NH 80 which pass through my parliamentary constituency have become deathbed. Several accidents are happening on these three National Highways due to road fault and design fault. I would request the hon. Minister to include Odisha Coast Canal in the next phase of development of National Waterways so that the people of my constituency benefit from this revolutionary initiative.

SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: The hon. Minister has given a legal power by introducing a Bill on Inland Waterways. My constituency of Mumbai has coastal area and large port also. Mumbai to Goa Waterway is lying closed. Just a month ago, it has been started in private partnership, which will not only promote tourism but will also facilitate movement of people. Regarding your dream for Mumbai

Port Trust area I would like to make a special request to the hon. Prime Minister to fulfill it. We have to look into the encroachment of BPD land project. Government has to look into the dredging aspect. Whether the boats plying into the rivers have registration? There should be a legal provision about it. Mumbai coast should be converted into a tourism centre which should be used as a waterways.

SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS: The National Waterways Act envisages development of 111 waterway plans for pan India. I welcome the Government's proposal to allocate two-and-half per cent of the road fund for development and maintenance of waterways. Andhra Pradesh has a National Highway density of

31.6 kms per 1000 sq. kms. and occupies a dismal 26th position, whereas in terms of density of State highways, it is at 16th place in the country. We, as a State, despite a deficit budget, have performed admirably. I would request the Ministry to designate newer National Highways and increase the allocation of funds to

Andhra Pradesh. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY),

Andhra Pradesh is the sixth most efficient State in the usage of Central Road Fund.

The cost per kilometer of road constructed is less than the national average of 25 per cent.

As a newly reorganized state, Andhra Pradesh, with a deficit budget, requires a greater allocation of funds. I would request the Government for a more equitable distribution under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana with greater allocation to Andhra Pradesh. I urge upon the Minister to scrutinize the utilization of the Central Road Fund and ensure that the allocation is on par with what is mandated by the Act and to put into place a system to make sure that two-and-a- half per cent which is earmarked for national Waterways is actually allocated and disbursed. I would like to bring to the notice of the hon. Minister that the under construction National Waterway-4 project, the substantial portion of which is in my constituency, Vijayawada has suffered numerous delays. Our State was the first state to complete the inter-linking of rivers. I would like to make two specific requests to the Minister - One is about fast tracking the creation of the SPV proposed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India and the Government of

Andhra Pradesh and increase in the allocation of funds for the early completion of the project.

SHRI KONDA VISHWESHWAR REDDY: National Waterways provide cost effective, logistically efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. However, this Bill is not sufficient to promote waterways. The

Britishers built the Buckingam Canal connecting Chennai, the then Madras to

Kolkata. No work has been done on this so far. It is a great opportunity because in inland waterways, we do not require ports or big vessels. In the North-East, the power plants instead of using coal are using bamboos. The bamboo farmers and the forest department is getting less than a thousand rupee a ton. If these waterways are provided, the value of bamboos will become five times higher if it is transported. New dams are being built where they are insurmountable, we cannot transport goods across these dams. So, while giving permissions to new dams, this has to be taken into cognizance. Our Government of Telangana has particularly taken this into cognizance and are building small barrages with low height so that waterways can be enabled across . We also need appropriate authorities to give sea-worthiness and water-worthiness certificates for small crafts. The registration of boats should also be made easier. There is not a single safety standard in India for lifejackets. So, we need to look into this. We also need to focus on local manufacturing of outboard engines for boats.

DR. P.K. BIJU: India has the second largest road network in the world.

Also our country are ahead of Japan, USA and China in providing road connectivity. But our main problem is that out of these roads, 61 per cent of the roads got damaged or not being used properly. I would like to ask the hon.

Minister how much amount we have collected so far through tolls and other mean and how much we have distributed for the development of State roads, national and express highways in our country. In the list of 111 waterways declared under the National Waterways Act, 2016. Some national waterways of Kerala have been included. We have started working on it and these waterways will be completed by

2020. Our country is suffering with air pollution not only in Delhi but in all the metros because we are using the fossil based fuels like petrol and diesel for transportation. European countries have decided that by 2040 they will reduce 50 per cent vehicles running on fossil based fuels. We are going on the same path.

