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RAJYA SABHA _________ ∗SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE _________ (Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) _________ Friday, August 05, 2011/ Sravana 14, 1933 (Saka) _________ MATTERS RAISED WITH PERMISSION OF THE CHAIR I. Situation arising due to forceful eviction of farmers from their own lands in various parts of the country SHRI MOINUL HASSAN: Every day we are seeing the news that farmers are being attacked and forcibly evicted in different parts of the country. Not only farmers, but specially pattadars and bargadars are unable to cultivate their land which they were in possession for more than 30 years. They are actually the owners of the land. But different agencies are trying to prevent them from cultivating their own land in different parts of the country, including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Noida. Recently in West Bengal 538 farmers-cum- pattadars were not allowed to cultivate their own land. The area of the land is 1198.05 acres. The number of pattadars and bargadars is 29,128. The area of the land is 14,209.80 acres. The land which belongs to the farmers, patta holders and bargadars is being grabbed. Recently, in Haora of North 24 Parganas, 7,000 farmers went to cultivate their land and police firing took place. Four innocent farmers belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were killed. It has happened in North and South 24 Parganas, Bardhaman, Murshidabad and Hooghly districts. It was a very shameful incident. ___________________________________________________ ∗This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 53 II. Suspension of train services on certain routes in Assam SHRI KUMAR DEEPAK DAS: The railway communication network in the North-Eastern Region has been affected for the last several days. It is interesting to note that on the one hand the State Government is saying that the law and order situation has improved, almost normal, and on the other hand only local passenger trains are not running in the name of deteriorating law and order situation. The Railway authorities are running very long distance trains smoothly. The MG line passenger trains and the goods trains connecting Arunachal Pradesh have been suspended for a long time. It has not only affected the public life but also helped the price rise in that area. Railway is the life-line of the North-Eastern people. It is the main mode of transport for petty businessmen, regular passengers, Government servants and other corporate and private sector employees. The State Government and the Railway Authority can easily arrange and give foolproof protection and maintain security in that area. I demand that the Government should take immediate necessary action to run the passenger trains and help these passengers who are travelling to various parts of the country. III. Fraud of crores of rupees by the company "Speak Asia" in the country SHRI PRABHAT JHA: A scam has surfaced before us which is committed by the Speak Asia Company and in which Rs.1320 crores of money of 20 lakhs people has been stuck-up. These people have come from lower income families. They had been hoodwinked that by depositing Rs. 11000/- per month, they would get Rs.4000/- each month. I would like to know as to who has registered the Speak Asia Survey Company. Is there any agency of State Government or the Central Government which monitor such companies? A very large number of people in Bhopal, Indore, Raipur, Mumbai, Kanpur, Lucknow etc. are worried about it. The business of the Speak Asia Company was running uninterrupted and advertisements of the said company were being published and 54 released on the print and electronic media. Even no action has been taken on it and merely a police case was registered against it. Has the Government of India stipulated any norms for publishing such advertisements? The main person of the company has absconded to Dubai. Have the Reserve Bank of India and some other agencies played a role in the registration of this company? IV. Closure of University of Northern Virginia in U.S.A. affecting Indian Students SHRI M.V. MYSURA REDDY: I express my concern over the closure of University of Northern Virginia in USA. The University of Northern Virginia at Annandale near Washington was raided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement & FBI a few days ago on charges of fraud, F-1 Visa violations and unauthorized admissions. The students are at no fault. There are 2500 students in the University and 90 per cent of them are Indians. Of that 90 per cent, 80 per cent of the students belong to Andhra Pradesh. The parents of the students are in the dark and they are worried for their children. On the other side, the University is not informing them about the present status. I, therefore, request the Government of India to take up this issue with the US authorities immediately and request them not to make students scapegoats. I would also request that students be given enough time either to join other universities or, if required, provide them dependent visas, so that they continue with their studies. V. Non –giving of relaxation to the dalit students in admissions in Chitkara University in Punjab SHRI AVTAR SINGH KARIMPURI: Dalits are being harassed in the country for centuries. In Chitkara University of Punjab, 60 per cent marks have been fixed for the admission of SC/ST students as well as the general category students, which is injustice to the dalits. The SC/ST students have passed All India Entrance Exam and as such they are eligible for admission. But these students are not being given admission due to their marks being below 60 per cent, as per the own rules of Chitkara University. The Government should come forward to save the future of these students and should compel 55 the Chitkara University to implement the policy of the Central Government and the State Government related to grant of five per cent relaxation. VI. Delay in launching of caste-based census in the country SHRI NARENDRA KUMAR KASHYAP: No Government has dared to conduct caste based census after the independence. The list of BPL people has not been reviewed since long. If the Government would have conducted the caste based census earlier, at least the people living below the poverty line would have been listed and they would have got the benefit of schemes of the Government. The Government had given an assurance that the caste based census would be started at any cost in the month of June and it will be completed till September. How the census can be completed in September when it has not even started till the month of August. VII. Country-Wide Strike by the Employees of Banks in the Country SHRI TAPAN KUMAR SEN: Today ten lakh employees and officers of banking sector in the country are on strike to record their protest against the disaster that this Government is going to spell on the financial sector of the economy in the name of so-called reform and seriously jeopardizing the public sector banking system. The Government is pushing them towards privatization. They are promoting private banks or private money lenders in the rural areas through microfinance institutions. They are also attacking the employees' interest. SHRI D. RAJA: The strike is against the reckless, retrograde finance sector liberalization carried out by the Government. Madam Indira Gandhi nationalized the banking sector in the interest of the country. The present Government is bent upon privatizing the existing public sector banks which saved our economy. The Government should not jeopardize our finance sector. (Shri R.C. Singh and Shri K.N. Balagopal associated.) 56 VIII. Serious issue of aggravating fever and other epidemics in Kerala SHRI K.N. BALAGOPAL: A new phenomenon of eradicated epidemics is coming back to Kerala. Different kinds of fever, both viral and non-viral, are reported. These are rare kinds of fevers. The fevers reported are H1N1, Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis and other peculiar varieties of fevers. Cholera, typhoid, malaria, diphtheria, tetanus, which had earlier been eradicated, are coming back in the state. There is an apprehension that some multinational companies and research organizations, which are profit-oriented are creating new types of viruses. The Central Government should take some serious steps, otherwise these epidemics may spread to other Southern States also. IX. Problems of Rubber Farmers in the state of Kerala SHRI P. RAJEEVE: The Government has decided to give sanction to import 40,000 tonnes of rubber. The Government has reduced the customs duty from 20 per cent to 7.5 per cent. This decision of the Government would seriously affect the means of living of more than 1.2 million rubber farmers in the State. Out of these 95 per cent are marginal farmers who own less than two acres of land. It is surprising that the decision to import was taken without consulting the Rubber Board of India. This decision is against the farmers of the country and also against the interest of the State of Kerala. The Central Government should withdraw this sanction accorded to import 40,000 tonnes of rubber. X. Sharp fall in Indian Stock Market SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA: The Indian Stock Market is falling very steeply since morning. Because of globalization every country is dependent on other country. Due to the slowdown in the USA, the Dow Jones fell down by 500 points, last night. Thereafter all the stock markets of the world have started falling. The Government should take necessary steps to control and contain such a situation.

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