LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS of DEBATES (Proceedings Other Than
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LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Wednesday, August 10, 2016 / Shravana 19, 1938 (Saka) ______ FACTORIES (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2016 THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA) moved that leave be granted to introduce a Bill further to amend the Factories Act, 1948. SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN opposing the motion for introduction of the Bill, said: I fully accept the ruling of Madam Speaker. But I have other two objections. The first objection is that the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Labour and Employment are under examination. This amendment Bill is having far-reaching consequences but it has been brought to the House without due consideration of the Standing Committee recommendations. The rule making provision is totally vested with State Governments. Now the Central Government is taking away the rule making power of the State Government. It is totally against the federal character of our Constitution. SHRI SANKAR PRASAD DATTA: Introduction of the Bill is against the Rules 66 and 67 of the Rules and Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. This Bill is identical to the 2014 Bill. So, on these two grounds I raise the objection that this Bill should not be allowed to be introduced in the House. SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA: First of all, I would like to make it clear to the hon. Members of the House that the Government is coming out with a comprehensive amendment of this proposed Act. Meanwhile, this is only limited to Section 64 and Section 65 which deals with the enhancing of working hours. Hon. Members mentioned about taking away the rights of the State Governments. Relating to these Sections of 64 and 65, the Central Government is only making an addition. All the Executive powers will remain with the State Governments. We are not infringing on the federal structure. Thereafter, Hon. Speaker also made the following observation: HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member while opposing the introduction has stated that the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is dependent on the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which is pending before the Lok Sabha and therefore cannot be taken up unless the Factories (Amendment) Bill, has received the assent of the President. I may inform the House that only two provisions in the present Bill relating to amendment of Section 64 and 65 of the Factories Act, 1948 are similar to those contained in the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014. However, this does not make the present Bill dependent upon the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014. For being dependent, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 must contain provisions which can be enforced only when the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014 comes into operation. As the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 can be brought into force without the coming into force of the 2014 Bill, the contention of Shri Sankar Prasad Datta is not valid. The Bill was introduced. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI BHARAT SINGH laid a statement regarding need to undertake repair of bridge on river Ganga in Ballia Parliamentary Constituency. (ii) SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY laid a statement regarding need to undertake delimitation of Lok Sabha Constituencies and Assembly segments in Jharkhand. (iii) SHRI JANAK RAM laid a statement regarding need to expedite construction of bridge at Dumariaghat as well as renovation of old bridge in Gopalganj Parliamentary Constituency, Bihar. (iv) SHRI SHYAMA CHARAN GUPTA laid a statement regarding need to provide pension and other facilities to the politicians arrested and jailed under Maintenance of Internal Security Act during Emergency. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (v) SHRI CHINTAMAN NAVASHA WANGA laid a statement regarding need to set up a separate department of Fisheries & Welfare. (vi) SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR laid a statement regarding need to provide a special package to rejuvenate the flagging brass industry in Shamsabad in Kaushambi Parliamentary Constituency, Uttar Pradesh. (vii) SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER laid a statement regarding need to construct permanent buildings for post offices in rural areas of the country and also introduce new facilities in them. (viii) SHRIMATI MALA RAJYALAKSHMI SHAH laid a statement regarding need to provide employment/pension and other benefits to SSB volunteers in Uttarakhand. (ix) SHRI LAXMAN GILUWA laid a statement regarding need to include 'Tanti' caste of Jharkhand in the list of Scheduled Castes. (x) KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL laid a statement regarding need to set up a 'Alha Gayan Sanskritik Kendra' at Mahoba to promote Alha, a folk song of Bundelkhand region. (xi) SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH laid a statement