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

Wednesday, July 30, 2014 / Shravana 8, 1936 (Saka) ______

REFERENCE BY SPEAKER

HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, on 25th July, 2014, seven personnel of the Indian Air Force including two officers are reported to have been killed when their helicopter crashed in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. I am sure the House joins me in sharing the grief of the family members who died in the crash. I am sure that the House joins me in sharing the grief the family members who died in the crash.

The Members then stood in silence for a short while.

FELICITATION BY SPEAKER

HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, I am sure all of you will join me in extending our heartiest felicitations to the Indian Contingent for their remarkable performance at the ongoing 20th Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland. The

Indian Contingent has so far won 35 medals – 10 gold; 15 silver and 10 bronze.

The House congratulates Sanjita Khumukchan, Sukhen Dey and Sathish

Sivalingam for winning gold medals in the event of weightlifting, Abhinav Bindra, Apurvi Chandela, Jitu Rai and Rahi Sarnobat for winning gold medals in shooting and Amit Kumar, Vinesh Phogat and Sushil Kumar for winning gold medals in wrestling. The House also congratulates the other athletes who have won silver and bronze medals at these games. We convey our best wishes to the Indian Contingent to keep up their commendable performances for the remaining events in the games and bring further laurels to our country.

SUBMISSION BY MEMBER

Re: Bugging at the residence of a Union Minister.

THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI RAJ NATH SINGH) responding to the issue raised by an hon. Member said: The hon. Member mentioned about news report published in newspapers that a high power listening device was fitted in the bedroom of one of our Ministers and on that basis the

Hon'ble Member has sought clarification from the government in this regard. I want to make it clear that the news report which has appeared is entirely baseless.

Therefore, the question of getting investigated this entire case does not arise. The

Hon'ble Minister in whose bedroom this high power device has reportedly been implanted has himself refuted this news. Therefore, there is no justification of taking the news item published in the newspapers seriously.

MATTERS UNDER RULE 377

(i) Need to amend the SDRF Rules for welfare of farmers in the country

particularly in .

SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI: The economy of Rajasthan is based on agriculture. As per the rules of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) agriculture input grant in aid is given only to those farmers whose more than 50 per cent crop is destroyed. I through the House urge upon the Union Government that SDRF rules should be amended so that the farmers who suffered lose of crops less than 50 per cent due to natural calamities should also get compensation.

(ii) Need to declare Bhrigudham Bhitora in Fatehpur District, Uttar

Pradesh as a tourist place.

SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI: Bhrigudham Bhitora in Fatehpur District,

Uttar Pradesh is Taposthali of Maharshi Bhrigu. I urge upon the Union

Government to declare Bhrigudham Bhitora as a tourist spot.

(iii) Need for special scheme to provide basic infrastructural facilities like

roads and water in Udalguri District in Assam.

SHRI RAMEN DEKA: Udaigiri District is situated in my Parliamentary

Constituency Mangaldoi, Assam touches Indo-Bhutan and is a militant infested district. It is one of the most in undeveloped districts of Assam in terms of infrastructure. The pace of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is also very tardy. I, therefore, urge upon the Central Government to take necessary action to frame special scheme to fulfil the essential needs of road development and supply of potable water to the people of Udalguri District, Assam.

(iv) Need for action plan and to constitute separate task force to check of

human trafficking of minor boys/girls.

SHRI : The incidents of missing of minor boys and girls and abduction of thereof are increasing constantly in the country. There is a report of missing of two lakhs thirty six thousand fourteen children from the year 2009-11 out of which Seventy five thousand eight hundred eight children are still missing.

The attitude of local police in most cases of missing children is not sensible. FIRs are not registered in such cases. Only the report of missing are registered.

Therefore, I urge upon the Union Government to formulate a concrete action plan and constitute a separate work force to nab human traffickers by conducting enquiry thoroughly in the incidents of missing minor children.

(v) Need for early appointment of doctors and para-medical staff in the

AIIMS, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

SHRI GAJENDRASINGH SHEKHAWAT: The Minister of Health and

Family Welfare in the Government of Hon'ble Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji sanctioned an AIIMS at Jodhpur but unfortunately even after elapsing of 10 years the work on it has not been completed so far. Due to non appointment of staff and doctors for this AIIMS patients have to face lot of difficulties. I urge upon the Union

Government that doctors and para-medical staffs for AIIMS Jodhpur should be appointed early to remove the difficulties of the patients.

(vi) Need to re-construct Mankapur-Babhnan road leading to Bhagwan

Swami Narayan Temple, Chhapia, in Uttar Pradesh under C.R.F.

SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH: In my Parliamentary Constituency

Gonda the road leading to birth place of Bhagwan Swami Narayan Temple,

Chhapia connecting Mankapur and Babhnan railway station is in bad condition.

