Rajya Sabha —— Revised List of Business

RAJYA SABHA —— REVISED LIST OF BUSINESS

Friday, May 7, 2010

11 A.M. ——— QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS entered in separate lists to be asked and answers given. ————

PAPERS TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE

I. Following Ministers to lay papers on the Table entered in the separate list: — 1. SHRI P. CHIDAMBARAM for Ministry of Home Affairs; 2. SHRI PRAFUL PATEL for Ministry of Civil Aviation; 3. SHRI SRIKANT JENA for Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers; 4. SHRIMATI D. PURANDESWARI for Ministry of Human Resource Development; 5. SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA for Ministry of Finance; 6. SHRI S.S. PALANIMANICKAM for Ministry of Finance; 7. SHRI GURUDAS KAMAT for Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; 8. PROF. K.V. THOMAS for Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; 9. SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; 10. DR. S. JAGATHRAKSHAKAN for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; 11. SHRI S. GANDHISELVAN for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and 12. SHRI ARUN YADAV for Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

II. SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA to lay on the Table, a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports, under clause (1) of article 151 of the Constitution:— (i) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2009: Report No.1 of 2008-09: Accounts of the Union Government, Union Government Finance Accounts and Appropriation Accounts (Civil, Postal Services, Defence Services) for the year 2008-09; (ii) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2009: Report No.23 of 2009-10 Union Government (Civil) – Autonomous Bodies; (iii) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2008: Report No.5 of 2010-11: Union Government

323 (Civil) (Performance Audit) – Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources Scheme (Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region); (iv) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2008: Report No. 4 of 2010-11: Union Government (Civil) (Performance Audit)-Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) (Ministry of Water Resources); (v) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2009: Report No. 7 of 2009-10: Union Government (Direct Taxes) (Income Tax Refunds). ————

REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE

SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR SHRI K.B. SHANAPPA to lay on the Table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Seventh Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on Action Taken by the Government on the recommendations/observations contained in its First Report on “Demands for Grants (2009-10)” of the Ministry of Defence. ————

REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

DR. KARAN SINGH DR. (SHRIMATI) NAJMA A. HEPTULLA to lay on the Table, a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (2009-10):— (i) Fifth Report on Action Taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in its First Report (Fifteenth Lok Sabha) on “Demands for Grants (2009-10)” of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs; and (ii) Sixth Report on Action Taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in its Second Report (Fifteenth Lok Sabha) on “Demands for Grants (2009-10)” of the Ministry of External Affairs. ————

STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

1. SHRI SHARAD PAWAR to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Second Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.

2. SHRI KAPIL SIBAL to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in Chapter III of the Two Hundred and Fourteenth Report on Demands for Grants (2008-09) of the Department of Higher Education of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development.

3. SHRI SALMAN KHURSHEED to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Fifth Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

4. SHRI E. AHAMMED to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Fourth Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways. 324 5. SHRI JITIN PRASADA to make a statement regarding status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Twenty-fifth Report on "Marketing Supply, Distribution, Dealerships and Pricing of Kerosene and other Petroleum Products" of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas. ————

GOVERNMENT LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS

Bill for withdrawal 1. SHRI P. CHIDAMBARAM to move for leave to withdraw the Lotteries ∗The Lotteries (Prohibition) Bill, 1999. (Prohibition) Bill, 1999 ALSO to withdraw the Bill.

Bill for consideration and passing

2. SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD to move that the Bill to provide for the The Clinical registration and regulation of clinical establishments in the country and for matters Establishment connected therewith or incidental thereto, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into (Registration & consideration. Regulation) Bill, 2010 ALSO to move that the Bill be passed. ————

(FROM 2.30 P.M. TO 5.00 P.M.) PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS (RESOLUTIONS)

FURTHER DISCUSSION on the following Resolution moved by Shri N.K. Singh on the 12th March, 2010:— “That this House resolves to constitute an Environment Adaptation and Mitigation Fund by innovative fiscal policies to finance the cost of technology, promote research and development of renewable energy and lower the burden to meet the inevitable costs of adaptation arising from Global Warming and Climate Change.”