regarding need to undertake repair of roads constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in Aurangabad Parliamentary Constituency, Bihar. (xii) SHRI PASHUPATI NATH SINGH laid a statement regarding need to provide adequate medical facilities in hospital under the administrative control of Ministry of Coal in Dhanbad Parliamentary Constituency, Jharkhand. (xiii) SHRI RAMEN DEKA laid a statement regarding commercialization of education & health care sectors. (xiv) SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN laid a statement regarding need to develop tourism in Malabar region of Kerala. (xv) SHRI B. N. CHANDRAPPA laid a statement regarding need to set up fodder banks in all the villages in the country. (xvi) SHRI G. HARI laid a statement regarding the need to provide facilities at Arkkonam Railway Junction in Tamil Nadu. (xvii) SHRI V. ELUMALAI laid a statement regarding need for early completion of Tindivanam-Krishnagiri Section of National Highway No. 66 in Tamil Nadu. (xviii) PROF. SAUGATA ROY laid a statement regarding GST provisions. (xix) SHRI IDRIS ALI laid a statement regarding development of Basirhat Parliamentary Constituency of West Bengal. (xx) SHRIMATI PRATYUSHA RAJESHWARI SINGH laid a statement regarding need for funds from Central Government for construction of a bridge in Kandhamal Parliamentary Constituency of Odisha. (xxi) SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV laid a statement regarding need to set up adequate number of branches of public sector banks in Buldhana Parliamentary Constituency, Maharashtra. (xxii) SHRI JAYADEV GALLA laid a statement regarding need to permit partially re-sited outlets in Andhra Pradesh and other States to sell both petrol and diesel. (xxiii) SHRI M. B. RAJESH laid a statement regarding need to expedite the process of takeover of Instrumentation Ltd., Palakkad. (xxiv) SHRI E. T. MOHAMMAD BASHEER laid a statement regarding need for total prohibition in India. (xxv) SHRI RAM KUMAR SHARMA laid a statement regarding need to provide toilet facilities along National Highways in the country. (xxvi) SHRI RAJU SHETTY laid a statement regarding need to address the problems of power loom sector of Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. TAXATION LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2016 THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY) moving the motion for consideration of the Bill said: In this Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, three minor provisions are intended to be altered. As far as marble and granite are concerned, they are available domestically and are also imported in large quantities. The maximum bound rate of Customs Duty under the Customs Tariff Act is 10 per cent as today. Now some element of protection to domestic industry was required. So, the bound rate that is the roof is intended to be raised from 10 to 40 per cent. The second and third amendments are to the Income Tax Act. These two amendments are urgently required for the following reason. The VSNL was a public sector company. It was privatized when the telecom opening up took place and in the year 2002 as a part of privatization it was taken over by one of the Tata Group of companies. At the time when it was privatized, VSNL had a large amount of surplus land. One of the covenants of the privatization was that the land would be hived off into a separate entity, which it has been, and thereafter the land would be divided between the private shareholders and approximately 52 per cent will come to the Government. This land has to come to the Government and this land can be used by the Government for Government housing and various other activities which are in larger public interest. This transaction under the present Income Tax law will attract Capital Gains Tax and that will entirely add on to the cost. This transaction is sought to be exempted by putting in an explanation in the Income Tax Act. The third limb of the change is in relation to the textile or apparel sector. We need economic development which generates job. One of the provisions in the Income Tax Act is that if you generate employment for a minimum of 240 days in a year, there are certain tax rebates which you are entitled to. India is a large exporter of summer garments. In the winter clothing, we are still not able to produce the apparel at a big stage. Therefore, most of the employment generation companies are not able to touch 240 days. Recently, the Cabinet had approved a whole package of incentives for the textile industry in order to boost employment and one of the covenants of that was that in relation to the textile or apparel industry, these 240 days should read 150 days. It means that if they generate employment upto 150 days, the apparel industry would also be entitled to the same tax incentives. So, in the case of apparel industry, this exception is sought to be made in the Income Tax Act. SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY initiating said: Though the introductory statement made by the hon. Finance Minister about the three tax proposals look brief. However, it can easily qualify to be one of the most glaring example of policy paralysis suffered by the UPA Government.