Every year thousands of devotees use this road to reach Bhagwan Swami Narayan

Temple, Chhapia for darshan. These devotees have to face lot of inconvenience.

Therefore, I urge upon the government to issue orders for reconstruction of this road under CRF scheme without further delay.

(vii) Need for an early action to re-construct the dilapidated bridge over

Urai-Jalaon main road in Madhya Pradesh.

SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA: In my Parliamentary

Constituency the bridge on main road near near Kukar Gaon between Urai and

Jalaon is more than hundred years old has got damaged at many places due to which there is always possibility of any major tragedy. Therefore, I demand from the Union Government to issue orders immediately for repairing of said damaged bridge on Urai-Jalaon main road.

(viii) Need for issuance of No Objection Certificate from Neyveli Lignite

Corporation regarding transfer of lignite mines which were allotted to

them by Gujarat Government.

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL: In July 2006 the Government of

Gujarat signed a memorandum of understanding with M/s Neyveli Lignite

Corporation for Lignite based 1500 megawatt power project in South Gujarat.

Lignite to this power project was to be supplied from the Lignite Mines of the

Gujarat Government. Therefore, the Government of Gujarat thought of to run this project through GIPCL, an undertaking of the Gujarat Government instead of running it as a joint venture with NLC. The NLC is supposed to issue an NOC to this effect that it has no objection in transferring the lignite mines allotted to it to the government of Gujarat or any of its undertaking or GIPCL. I, therefore, urge upon the Union Government to take action in this regard immediately and facilitate issuance of necessary NOC from NLC so that they work on this project could be carried headway.

(ix) Need to release balance amount of fund under State Disaster

Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund

(NDRF) to the farmers of Tumkur District, Karnataka affected by

drought.

SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA: Tumkur district in Karnataka has witnessed drought for the past three years. The drought during 2013-2014 has affected agricultural, horticultural and perennial plantation crops. The State

Government has submitted proposal for compensation in the form of input subsidy sought under SDRF and NDRF to the tune of Rs. 9313.83 lakh. But only 21% of the demand made by the concerned Departments was released till now. I urge upon the Union Government to release the balance 79% of compensation by the concerned Department immediately for the benefit of the farmers of Tumkur district, Karnataka immediately.

(x) Need to promote off-grid solar power technology for providing

electricity in rural parts of the country.

DR. SHASHI THAROOR: The lack of connection of at least 75 million rural households in our country to the electricity grid is a matter of grave concern.

With the abundant availability of sunlight in most parts of , the rapid development and implementation of off-grid solar power technologies would accelerate the electrification of our villages. I, therefore, urge the Government to promote off-grid solar power in rural areas and provide incentives for innovation.

(xi) Need to provide interest free loans to the eligible students during the

moratorium period.

SHRI S.R. VIJAYA KUMAR: The eligible students availing education loan from banks do not get the full subsidy under Central Scheme to provide

Interest Subsidy (CSIS). As per this Scheme implemented by Ministry of HRD, any economically weaker section student availing education loan from the banks under IBA Scheme to pursue professional and technical courses is eligible for full interest subsidy during the moratorium period. A lot of complaints have been received that many banks do not provide full interest subsidy to the students. The poor students are forced by the banks to pay the interest, which otherwise should have been reimbursed by the Government. Since Interest subsidy scheme confusion among the banks and students, instead of providing full interest subsidy, the Government can consider to grant Interest free loans to the eligible students during the moratorium period. In such cases, the banks would take more care to claim the interest portion from the Government and the students will get the full benefit and after the moratorium period, the student may be asked to pay the regular interest.

(xii) Need for strong legislation to curb selling of women and children in

the country.

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA: The sale of human beings be considered as a crime in our country and a legislation should be enacted to punish those who are involved with selling women and minors. The existing law criminalizes the act of selling human beings only if it is done for prostitution, slavery or exploration. Exploitation is not clearly defined and selling of people for marriage and adoption is not an offence. Despite a strong recommendation by the

Law Commission in its 146th Report in 1993, no steps have been taken by the

Government. There exists an urgent need to extend the scope of legal provisions to cover the cases where a woman or a child is sold, irrespective of immediate objective of the transaction. Selling children under the garb of adoption should be made illegal.

(xiii) Need to return 1800 acres of land requisitioned for military airport

purpose at Nevali in Kalyan-Ambernath in Maharashtra giving World

War II to the respective original land holders.

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: The Government of India rules clearly state that any requisitioned land need to be returned to original user after the purpose of requisition has been served. However, the land at Nevali located in the Kalyan-Ambarnath belt has not been returned to the original owners since the days of World War II. During the World War II, the then Government had requisitioned this stretch of 1800 acres of land for a military airport. At present the land is in the possession of Ministry of Defence. According to informed sources, the documents regarding title of the said land are not available either with the

Ministry of Defence or State Government authorities. The said land ought to have been handed over to original owners/land holders purpose of requisition was over.