We are going to heavily depend for our transportation and logistics on the rivers.

So, the issue of water pollution is of very much importance.

SHRI MEKAPATI RAJA MOHAN REDDY: This Bill is going to provide sustainable fund availability for the development of waterways.

Development of waterways is a very essential thing in this country because it provides alternative transport which is the cheapest also. 111 waterways are going to be developed. Waterway No. 4 from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Puducherry is almost 800 kilometers and is going to be the cheapest mode of transport in

Andhra Pradesh as well as in Tamil Nadu upto Puducherry. To provide required water in the canal, Polavaram Project needs to be completed. It is important for developing these waterways.

SHRI OM BIRLA: The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 will usher in a new era in the country. Despite having big waterways available in India after China and the USA, we have been able to avail waterways transportations only upto 0.5 per cent, while China and the USA are using waterways for transportation much more than us. Now the Government has started to develop new waterways in the country without adding a new tax. After this Bill is passed, the path for the rise of a new India will be paved. Subsequent to the passage of this

Bill, we will be developing 14500 kilometers of waterways in the country in which

5200 kilometers will be of rivers and 4000 kilometers will be from canals. We have earmarked 111 waterways under the National Waterways Act of 2016, while from Independence till the year 2015, there were only 5 waterways. There will be many benefits due to the development of waterways. While we will be able to consume less fuel, the requirement of land will also be required less. As a result of the development of the waterways in India, there will be economic changes and at the same time, the people residing in villages and in the riparian areas who do not get any employment will get new opportunities of employment due to the development of tourism over there. This will bring down the number of accidents also. We will have to spend less on the development and maintenance of roads also and we will be able to provide better and smooth way of transportation as well. I would request the Hon. Minister that there is Chambal river in Kota which is a perennial river, notification may please be issued under Article 111 for this river also so that planes could be landed in the Chambal river of Kota also. I support this Bill and I believe that this Bill will usher in a new transformation in the economy.

SHRI JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV: Waterways are very convenient and the Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 is a good Bill. Waterways will augment trade, convenience of transportation. They will also protect environment and develop tourism. In Sultanganj, the Ganga river is north flowing and lakhs of kanwariyas take Ganga water from here and visit Deogarh chanting har har mahadev. It is my demand that Sultanganj be given the status of a port. I would request the Hon. Minister for taking ahead the waterways from

Munger, Bhagalpur, Sahabganj to Haldia in particular. This will create opportunities of employment for the people of that area. A bridge is being constructed in Sultanganj, the work of which needs to be completed at the earliest.

I support this Bill.

SHRI PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA: 2.5 per cent have been sought for the infrastructure, navigation, terminal and jetties for waterways. I think that this amount is too less. We are grateful to the Union Government for what they have done for Punjab during the last four years. One per cent tax has been provided for Border States. If this one per cent is increased, it would be good.

There is less scope for waterways in Punjab. There should not be any impact on fund allocation for the states where there is lack of waterways.

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: The entire House is in agreement for allocation of funds from the Central Road Fund for waterways. There are a number of problems even today with regard to water transportation in which the problems of rivers, drought and flood are included. Till rivers are inter-linked, there could not be a permanent solution in this regard. We have drafted the road map for Badaun lift canal scheme and have submitted it to the Union Government for the last three years. The Directorates of the Central Water Commission have not cleared the same from three and a half years till date. The schemes need to be implemented by the year 2019.

SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL: I appreciate the Government's initiative in introducing this Bill and I support it. One of the major amendments through this

Bill is the inclusion of inland waterways in the Central Road Fund. The Bill provides that in addition to National Highways, State and rural roads, the Fund will also be used for the development and maintenance of National Waterways, which is a commendable job. There is scope, advantages and problems of Inland

Waterways in the State of Assam. There is an enormous scope of employment as well as investment in organized inland waterways. But the waterways in Assam suffer from seasonal fluctuations of water. Lack of training facilities for navigation, ship repairing facilities and absence of modern ships are other major problems. The most important measures necessary are to intensify the conservancy, conduct regular survey, construct dry port and improve the workshop. It is suggested that the water transport should obtain modern speedy ships and modern lighting facilities for night navigation so as to enhance its competitive capacity with rail and road transport. Inland water transport should be regarded as a complementary to rail and road transport.

SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA: The Government intends to divert 2.5 per cent of the consolidated road fund for waterways which is a very good beginning as there is utmost requirement for this. Will the Government also pay attention towards water resource development and inter-linking of rivers through this fund? As of now, we use one per cent of roads fund for the development of border roads. However, we should develop border roads by using at least 5 per cent fund. There should be non-taxable roads for citizens of the country to enable them to travel from north to south and east to west. We must give at least one such highway to the citizens of the country which is non-taxable. The Gazette

Notification to convert tractors from non-agricultural transport vehicles to transport vehicles may be withdrawn.

SHRI HARISHCHANDRA ALIAS HARISH DWIVEDI: Hon. Transport

Minister had declared the Ghaghra River as a national waterway. I thank him for this. Earlier, there were only five waterways of 4342 kilometers in the country.

Now, the Government has taken a decision to develop 106 more waterways.

Presently, approximately, 20000 kilometers of waterways are either operational or likely to be operational during the last three years. DPRs of 16 waterways are ready. Presently, the Government is earning around Rs.80800 crore in CRF. If 2.5 per cent of CRF is spent on waterways, it will facilitate development of waterways.

The waterway from Ayodhya to Kolkata via Basti will certainly be very useful.

This new scheme of waterways will provide additional employment to around 1.5 to 2 lakh youths.

SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR: This Bill proposes to amend the

Central Road Fund Act, 2000 to provide for diversion of 2.5 per cent of the cess for development and maintenance of national waterways. This is a welcome step. Now, the number of national waterways will be 111. One major waterway is in the river Ganga from Patna to Allahabad. Work is in progress for years on this waterway but this is yet to be operational. The silt in the river Ganga should be cleared. Transportation through waterways will be very economical. I request the hon. Minister to sanction a flyover at NH-31 between Bihar Shariff and Ambedkar

Chowk. An ROB is needed at Bihar Shariff Railway crossing at NH-82.

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: There is no provision for medical safety in this

Bill. Medical safety is paramount in the river as well as on the roads. There is a need to take care of the issues relating to national security, safety and pollution.

We cannot afford to dig too deep into the riverbed otherwise the aqualife will be under threat. There is a need to strike a balance in the river water. Water is a major issue worldwide. Water in Bihar is mostly contaminated with arsenic and iron. Kosi Waterway is very important one. Maximum number of rivers i.e. 11 flow through my constituency but they are not connected to any river. Inter- linking of these rivers and linking them to high dam is very important in the interest of Jharkhand and Magadh.

SHRI KAMAKHYA PRASAD TASA: Earlier, four lanning of roads in

Assam and North-East had come to a complete halt but now it has again started.

Regarding waterways, for this long only National Waterway 2 was sanctioned in the Brahmaputra but nothing had happened. After Nitinji coming to the Ministry he inaugurated Ro-Ro Scheme and that work was also done. When hon. Prime

Minister talked of 'Act East', hon. Nitin ji interlinked 12 rivers. One of them is the Brahmaputra and other the Barack. The longest river valley is that of the Barack.

I congratulate and thank hon. Nitinji for bringing about all around change in the

North-East. The longest road in my constituency has been upgraded as National

Highway. Inter-State linking highways have been upgraded as National Highways.

Dredging should be done in the National Waterways and ships should be operated therein. Ports should also be constructed.

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: The decision of the Government to develop waterways through Central Road Fund is a commendable decision.

Presently, there are 111 waterways in the country of which one is there in my constituency. Total cost of that project is Rs.1000 crore out of which the Union

Government has provided Rs.500 crore. I hope, Ro-Ro Passenger Service will soon be started in that waterway. As per toll policy of Maharashtra Government, two toll junctions should be 35 kilometers apart from each other. But at the very entry point of Mumbai there are two toll plazas within two kilometers. At this I have a suggestion that toll tax should be charged at the time of purchasing the vehicle and passed on to the State Governments. By this, there will be no traffic jam at toll plazas and money and manpower will be saved. There, will not be pollution too.