2. SHRI BHAGAT SINGH KOSHYARI to move the following Resolution:— "Having regard to the fact that— (i) the State of Andhra Pradesh was formed in the year 1956 after amalgamating Telugu speaking areas and due to wrong policies, some areas remained neglected in the fields of education, employment, irrigation, development, etc., and this neglect and backwardness have led to an acute feeling of alienation among the people of the Telangana region, who have been demanding a separate state since 1969; (ii) Telangana consists of ten districts of Andhra Pradesh, namely, Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Mahboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad, out of which nine districts have been recognized by the Government of India as backward despite the fact that this region houses many natural resources, the benefits of which have failed to reach its people;

∗ The Bill was introduced on the 23rd December, 1999. 325 (iii) Vidarbha was part of CP & Berar i.e., Central Province and became part of Maharashtra in 1960; (iv) Nagpur Pact and Akola Pact are two important promises given to Vidarbha but have largely remained unfulfilled; (v) the backwardness of Vidarbha continued to grow even after programme of backlog removal was adopted in the wake of the Report of eminent economist, Prof. V.M. Dandekar; (vi) the backwardness of Vidarbha is visible if compared with other regions of the state in respect of irrigation, technical education, per capita income, outward migration, industry, employment generation, agriculture, animal husbandry and all indicators of development prove the backwardness of Vidarbha; (vii) studies have proved that Vidarbha will be a viable state and there is continued agitation for separate state of Vidarbha. (viii) the proposed Gorkhaland area in West Bangal, i.e., Darjeeling District and adjoining Dooars area which are under Jalpaiguri District were parts of two kingdoms of Sikkim and Bhutan before the advent of the British; (ix) the Government of India Act, 1919 constituted a Legislative Council for Bengal but Darjeeling had no representation, as it was declared an Excluded Area and kept outside the purview of the Legislature of the Bengal Presidency; (x) Post Independence, Darjeeling and the Dooars became part of West Bengal; (xi) the State Re-organization Commission in 1956 recommended creation of 14 states on linguistic lines; (xii) the census of 1951 for Darjeeling District projected the Nepali- speaking population as a miniscule minority by showing Nepali- speaking population only 17 per cent which was actually 66 per cent and thereby denied them separate state on linguistic lines; (xiii) the Indian Gorkhas having a distinct socio-cultural identity and concentrated in contiguous districts of North Bengal are fighting for the formation of a separate state within the Indian Union in order to preserve, protect and promote their distinct identity; (xiv) the Gorkhas, Bhutias and the Lepchas have a social, cultural and linguistic affinity with the tribals of the Dooras region, i.e., Santhals, Uraons, Mundas, Totas, Rabhas, Mechey and Raj Bangshis and Nepali is their lingua franca and is spoken throughout the region of Dooars; (xv) the demand, when fulfilled, will ensure the protection of the Gorkhas' distinct socio-cultural identity and will bring them into the mainstream and inculcate a sense of belonging; (xvi) the Ladakh region with the area of 86,904 square kilometers has only one representative in Parliament and two in State Assembly, due to this people's political voice is lost and there is poor recognition of their needs and requirement; (xvii) there is an urgent requirement to identify the aspiration and needs of Ladakhi people to integrate them with the Nation; (xviii) the Ladakh district has long border with China manned by the Indian Military and Para-military forces, which requires a day to day monitoring and supervision by the Union Government;

326 (xix) in the district of Ladakh, the major development issues have remained unfulfilled due to the distinct geographical location and the existing terrain in the Himalayas; (xx) in order to establish bilateral trade and prevent illegitimate trading, it is essential to have this region directly administered by the Central Government; (xxi) the experience of creation of smaller states and Union Territories has proved that it makes the administration smoother and efficient coupled with higher possibilities of development of the areas that have remained neglected giving the people more access to the Government and reducing disparity levels between the developed and non-developed areas; (xxii) such separated states have proved that both the states can live peacefully and prosper rapidly; and (xxiii) there is merit in the demand for separate states of Telangana, Vidarbha and Gorkhaland as well as centrally administered Union Territory of Ladakh as it serves the cause of economic viability as well as administrative convenience, this House, therefore, urges upon the Government to create separate States of Telangana, Vidarbha and Gorkhaland with a separate Legislature, Executive and Judiciary in accordance with the Constitution of India and a separate centrally administered Union Territory of Ladakh."