I request to the Government of India and Ministry of Defence in particular is that the original land owners should be traced and their lands be returned to them.

(xiv) Need to release adequate funds for the various development schemes

in Katihar Parliamentary Constituency, Bihar.

SHRI TARIQ ANWAR: My Parliamentary Constituency Katihar, is economically and educationally backward and due to poor infrastructure, non- availability of sufficient mode of communication and poor condition of roads, sharp increase in poverty has been registered there. I, request all the concerned

Ministries to kindly take a note of the above issues and release/grant the adequate amount under various schemes for the development of this area.

(xv) Need to set up a Cashew Board at Kollam, Kerala.

SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN: The cashew industry is emerging as the backbone of the Kerala's economy. Seventy five per cent of Cashew Industry in the country is in Kerala and the bulk of the cashew exports are also from Kollam,

Kerala. There are around 800 registered cashew nut processing units providing employment to around 3 lakh workers of which 95% are women. The cashew industry is facing problem related to availability of raw nuts. The fall in the domestic production of raw nuts has led to this situation. The only available method is to encourage the cashew cultivation by providing resource. It is possible only through a Cashew Board. Hence, I urge upon the Government to establish a cashew Board at Kollam, Kerala at the earliest.

NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI – BUDGET-2014-2015-

GENERAL DISCUSSION

AND

DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF

DELHI)-2014-2015

SHRI DEEPENDER SINGH HOODA initiating said: People had a lot of expectations from this Budget but this budget has not come up to their expectations. During elections, BJP had said that power tariff in Delhi is quite exorbitant. They promised that they would reduce rates of electricity by 30% once they come to power. The hon. Finance Minister has given subsidy of Rs.260 crore in this Budget. But when the issue of such subsidy had come up during the tenure of the Congress government, these very people opposed it. Today, this

Government is doing exactly the same thing which was done by the previous government. They are giving public money in the form of subsidy to the power companies. So far as education sector is concerned, the Congress government had made a provision of opening 100 new schools in their last budget whereas this government has announced to open only 20 new schools. Besides, the hon.

Minister has said in his Budget that 1300 new buses equipped with all modern facilities will be introduced in Delhi. But when the same provision was made by the Congress party last year, the BJP opposed it. Actually, it is the Congress government which had made this provision first. This government has only replicated that provision in this budget. In the previous budget, there was a provision of introducing Mono Rail in Delhi but there is a no mention of it in this

Budget. The issue of Lal Dora in rural Delhi is a very important issue. But no allocation has been made in this regard in the budget. Besides, there is no special provision for unauthorized colonies in Delhi. The provision of drinking water has been made only for 50 such colonies. The previous government had launched

Annashree Yojana but no provision has been made for this scheme in this budget.

Previous Delhi government had proposed to construct a free expressway from

Bahadurgarh to Ring Road in Delhi. I urge upon the hon. Minister to make allocation for this expressway.

SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI: This Budget clearly reflects our approach i.e. Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. During elections, we had said that special attention will be paid to 5 important issues such as security, electricity, safe drinking water, housing and employment. I am happy that all these five issues have been properly dealt with in the budget. So far as security particularly security of women is concerned, hon. Finance Minister has made a provision to set up ‘One Stop Crisis Centre’ for the women and has also made fund allocation for this purpose in the Budget. I would urge upon the

Finance Minister that there should be a compulsory provision of self defence training in schools particularly girl’s school and colleges in Delhi. The second issue relates to electricity. I am grateful to the hon. Minister for making a provision of Rs.260 crore for infrastructure development. Special steps have been taken with regard to solar energy both in Union and Delhi budgets. NDMC is going to generate 1MW power from solar energy. This is going to materialize our slogan

‘Clean Delhi, Green Delhi’ in real sense. In this House, a mention has been made with regard to reducing power tariff by 30 per cent. I want to say that we have made this possible through providing subsidy and 84 per cent population has been covered thereunder. Regarding affordable housing, I want to say that the people living in J.J. clusters should be provided houses at cheaper rates. I urge upon the

Government to make such provisions for economically weaker sections particularly those of jhuggi clusters of New Delhi. I would like to say that adequate provisions have been made in the budget regarding providing safe drinking water to the people. So far as system of providing food grains to the people is concerned, I want to say that the whole system need to be computerized and the vehicles carrying such food grains need to be fitted with GPS system.

There is also a need to rationalize the system under Food Security Act.

*SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN: I welcome and support the announcements made in the Delhi Budget. Delhi is the capital of India. People from all parts of the country come to Delhi frequently. Foreign dignitaries also frequently visit Delhi. Therefore, Union Government should provide special financial package to Delhi. Delhi Assembly is now under suspended animation.

