RAJYA SABHA ______∗SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE ______(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) ______Friday, August 23, 2013/Bhadrapada 01, 1935 (Saka) ______Reference to the sad demise of Dr. , a noted social activist, on the 20th of August, 2013 in MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I refer with profound sorrow to the killing of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, a noted social activist, on 20th of August, 2013, in Pune, . A doctor by profession, Dr. Dabholkar served as a medical practitioner before dedicating his life to the cause of social welfare. He took up several social issues as his life’s mission like ‘One Village One Drinking Water Well’, eradication of superstition, stopping water pollution and animal sacrifice. Dr. Dabholkar founded the ‘Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra’ and vigorously campaigned for it. He was the founder member of a Rehabilitation Centre in Satara, Maharashtra. He also served as Vice-President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) and was the editor of a renowned Marathi Weekly, ‘Sadhana’. In the passing away of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, the country has lost a noted social worker.

______∗This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha.

148 We deeply mourn the passing away of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. (One minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased.) ______MATTERS RAISED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE CHAIR I. Serious Problem Arising After the Announcement for Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh SHRI Y.S. CHOWDARY: Andhra Pradesh is still under fire. The Finance Minister in his statement last week, has not gone an inch forward to resolve the problem. Today lakhs of people from all walks of life like employees, farmers, students, lawyers, doctors, etc., are on the roads. A big civil agitation has been started. Road Transport Corporation has already stopped plying buses. Power-generating units are on the verge of stopping generation. Nineteen Members of this House from various parties have expressed their support. In spite of that, there was no movement from the Government or the Ministry. Andhra Pradesh is virtually on the verge of a Constitutional failure, but there is absolutely no action from the Government. II. Recent Reply of P.M.O. on Three Files Related to Widow and Daughter of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. SHRI KUNAL KUMAR GHOSH: The Prime Minister’s Office has recently refused to share three files relating to widow and daughter of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to an applicant, under the RTI Act of 2005 on the ground that this would prejudicially affect relations with foreign countries and that it would affect the sovereignty and integrity of . Even earlier, in 2007, despite an order of the CIC, the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to disclose all documents pertaining to the Shah Nawaz Committee and the G.D.Khosla Commission which had investigated the mysterious disappearance of Netaji on the ground that it would lead to serious law

149 and order problem in the country, especially in West Bengal. Could the Hon. Prime Minister and Hon. Home Minister kindly inform the House about the exact nature of threat to our sovereignty, national integrity and relations with foreign countries on account of information on a national hero, whom the Government believes to have died 68 years ago? (Dr. Barun Mukherji, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Shri Vivek Gupta, Shri D. Bandyopadhyay, Shri Anil Madhav Dave, Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, Shri Md. Nadimul Haque, Dr. Bharatkumar Raut and Shrimati Smriti Zubin Irani associated) III. Gangrape of Woman Journalist in Mumbai SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI: I want to bring to the attention of this august House the brutal gangrape of a 22-year-old photo journalist in Mumbai. The girl was gangraped in Shakti Mill Compound, an area which is designated for re-development, and, there was absolutely no security around. This is not an isolated incident. Four days ago, in a local train in Mumbai, a female foreign visitor was attacked with blade. A month ago, a girl in Bandra was made an acid attack victim. Till how long, will we quietly and mutely remain spectators to the rising crime against women? In every hour in our country, over 2.84 cases of rape are reported. Out of these, only 33 per cent complaints are converted into FIRs. THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI R.P. N. SINGH), responding to the matter, said: The incident that has happened in Mumbai is extremely unfortunate and tragic. We have spoken to the Government of Maharashtra to take immediate action on arresting those people who are accused in this case and mete out the harshest punishment to them. As soon as I have the report from the Maharashtra Government, I will come back to the House. IV. Acquisition of Indian Pharmaceutical Companies by Foreign Companies Through Brownfield Route