3. SHRI K.V.P. RAMACHANDRA RAO to move the following Resolution:— “Having regard to the fact that – (i) the network of Government hospitals available in the country does not have the requisite infrastructure and pool of specialist doctors to meet the countrywide requirement of families living below poverty line for treatment of serious ailments such as cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, etc; (ii) consequently, poor patients have to go to private hospitals and incur huge costs which leads to their heavy indebtedness and in many cases, patients die in harness being unable to access medical treatment which is beyond their means; (iii) mounting medical expenses have been identified in many studies as one of the causes leading to pauperization of the farming community and one of the main reasons for their suicides; (iv) earlier the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, used the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) as a tool to understand health problems faced by the poor and sanctioned from CMRF Rs.450 cores in 5 years to 1,50,000 persons during which he understood what type of problems were driving poor people into debt trap; (v) the then Chief Minister being a doctor himself, understood the problem in depth and introduced the Rajiv Arogyasri Community Health Insurance Scheme and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh established the Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Care Trust under which the diagnostic and treatment protocol have been fixed to keep the cost of administering the scheme low; (vi) Government and private hospitals fulfilling minimum qualifications in terms of availability of in-patient medical beds, laboratory, equipment, operation theatres, etc., and a track record in the treatment of specific diseases are enlisted as network hospitals for providing treatment under the scheme;

327 (vii) the premium under the scheme is fully borne by the Government and treatment under the Rajiv Arogyasri-I&II is met by the Government; (viii) the Rajiv Aarogyasri scheme of Andhra Pradesh is unique in its applicability, since no other State/Government agency has provided universal health coverage to the poor for major ailments; (ix) in addition to the efficient delivery of the assistance to the poor for catastrophic health needs, the scheme is also having profound impact on overall health scenario in the State; and (x) in view of the successful implementation of the scheme by the present Government of Andhra Pradesh, there is a felt-need to implement a scheme throughout the country on the lines of the Rajiv Aarogyasri scheme of Andhra Pradesh; this House, therefore, urges upon the Government to— (a) start a Community Health Insurance Scheme covering all the people below poverty line in the entire country for treatment of serious ailments such as cancer, kidney failure, heart diseases, etc., by enabling them to have treatment from reputed private and government hospitals without having to pay money; (b) fully bear the premium under the scheme; (c) set up a trust to run the scheme; (d) establish a network of hospitals, fix the diagnostic and treatment protocol; (e) enlist Government and private hospitals fulfilling minimum qualifications in terms of availability of in-patient medical beds, laboratory, equipment, operation theatres, etc., and a track record in the treatment of specified diseases for providing treatment under the scheme; or (f) replicate the Rajiv Arogyasri Scheme which was introduced by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh throughout the country for the benefit of poor at large."

4. SHRI M. RAMA JOIS to move the following Resolution:— "Having regard to the fact that—

(i) the communal riots take place in different parts of the country on several occasions between Hindus and Muslims causing colossal loss of life and property to both, (ii) more than that the people of India get divided on communal lines which is disastrous to the unity of the Nation and feeling of fraternity which is one of the objectives of the Constitution, (iii) in the larger interest of the Nation, it is necessary to take steps towards establishing Communal Riots free India, (iv) but all that is done on such occasions when a riot takes place is to appeal for peace, hold public meetings or to pay compensation to the victims and forget it and repeat the same after another riot takes place and in the meanwhile indulge in making mutual allegations; (v) this state of affairs should not be allowed to continue as Hindus and Muslims have to live in this Country for all times to come with peace and harmony; (vi) it is necessary to diagnose the root causes of communal riots and remove them in order to strengthen the feeling of fraternity;