Union Government has presented the Budget for Delhi. I urge that such a budget should be passed by the State Assembly being elected by the people of State concerned. Price rise should be controlled in Delhi. Drinking water and electricity related issues should be solved. Welfare schemes being implemented in Tamil

Nadu should be followed in Delhi.

PROF. SAUGATA ROY: This Budget is presented with an eye on the future Delhi elections which may happen any time considering the state of flux the

Delhi is in. It was the Commonwealth Games which brought bad name to the

Congress and its Government. Corruption not only in holding the Commonwealth

Games but the corruption was also in the Delhi Government. The Congress lost the confidence among the people. The people were still not prepared to trust the

BJP. As a result, when the elections were held, an entirely new party, Aam Aadami

Party (AAP), came to power in Delhi. But the irresponsible way in which the AAP

Government resigned has belied the hope of all those who have placed their faith

* Original in Tamil on the Aam Aadami Party. So, in the Lok Sabha Elections, people backed BJP which has again won all the 7 Lok Sabha seats from Delhi. Let the BJP not take it for granted that people really reposed their faith in them. In spite of calling Delhi a

State, Delhi has not been given the power of the State. Law and Order is entirely in the hands of the Central Government. All the land in Delhi is under the Ministry of Urban Development. Thus, the Government in Delhi is a toothless Government.

Let this new Government think of making Delhi a full-fledged State. Delhi is neither fully a Union Territory nor is it a State. Delhi has to be rescued from this situation. Delhi is the Capital of the country. But have we made Delhi a world class city? The common people of Delhi suffer from lack of drinking water.

Electricity supply in Delhi has been given to private companies but that has not improved the state of electricity distribution in Delhi. Yamuna is the most polluted drain you can find anywhere in the country. Is there any scheme of the

Government to really clean up the Yamuna as it passes through Delhi? Is there any concrete plan given in this budget for providing enough drinking water especially to those living in Delhi slums? Is there any provision so that Delhi people will be spared of load-shedding? I really look at how problems of Delhi have multiplied making it almost uninhabitable city excepting the high-cost colonies. Poor and the ordinary people who provide the backbone of Delhi are left in the lurch. They live in jhuggi-jhopri clusters. Delhi is inhabited by a lot of linguistic communities and it has four Academies of Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi and Hindi. There are more than 100,000 Bengalies living in this city. We would like an Academy of Bengali in the city of Delhi in the interests of the large Bengali speaking community.

DR. PRABHAS KUMAR SINGH: Delhi was the seat of administration for so many royal dynasties right from Mughals to Lodhis to Rajputs. There are many historical buildings but if we go to the surroundings of these monuments, we can see that they are in very bad condition. We can find a lot of encroachment, a lot of traffic, and human vandalism all around those historical monuments. I request the hon'ble Finance Minister to look into the matter to give a thrust to our heritage.

Tourism is also linked to our monuments. There are no proper information centres in the monuments and in the building sites. I would like the Government to provide multimedia information centres and guided tours not only for the people of Delhi but also for the tourists and visitors who are coming to Delhi from different parts of the globe. They can know about our heritage, our culture and our past. We have a number of museums in Delhi. There is no infrastructure, there is no basic facility and there is no proper communication in these museums. I would request you to make them accessible to everybody for proper popularization of these museums.

Regarding the masterplan of Delhi, still there are a number of lacunae. We have not provided drainage system and proper drinking water facilities. We have a lot of problems in the New Delhi railway station. I request our Hon'ble Finance Minister to provide funds for the modernization of the New Delhi railway station. I would request the Government to provide a piece of land to the people of Odisha in Delhi so that we can make a cultural complex in Delhi where we can exhibit our rich culture.

DR. BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD: Delhi has become the most polluted city in the world. I request the Government to take immediate steps to control pollution. Delhi again is known as one of the unsafe places for women. We need to ponder over these points. Most of the migrant population is on a meager salary.

They do not have adequate finances to send their children to private institutions. It is said that there is a need for 500 schools in Delhi. Unfortunately, there is sanction for only 20 schools in this Budget. Delhi Government used to give Rs 600 per month for the destitute women. But in this Budget, there is no mention about this.

About 80,000 pension applications are pending. I request the Government to look into this matter very seriously. After Hindi, Telugu is the largest spoken language.

We have two States with Telugu speaking persons. I would request the Union

Government to immediately release funds so that a Telugu Academy can be started.

SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA: At present the population of

Delhi is about 2.5 crore. This burden of huge population naturally affects the supply of power and drinking water to the people. I am pained to note that the previous Delhi Governments did chalk out plan for supply of water, electricity and advancement of Delhi but they were not long-term plans. There are about 1200 slums here wherein 30 lakh people live in five lakh jhuggis. There are 360 villages in which 20 lakh people live. The development of Delhi has to be made keeping in view these 49 per cent people. There is no sewerage facility and drinking water facility in 800 colonies of Delhi. However, we have said in the Budget that we will provide drinking water in 50 colonies and sewerage facilities in 95 colonies.