SHRI VARAPRASAD RAO VELAGAPALLI: I congratulate the hon.

Minister for his sustained efforts to develop the waterways. The Buckingham

Canal coastal corridor that has been allotted to us is delayed by more than three and a half years. In the coastal area of Tirupati constituency, there is no other economic activity except this waterway. So, we request the hon. Minister to implement it as soon as possible. There is a strong rumour in Visakhapatnam that the Dredging Corporation of India is likely to be closed. That should be saved and by that nearly 1,800 employees of that Corporation could also be saved.

SHRI : Some members were saying that Modiji sells dreams. I would request them to visit Andaman Nicobar to see the reality. Work on Andaman Marine Drive has started. Nitin Gadkariji is 'Vishwakarmaji'. An allocation of Rs. 10000 crore has been made for Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

Earlier, there was only one national highway whereas there are seven now. This

Bill will be most beneficial for Andaman-Nicobar Islands at the same time it will benefit Bengal too. This will attract investment in private sector, shipping sector and water sector. Thousands and lakhs of employment opportunities will be generated.

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: Versova, Juhu, Khar etc. creeks are there connected to my Parliamentary Constituency. Earlier, there used to come 200-250 fishing boats at Versova for almost 25 years but now only 40-50 boats can be accommodated there due to silt. 200-300 more boats can be accommodated there if the silt is cleared. For this Maharashtra Marine Drive Board has demanded approximately Rs.38.61 crore from the Ministry. I request the Government to sanction the said fund under Sagar Mala Project. Given the geographical situation of Versova beach, a port should be constructed there with all modern facilities. SHRI IDRIS ALI: There is a National Highway in my Constituency on which there is huge traffic. There is a need to repair that immediately. In my constituency Basirhat, there is Dulduli river. I request the Government to sanction a bridge over Dulduli river. A bridge in my constituency was sanctioned in the previous budget but that has not been constructed as yet. Therefore, I request the hon. Minister to do the needful about that bridge.

SHRI NITIN GADKARI replying said: I thank all the hon. Members for supporting this Bill unanimously. I want to make it clear that I am not selling any dreams. Earlier, Rs.450 crore were spent on dredging of Haldia Port in West

Bengal. We involved Australia and IIT Chennai and now this work is being done for Rs. 200 crore. When I took over as the Minister of this department, the daily average road construction was 2 kilometers and this is 28 kilometers now which I expect 40 kilometers per day by the end of next year. Regarding Sagar Mala

Project, I would like to say that there are 12 major ports. Works costing Rs.80,000 crore have been awarded in them. A Taiwanese company came to Special

Economic Zone in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. It said that it would invest

Rs.6000 crore in two years and provide employment to 40000 youths. Similar industrial cluster is coming up at Kandla. Regarding Bharat Mala Project, I would like to say that a provision of Rs. 7.5 lakh crore has been made for the first phase.

Some works face hurdles like environmental clearance, land acquisition problem,

PIL, stay or any other type of dispute. Works amounting Rs.5400 crore have been sanctioned only in the Ganga. Multi-Modal operations have been started at Varanasi, Haldia and Sahebganj. Dredging contract in the Ganga has been awarded for 5 years for an amount of Rs.1700 crore. Inauguration of River Traffic

Control System has been done from Haldia to Patna. We have plans to reach the

Brahmaputra from the Bay of Bengal and to Myanmar from the Brahmaputra.

Dredging has started in the Barack and the Brahmaputra. Work of the first phase of Buckingham Canal has started. Beyond that, at some places the canal has disappeared. Houses have been constructed or trees have grown over it. Tenders for approximately 10 waterways have been issued. People are right in their thinking that when there is no water how will these waterways work. There is no dearth of water in this country. 3000 TMC of water of the Godavari river flows into the ocean. Polavaram Project will be completed before the end of 2022. If we are able to save even 1500 TMC of the 3000 TMC of the Godavari water which flows into the ocean, the water problem of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu will be solved. The problem of Kerala will also be solved. There is a lot of water in the which also is flowing into the ocean.