150 SHRI SHANTA KUMAR: Today, a big crisis is arising for the Indian pharmaceutical companies. Foreign companies are taking over the Indian pharmaceutical companies as a result of which medicines will become costlier in India. Indian companies export medicines worth about 40 thousand crores of rupees to 200 countries. Presently licenses of 60 patents are expiring. It will hugely benefit Indian companies. To deny this advantage to India, foreign companies are taking over the Indian companies in order to establish their monopoly because the Government has permitted 100 percent FDI automatically in the Brownfield as well as the Greenfield. All these proposals were pending for the last one year. The Prime Minister called a meeting and ordered clearance of all the pending proposals. The Department of Health is opposing it, DIPP Department is opposing it and the Standing Committee has given a unanimous report on this matter. Despite that these proposals are being cleared. I request the Government to withdraw its decision. SHRI M. VENKAIAH NAIDU: It is a very serious issue. The recommendation of the Standing Committee has been by passed. It is an issue concerning the common man of the country. The Ministry has opposed this and if this is being overruled, it will hurt the interests of the common man of the country. Why should we go out of the way to support multinational companies? (Shri Balbir Punj, Shri Avinash Rai Khanna, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Shri Bharatkumar Raut, Shrimati Smriti Zubin Irani, Dr. C.P.Thakur, Shri Vinay Katiyar, Shrimati Bimla Kashyap Sood and some honourable members associated.) V. Lack of Basic Amenities in Certain Districts of Odisha despite KBK Scheme. SHRI RAMA CHANDRA KHUNTIA: The KBK, comprising Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkanagiri, Rayagada, Sonepur ,Balangir ,Kalahandi and Nuapada districts, is one of the poorest and most backward regions of the country. During the time of Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, a long-term action plan for KBK was launched on August 18, 1995, with the objective of alleviating hunger and for the

151 development of this area. The Centre re-launched the programme in 1998-99 as a revised long-term action plan. The State Government also launched Biju KBK Yojana. The implementing machinery of the State Government has completely failed to implement this programme. This Government has spent more than Rs.1,963 crores for the KBK scheme, but people still migrate to other States for their livelihood and wages. The woeful situation in a few regions can be gauged from the fact that people bring patients to hospital by boat as there are no roads. People are still using stream and river water for drinking purposes. Roads, healthcare, education and electricity are still a far cry. The State Government machinery has completely failed to provide any relief to the poor people. VI. Difficulties Being Faced by the People of Kerala due to Making Adhaar Card Mandatory for Availing Subsidy on LPG Cylinder. SHRI M.P. ACHUTHAN: In Kerala the public sector oil companies have announced that to get LPG subsidy consumers have to produce Adhaar-linked bank account. So, for every Government's benefit, Adhaar card is becoming mandatory. Now, this is in complete violation of the assurance given by the Government to the Parliament. Thousands of people in Kerala who have registered themselves do not receive Aadhar cards. The Government is spending hundred crores of rupees on the UIDAI project. The Government is not serious whether people are getting Aadhar cards or not. Under the pretext of making Aadhar card mandatory, the Government is denying the subsidy to the people. (Shri D. Raja and Shri Tapan Kumar Sen associated.) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING (SHRI RAJEEV SHUKLA), responding to the matter, said : The hon. Member has raised a very important issue. It would not be made mandatory. It is not mandatory. If any public sector is doing it wrongly, we will correct it.

152 VII. Demand for Early Passing of the Amendment Bill Pertaining to Reservation for SCs/STs. SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN: Reservation for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC has been provided on the basis of Government order. Our first demand is that reservation for SC and ST should be provided by enacting a law and it should be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution so that no one may challenge it in the court. The Government should pass the Bill related to the promotion in reservation in other House. The Government should file a review petition in the Supreme court with regard to promotion in speciality and super speciality areas. The Government can also bring constitutional amendment bill if no review petition is filed. The Government have taken no action to fill the backlog of vacancies reserved for SC, ST and OBC communities. (Dr. Prabha Thakur, Smt. Wansuk Syiem, Dr. Vijaylaxmi Sadho, Smt. Rajani Patil, Shri Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu, Shri Sanjiv Kumar, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu and Shri Ram Kripal Yadav associated.) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING (SHRI RAJEEV SHUKLA), responding to the matter, said : The Government is going to file a review petition in the Supreme court if we will not get any relief there then we shall make act for this. VIII. Alleged Rape of a Girl by a Saint. DR. PRABHA THAKUR: Incident of rape should be condemned. There should be no politics on this issue. The whole house should have one voice in such matter. I want to draw the attention of the Government towards a serious incident. In this incident, a hateful attempt of rape and sexual harassment was made with a minor girl by a person, who is considered as a saint. Now, it is confirmed by various departments that he was in Jodhpur. IX. Plight of Prisoners of Indian Origin Lodged in Pakistani Jails.