We had our government in the centre from 1993 to 1998. During that period land consolidation was done in four villages. Every villager was provided with plots of

2100 sq. yard. Industries were provided plots of 300 sq. yards each. But thereafter, later governments did not give plot even in a single village. Delhi is a

State capital. It has to be made into a beautiful capital. I would thank the hon.

Finance Minister for providing a sum of Rs.500 crore for water reforms. Rs. 200 crore has been given for power reforms. The demand of water in Delhi is 1100

MGD. However, only 800 MGD is being provided right now. Renuka Dam

Project is under construction in Himachal Pradesh for which 50 crore rupees has been given. From that dam the people of Delhi will get 275 MGD additional water. Delhi Police has been given Rs.394 crore. Rs. 50 crore has been provided for construction of National Police Memorial. There is a provision of opening a medical college in Rohini with 100 bed hospital. There the academic session will start from the year 2015. Again there is a provision of a multi-specialty hospital in the rural area of South Delhi. For health sector Rs.2724 crore has been provided.

For School of Planning Architecture Design a sum of Rs.225 crore has been allocated. In view of increasing number of working women in Delhi there is a provision to set up six new hostels for them. We want to make a new India by taking it ahead.

SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY: I would like to raise the problems that are being faced by the common people of Delhi. A sum of Rs.36,766 crore has been allocated in the budget for Delhi. This amount is less than the last year’s budget. There is a shortage of drinking water in Delhi. Finance Minister has promised to provide subsidy on electricity but before the budget the power tariff has been raised as 8.32 per cent on residential and 9.5 per cent on commercial use.

I would also come to the issue of sanitation. Even now women have to go in open for defecation. In this way the dream of making Delhi a world class city can never be converted into reality. Health services are insufficient. There is no adequate number of schools for the children of the poor. Even now people sleep in the open on footpaths. I come from the North-East. People of that area come here for education and jobs. They face accommodation problem. There is a need to construct housing complex for them.

SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA: There is transportation problem in Delhi. Delhi being the capital of the country, there is a lot of traffic congestion and there is a lot of pollution in the city of Delhi. Hence, I request the hon.

Finance Minister to allocate a certain Budget for Delhi to deal with the transportation problem by providing more metro facilities as also other facilities.

There are monuments of heritage value and ancestral value. So, I would request the hon. Finance Minister to provide enough resources in the Budget to take care of these monuments. I would like to say that accommodation for the Members of

Parliament is one more important problem. We are only a thousand people in

Parliament today. In spite of this, proper housing facility is not provided to all of us. Hence I request the hon. Finance Minister to allocate a certain budget for the repairs of existing buildings as well as for providing proper accommodation to us.

SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI: This is a tax free budget for Delhi. Not a single paisa has been levied as a tax. Our Finance Minister has spoken about setting up a medical college and hospital in Rohini and there the academic session will start from this year itself. This government is working with a vision. Delhi is the capital of the country where population is increasing every day. Every year a population of five lakh is added. We plan to open 20 schools every year. There is a shortage of twenty thousand teachers in Delhi. This is because recruitment of teachers has not been done during the last 15 years. Not a single new college has been opened under Delhi University. There is a scheme namely JNNURM. Under this Scheme 450 crore rupees was lapsed in 2012 during the regime of the then government. There are 1600 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Not a single colony out of that has been regularised. Previous year the budget of education was Rs.

2,046 crore. We have raised it to Rs.2,482 crore. There is an increase of Rs.400 crore in the Budget. There has been no instance of direct subsidy being given to

Delhi by the Central Government during the last 20 years. SHRI NINONG ERING: There are some issues like supply of gas to

Bawana Power Plant. There is no provision in the Budget for the same. There are many pending projects. These projects should be completed first. There are diseases like cholera, typhoid etc. that are spreading fast in Delhi and there is no provision in the Budget to prevent these diseases. Similarly, there is also no mention in the Budget about constructing hostels for working women of the country particularly from North Eastern states. We need to focus more on making Delhi as a world class city. The Bezbaruah Committee in its report had recommended for setting up an office to look after the people from North-East. In fact, the Government should take care of all the people coming to Delhi from all over the country.

SHRI MAHEISH GIRRI: I want to make my parliamentary constituency,

East Delhi as a model constituency. Delhi has a different identity in India. Our

Government has formed a new Ministry to take care of the rivers Ganga and

Yamuna because our Samskaras teach us to respect our culture. A provision has been made in the Budget for setting up a war memorial. If we are here today, it is because of our brave soldiers who martyred for our country. I would like to thank the hon. Finance Minister for giving a university in my parliamentary constituency.