328 (vii) it is matter of common knowledge that the opposition (a) to the enacting of uniform law in the matter of marriage; (b) to a total ban on cow slaughter though it is a mandate of Article 48 of the Constitution; and (c) to restore the three of the most sacred places at Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi to Hindus, is the root of disharmony and without making an earnest effort to settle these issues amicably, communal harmony is being preached; (viii) Mahatma Gandhi in his book 'My Picture of Free India at page 214-215 has stated that - "We Indians of whatever religion, have to live together. We are of the same soil, we are nursed by the self same Mother and we cannot go on killing each other if India is to live. Let all of us Hindus, Mussalmans, Parsis, Sikhs, Christainas, live amicably as Indians, pledged to live as the children of the same Mother, retaining our individual faiths and yet being one, like the countless leaves of one tree. Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christisans and others are equally the sons and daughters of India and have equal rights of citizenship"; (ix) the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya Case (1994 (6) SCC 360 para - 89) has observed that - "The hearing left us wondering why the dispute cannot be resolved in the same manner and in the same spirit in which the matter was argued, particularly, when some of the participants are common and are in a position to negotiate and resolve the dispute. We do hope this hearing has been the commencement of the process which will ensure an amicable resolution to the dispute and it will not end with the hearing of this matter. This is a matter suited essentially to resolution by negotiations which does not end in a winner and a loser while adjudication leads to that end, it is in the national interest that there is no loser as the final outcome does not leave behind any rancour in any one. This can be achieved by a negotiated solution on the basis of which a decree can be obtained in terms of such solution in these suits. Unless a solution is found which leaves every one happy, there cannot be the beginning for continued harmony between "we the people of India"; (x) what the supreme Court has observed regarding Ayodya applies equally to other disputes; and (xi) the national interest demands the necessity of bringing about national reconciliation between the Hindus and the Muslims for a harmonious living, this House, therefore, urges upon the Government to constitute by law, a National Reconciliation Adalat presided over by a Retired Chief Justice of India and one or two retired judges of the Supreme Court and a few reputed and respectable saints or leading personalities of both the communities as members empowering that Adalat to bring about amicable settlement of the disputes once and for all for establishing a COMMUNAL RIOT FREE INDIA".

329 5. SHR P. RAJEEVE to move the following Resolution:— "Having regard to the fact that —

(i) of late, there are reports of intelligence and security agencies spying upon political leaders leading to subverting the democratic system and breeding an atmosphere of illegality in the higher echelons of the Government; (ii) section 5 (2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1882, authorizes the Government to intercept messages on the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety, but the constitutional validity of this Section had been questioned before the Supreme Court of India; (iii) in a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court it had been clearly (a) stated that the right to hold a telephonic conversation in private at home or at an office will come under the provisions of right to privacy since a telephonic conversation is an important part of a person's private life and is a part of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty as enshrined in article 21 of the Constitution, which cannot be curtailed except according to the procedure established by law, (b) asserted that telephone tapping amounts to an invasion of privacy in violation of this core right; (iv) the Freedom of Speech and Expression guaranteed by Article 19(1) of the Constitution includes the right to express one's convictions and opinions freely by word of mouth and when a person is talking on the telephone, he or she is exercising this freedom; (v) article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 expressly forbids arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence and stipulates that everyone has the right to protection of the law against such intrusions; (vi) the Supreme Court has affirmed that international law, if it does not conflict with national legislation it will be deemed as the Municipal (domestic/national) law itself; (vii) elaborating the scope of section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1882 the Court clarified that this section does not confer unguided and unbridled power on investigating agencies to invade a person's privacy; (viii) telephone tapping is only permitted in the following two circumstances— (a) on the occurrence of a public emergency: this means the prevalence of a sudden condition or state of affairs affecting the people at large calling for immediate action; and (b) in the interest of Public Safety: this means the state or condition of freedom from danger for the people at large, (ix) these directions are hardly observed nor have they been incorporated in any laws as in the existing law there is no specific prohibition on the use of the intelligence and security agencies for any form of surveillance of political leaders and their activities which is a major lacunae and needs an immediate change; and (x) there is need of a specific inclusion of this prohibition in relevant laws so as to sustain the fundamental freedom of free speech and expression in a democratic country like India and also there is a need for codification of instructions on tapping of phones and surveillance on grounds of national security or investigation of criminal activity,

330 this House, therefore, urges upon the Government to formulate specific guidelines prohibiting the use of the intelligence and security agencies for any form of surveillance of political leaders and their activities."

6. SHRI TIRUCHI SIVA to move the following Resolution:— "Having regard to the fact that—

(i) article 343 (1) of the Indian Constitution states that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script; (ii) the principal official language of the Republic of India is Hindi while English is the secondary official language; (iii) individual mother tongues in India numbering 1652 by the 1961 census and according to the census of 2001, 29 languages are spoken by more than a million native speakers; (iv) article 345 of the Constitution provides recognition to 'Official Languages' of a State to include any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language to be used by a State Legislature for official purposes; and (v) till the Constitution (Twenty-first) Amendment Act, 1967, 14 official regional languages were recognized and the Constitution (Seventy-first) Amendment Act included Sindhi, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18 which was further increased to 22 by the Constitution (Ninety-second) Amendment Act, 2003, this House, therefore, urges upon the Government to declare all the official regional languages specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution as the official languages of the Union of India."

NEW DELHI; V.K. AGNIHOTRI, May 6, 2010. Secretary-General.

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