Moreover, water disputes between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra and Gujarat have been resolved. Similarly, water disputes between

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will also be resolved.

Obviously, it is a big dream and it will take time to fulfill. It cannot be achieved within a short span of two or three years. It is true that there is no shortage of water in our country instead we lack in the management of water. So, we are undertaking 45 meter dredging work in river Ganga. After the dredging work is completed, waterway will be created therein. Apart from that, flood protection wall would be built by using an innovative technology from the sand retrieved from the dredging work. Similarly, there is a plan to build river port on the lines of airport. For this purpose, Ministry of Aviation, Airport authority and Directorate of Shipping will have to enact an Act through their coordinated efforts. Again, we have to take care of ethics, economy, ecology and environment as well. I would also like to submit that Bill pertaining to waterways related to 111 rivers has been passed. Through this House, I would like to urge upon that I may be informed about the rivers which have not been included yet and I would bring Bill and seek permission from the House in this regard. Again, the Government is building a new cruise terminal in Mumbai with the cost of rupees eight hundred crore. I would also like to inform that a cruise service would be introduced between

Mumbai & Andaman Nicobar Islands. Similarly, a 500 seater luxury cruise would be launched between Mumbai and Goa also. Our Government is likely to sign a

MoU with the Russian Government for building catamaran. Similarly, nine seater plane would also be manufactured under the Make-in-India mission. Our first priority would be water-based transport i.e. sea transport. Prices of oil and other commodities will come down with the promotion of water based transport. It will also boost export and industries. Our second priority is Railway and Roads are our third priority. It is my belief that we will complete the work related to at least 12-

15 waterways within the period of two years which will be a big achievement for us. I would like to express my gratitude towards all for supporting this Bill unanimously.

The Bill was passed.

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THE REQUISITIONING AND ACQUISITION OF IMMOVABLE

PROPERTY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017

THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING

AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI) moving the motion for consideration of the Bill, said: The present Requisitioning and Acquisition of

Immovable Property Act, 1952 was enacted on 14 March, 1952. This Act has been amended on 11 occasions. The present is the 12th Amendment and it is being introduced specifically for defence and national security purposes. Section 3 of this Act provides for requisition of property while Section 7 provides for acquisition within a period of 17 years of the initial requisition. So, the purpose of this amendment, in short, is to provide with the retrospective effect from 1952 that the acquisition notice under Section 7 will be deemed to have been issued with retrospective effect. In other words, if a person brings a challenge to the acquisition, that person will have to pay the cost of bringing that challenge.

Moreover, the compensation which will be paid for the acquisition for national security purposes will be calculated from the original date of the original notice and the State, meanwhile, will pay fixed deposit rate as paid by the State Bank of

India.

SHRI initiating said: This Bill has been brought in the interests of national security and the nation itself. I rise to support this Bill because in this Bill provisions have been made to serve notice under Section 3 for the acquisition of land for defence purposes in the interest of the nation. Today, few people have grabbed the properties worth billion rupees with the connivance of DDA and another officials. To avoid these scams, if we will enforce the Section

7 of this Bill and in the event of court giving order in favour of that person,

Government is liable to provide compensation. British laws like Section 81 and 33 are still being implemented in Delhi. I would like to request the Government that a motion should be brought to abolish these laws. Even after 70 years of

Independence, land owner having 7 or 10 acre land cannot sell his one or two acre land separately. He will have to register his whole 10 acre land to complete the selling process which is a violation of Fundamental Rights as well. Similarly, no changes have been made in the Section 81 till date. Under Section 81 and 24(2), certain lands were to be pooled in by DDA and Hon. High Court and Supreme

Court have quashed the orders in this regard. So, such lands should be pooled-in for the development of Delhi. (Speech unfinished)

The discussion was not concluded.

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SNEHLATA SHRIVASTAVA Secretary General

© 2017 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.