A woman hostel has also been sanctioned. The crime rate is very high in East

Delhi. The strength of police does not commensurate with the population of that area. I, therefore, request the Government to kindly take note of it. In Gandhinagar which falls in my parliamentary constituency, people run small businesses but sealing takes place there frequently. If their small businesses get closed due to sealing how the youth would get employment. There is a lake in

Mayur Vihar area called Sanjay Lake. This could be developed as a big tourist place. I expect some grants from the Central Government for the same. Our government has taken its first step in right earnest for the development of Delhi.

SHRI BHAGWANT MANN: There is nothing new in this Budget. It seems more to be the Budget of the previous Government. The subsidy on electricity given by the AAP party has been discontinued and power tariff has been increased twice since. The Government is saying that it has reduced the power tariff by giving a paltry sum of Rs.260 crore as subsidy. We had got the CAG audit done of the power companies within 48 hours. The Government said that it would provide sports scholarship but there is no mention of the same in the

Budget. It also said of setting up IAS and IFS academy in Delhi but this has also failed to find a mention in the Budget. People from all over the country come to

Delhi in search of employment but there is no mention of creating jobs in the

Budget. When the AAP party came to power, it started giving 20 thousand liter water free of charge to every household in Delhi but this Government has discontinued subsidy on water also. The tanker mafia has become active once again. Of course, this Government has nothing to give to Delhites in this Budget. DR. UDIT RAJ: North East Delhi is the most backward area in Delhi.

There is no facility of metro trains though metro has been extended upto Faridabad and Gurgaon. Implementing building by-laws is a big problem in villages. There is an urgent need of making water available in the jhuggi-jhopris. The hon.

Finance Minister has not only paid full attention to it in Delhi Budget, but in the

General Budget also enough attention has been paid by him and a sum of Rs.5000 crore has been allocated for making water available for Delhites. Similarly, sufficient funds have also been allocated for constructing community toilets in all the JJ colonies in Delhi. There is a proposal to set up 20 new schools which is a welcome step. A medical college with super specialty status would be set up in

North-West Delhi. I would like to thank the hon. Finance Minister for the same.

There is a proposal to make pucca parallel channel from Munak to Haiderpur functional after resolving the issue with Haryana, and very soon we will be getting safe water for meeting the needs of nearly 35 lakh people. I was talking about metro. Metro services are extended upto Faridabad, Gurgaon and Palwal. I would like to know whether they cannot extend the Metro service upto Narela,

Kutubgarh and Bawana. This part is totally neglected. I would therefore, suggest to the hon. Finance Minister to consider this demand of rural Delhi. The area of

Lal dora should be extended because it has not been extended despite the population getting doubled during the last 35 years. Similarly, alternative plots in lieu of land acquired have not been allotted to those farmers whose land has been acquired. Builders or the contractors acquire huge tracts of land with the condition that houses would be provided to the economically weaker sections of the society.

However, no houses are given to the poor. This matter should be looked into. I would also like to propose that a ring road should be developed around Delhi so that traffic load inside Delhi could be lessened. Approximately 800 colonies have not been regularized. The High Court had given a very clear-cut verdict that even though the colonies have not been regularized, basic amenities should be provided in those colonies. These basic amenities include water, sewer and roads etc. but these amenities are not being provided. The work of constructing the sports complex at Ghevra should be completed. There is an abundant area of vacant land in my area. There is a lot of scope for foreign investment there. I would request the government to develop that vacant land.

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: The people of North-Eastern India have contributed a lot to the development of Delhi. A large number of students from

North-East India come to Delhi and they are forced to lead a very pathetic life.

There should be an arrangement of hostel for those students who come from outside Delhi. The budget lacks provisions for providing facilities to such students. I would like to urge the hon. Finance Minister to focus in his budget on the issues of providing water and toilet facilities to the poor migrant population of

North-Eastern India. Secondly, I would like to suggest that you should try to take Delhi forward on the same lines which was followed by the previous government.

There is a need to focus on the industrial development of the city.

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI: This Delhi Budget is a very responsible and good budget especially for the migrant population of Delhi. The provision of 35 crore rupees for creation of toilet facilities in jhuggi clusters is a very good step.

There is no sports complex in my constituency. If attention is paid towards this problem then the people of North-East Delhi will benefit a lot. A Central School should also be set up in my constituency.

SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI: The Delhi Budget in my opinion is a missed opportunity and a betrayal of the Delhi people. The most important point is that our Constitution provides for a State Budget to be passed in this august House but is this a healthy practice? It is an unhealthy practice which should not have been continued. BJP has always been saying that it is committed to giving

Statehood to Delhi. That has not been mentioned here. The third point is that the

BJP manifesto talked about decreasing the electricity rates by 30 per cent. Why did the BJP forget this 30 per cent reduction promised in their manifesto? There is no mention as to how the Government will fulfil the water requirements of the people of Delhi. I would like to know from the Government whether for the development of Old Delhi is there sufficient amount of fund allocated. The BJP manifesto talked about creating 50,000 jobs by making Delhi the new green capital of the world. But these is no mention of that in the Budget. Delhi Police requires modernization and manpower. Neither in the Union Home Ministry’s Budget nor in the Delhi Budget there is any mention about it. I would have expected that the

Budget would have talked about how to protect the heritage of Old Delhi but not a single mention is there about it.

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, MINISTER OF CORPORATE

AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY) replying said: A large number of members of the House have participated in this discussion on Delhi Budget. This question was also raised as to why was it necessary for the

Parliament to pass the budget of Delhi. The answer is that it is to fulfil a constitutional obligation because such a constitutional situation has arisen that the

Legislative Assembly of Delhi is in a state of suspended animation and unless the solution of this political situation is found through a political process it is within the jurisdiction of the Parliament to pass the Budget of Delhi. Delhi is among the oldest cities of the country. Rural Delhi is also a large part of Delhi in which agriculture activity has now become almost negligible. This area has its own peculiar set of challenges in terms of economic development. One of the major demands from this area is related to the extension of the Lal Dora area. Delhi has a cosmopolitan character due to the fact that a large number of people from various parts and states of the country have migrated into Delhi which has led to Delhi being a hub of economic activities. The satellite cities around Delhi which initially took off as small cities have grown into cities that have left their imprint on the entire world. A few among the hundred smart cities envisaged by the government will certainly grow around the said satellite cities. Delhi has twin character of being a pocket of extremely developed and under developed parts. Budgetary provisions have been outlined keeping in view this character of Delhi. As compared to several other states, Delhi has the advantage of generating a lot of tax revenue due to the fact that it is a hub of economic activities. 90 per cent money of the entire budget outlay has been mobilized by the internal resources of the city.

We have made provisions of providing and improving the basic facilities for the people in the budget. Today, Delhi enjoys extensive health care facilities both in public sector as well as private sector. We are striving for an addition of 1400 beds and creation of more facilities in hospitals. A new medical college will be set up in

Rohini in the forthcoming year and students will start getting admissions in 2015.

There is no multi-specialty hospital in south Delhi Parliament Constituency.

Therefore, there is a provision for setting up of a multi-specialty hospital there.

We have also made provision for 50 more dialysis units through PPP mode in addition to making available 110 ambulances on the roads of Delhi for 24 hours in order to deal with emergencies. Apart from this, efforts have been made to open

20 new schools under the Delhi administration by providing land. Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit academies which promote these languages need to be further strengthened. A new School of Planning and Architecture would be set up affiliated to IP University. Those between 60 to 69 years get Rs.1000 and those above 70 years used to get Rs.1500 as pension. This pension has been stopped since a long time. Now the number of such pensioners has been increased to 4.30 lakh. Provision has been made to provide housing to the economically weaker sections in this Budget. The number of night shelters would be increased. Water and sewage facilities would be provided wherever possible as well as 500 drinking water ATMs. Provision has also been made for cleaning river Yamuna. In the field of transportation, metro service would be extended and 1380 new low floor buses would be provided and 400 new cluster buses would be provided for slum clusters. Electricity distribution network is to be strengthened. 84 per cent of the people would have to pay lesser electricity bills.

All the Demands for Grants (National Capital Territory of Delhi) were voted in full.

DELHI APPROPRIATION (NO.2) BILL, 2014

The Bill was passed.

DISCUSSION UNDER RULE 193

Re: Flood and drought situation in the country

YOGI ADITYANATH initiating said: Almost every year, we discuss the flood and drought situation in the country. My request at the very outset is that, the discussion should reach a definite conclusion. By forecasting floods and instead of incurring expenditure on it repeatedly, we can find a permanent solution through a one time planned expenditure. For this instead of flood control measures, effective water management policy should be adopted. The Government is already taking necessary steps regarding drought situation in 500 districts in the country. Certain regions of the country always suffer loss of life and property as well as loss of cattle due to devastating flood. All kinds of infectious diseases occur in the wake of the floods. Each year millions of rupees are spent on flood control. In 1951, one crore hectares was affected by floods, and, at present this area is about 7 crore hectares. Out of the total area affected by floods in the country, 16 per cent is in Bihar. When one part of the country is in the grip of severe drought then the another part suffers devastating floods. Can embankments provide permanent solution to floods? For some government departments floods provide an opportunity to line their pockets and these become hot-bed of corruption. River beds are full of silt due to which increasing the height of embankment also becomes a problem. Apart from this, breach in embankments result in devastating floods. Even today, two-third of India depends on agriculture for livelihood. Irrigation facilities are available in less than 40 per cent of the cultivable area. The remaining 60 per cent, dependent on monsoon face starvation.

Annual foodgrains requirement of the country is 25 crore tonnes. By 2050 this would almost double. Water management would solve not only the problem of floods but also provide a solution to drought. The Kedarnath tragedy happened because we upset the balance of nature. We must undertake a study to see the extent to which the ambitious project of interlinking of rivers would be helpful in solving the problems of droughts and floods. Large part of North India gets fresh water from the perennial Himalayan rivers. This time due to drought the cropping area has come down by about Rs.2.61 crore hectares. At present about 80 per cent of the country is in the grip of drought. Eastern Uttar Pradesh which receives

201.7 mm of normal rainfall has received only 160 mm so far. Western Uttar

Pradesh instead of 153-154 mm has received only 50 mm. Similarly, Bundelkhand has received only 32 per cent of rainfall. If the farmer is not prosperous and the village economy is not strengthened I feel our dream of a developed India would remain a pipe dream. How can we formulate effective programmes to save the farmers from drought and natural calamities? We need to ponder on this. The

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana would be formulated to cover 60 per cent of un-irrigated land. There is traditional farming in villages even today. Our technical knowledge is limited to only a few universities and research centres.

There is lack of storage facility in the country. Agriculture should be the priority sector for the Government. Nearly 5 lakh farmers have committed suicide in the last 10 years in the country. I hail from Eastern Uttar Pradesh which is affected by floods every year due to the rivers flowing down from Nepal. The Ganga Jal Ayog had decided that ponds will be developed in Nepal with the help of Nepal government for better water management to address the problem of floods in this region. But unfortunately, these schemes launched in 1954 and known as Jal Kundi Schemes are yet to be implemented. A comprehensive policy is needed in the country to address the problem of flood and drought.

The discussion was not concluded.

HALF-AN-HOUR DISCUSSION

Re: Irregularities in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Scheme

KUNWAR BHARATENDRA SINGH: The MNREGS impacts our electorates to a great extent. Most of the works under this scheme are done on papers only and there are large scale irregularities in it. The CAG report and the report of a Planning Commission team given after visiting the rural areas also highlights the irregularities in implementation of this scheme. No cost benefit analysis has been made. No impact assessment was ever done either. Thirdly, how useful were the projects undertaken by MNREGA? The Government should consider changing the head of the committees by elected representatives. In the current economic crisis of high fiscal and current account deficit, the nation needs an efficient system, local participation of farmers, transparency and public accountability has to be put into place to justify such huge national expenditure.

Physical verification of any work is not being done. On one hand, there is wastage of huge sums of money while on the other hand the farmers are facing the problem of labour shortage. THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS,

MINISTER OF SHIPPING, MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT,

MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ AND MINISTER OF DRINKING

WATER AND SANITATION (SHRI NITIN GADKARI) responding to the issue raised by Kunwar Bharatendra Singh and several hon. Members said: Hon.

Members have given very important suggestions regarding Mahatma Gandhi

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Government will consider all the suggestions with all seriousness. The scheme provides for ratio of 60:40, this is a big problem. The Government contemplates a slight change in it. The

Government has decided to change this ratio to 49:51 at district level in order to make some value addition. I, especially, work on water conservation. I urge all the hon. Members to accord priority to all water conservation programmes under this scheme. 60 per cent of our water flow into the sea. If we can conserve it, there will be no drought and poverty will be alleviated. Hon. Finance Minister has estimated that approximately one lakh solar water pumps will be installed this time. If it happens, the farmers will get round the clock water and electricity.

Then, there will be no question of poverty. I, today, want to say that if the State governments want to add some other works in agriculture sector and water conservation to provide employment on 49:51 basis under this scheme, the

Government will allow it. There have been large scale irregularities in implementation of this scheme. The Government will certainly create flying squads to check it, at the same time we will employ space technology as well as. I had had a meeting to assess as to what extent space technology can be useful in this regard. The Government can be successful to a great extent in checking corruption by employing remote sensing. The Government is setting up a section in Delhi which can monitor the works under MNREGS through space technology.

I want to assure you all that whosoever indulges in corruption or embezzlement, the Government will take the strictest action against him. A new technology namely Electronic Fund Management System is there. The Government will employ e-governance through EFMS to direct transfer of wages to the accounts of workers. The Government contemplates such a system. There will be no delays then. If any State government delays the payment, we will take action. If the hon.

Members want to suggest certain works to be included in the scheme, the

Government will welcome. North-East is a different region. Different states have different issues and problems. If the Members suggest some different works for value addition in rural and agriculture sector in that region, that will also be taken into consideration.

The discussion was concluded.

P. SREEDHARAN, Secretary-General.

© 2014 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.