153 SHRI AVINASH RAI KHANNA: We all know that three Indian prisoners had been murdered in Pakistan's jail. Eleven prisoners have sent a letter from Pakistan's jail. They have told that how the Indian prisoners are being treated in the jails there. They have also told that some male and female prisoners have lost their balance of mind. Even some prisoners despite completion of their punishment are still in the jails and Government of India are not making any endeavours to bring them to the motherland. I request to the Government to put international pressure on the Pakistan so that the Indian prisoners in Pakistan's jails are treated in humanitarian way and prisoners, whose punishment has been completed, may be brought back to India on priority basis. (Smt. Maya Singh, Shri Balbir Punj, Shri Basawaraj Patil, Shri Avtar Singh Karimpuri and some hon'ble members associated.) X. Non-admission of Students in Ayurvedic College. SHRI BASAWARAJ PATIL: Students are not getting admission in the Ayurvedic colleges despite India is having about 300 Ayurvedic, Unani and Siddh colleges. I request to the Government that these colleges should be recognized so that students may get admission in these colleges. ______Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) 2013-14 THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA): I lay on the Table, a statement (in English and Hindi) showing the Supplementary Demands for Grants (General), for the year 2013-14. ______

154 STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER Investigation of Coal Block Allocations by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and furnishing of Documents to CBI THE MINISTER OF COAL (SHRI SHRIPRAKASH JAISWAL): As reported by Central Bureau of investigation (CBI), it has registered 3 Preliminary Enquiry cases and 13 FIRs since May, 2012 regarding alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks made since 1993. The CBI after registering the PEs requisitioned files/ documents/ applications/ feedback forms/ agenda forms etc. in original from the Ministry of Coal. It would be wrong to describe all these as “files”. So far nearly 769 files/documents/other papers etc. in original have been handed over to the CBI for investigation comprising of as many as 497 files, 163 applications, 40 agenda papers, 10 feedback- form booklets and 33 miscellaneous documents, running into more than 150,000 pages in aggregate. Also, 26 CDs have been handed over to them. As investigation progresses, if additional documents are called for by the CBI, the Ministry would supply them to CBI and, if any document is not readily available, it shall make every effort to trace and supply the same to the CBI. In response to the letter of Ministry of Coal dated 11.07.2013, requesting CBI to indicate list of specific documents which need to be furnished as well as informing CBI regarding formation of an inter- ministerial committee for the purpose of locating records / documents, the CBI sent a consolidated list of documents that were yet to be made available to them vide their letter dated 14 August 2013. These documents may be broadly classified into: • 43 files; • 19 applications of coal block allocatees/applicants;

155 • 157 applications of private applicant companies who had applied for allocation of coal blocks prior to 28.06.2004 but have not been allocated coal blocks; • 17 other documents; and • clarifications on 9 points. The position regarding the above is as under: • Of the 43 files, 21 have already been handed over to the CBI, 15 are available for handing over and CBI has been requested to collect the same. Efforts are being made to locate the rest 7 files. • Out of 19 applications, 3 applications have already been made available to CBI. The remaining 16 applications along with 157 applications mentioned above are being searched. • Out of the 17 other documents, 06 have been supplied, 02 are available for handing over and 09 are being searched. • Moreover, the clarifications sought in nine cases would be made available to the CBI shortly. A detailed letter stating the latest status has been sent today to CBI in response to their letter of 14 August 2013. With regard to the reports that a very large number of files are reportedly missing, the fact of the matter is that 497 files have already been handed over to CBI. As indicated above, only 7 files remain to be made available to CBI as on date. The balance is copies of applications and other connected documents. For the purpose of tracing these records, I had on 11th July,2013 constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Coal) with representatives from Ministries/Departments of Power, Steel, Industrial Policy &

156 Promotion as well as Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Central Mine Planning & Development Institute Ltd. (CMPDIL. It is possible that many of these papers are available in the records of the various Ministries/ Departments and government bodies such as Ministry of Power, Ministry of Steel, Central Electricity Authority, and the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited that were associated in the process of coal block allocations. The mandate given to the committee is to examine and review non-availability of any file or document and suggest appropriate action for locating the same. The committee has held three meetings so far and requested the members to locate the copies of documents/applications in their respective organizations. It is possible that some of these could be located and handed over to the CBI in the next few days. To conclude, I would like to say that firstly, it would be wrong to classify any file or document as missing at this stage when an inter-ministerial committee is actively engaged in locating these papers. Secondly, it would be wrong to say that a large number of files are missing as there are only a handful of files yet to be located and handed over to the CBI. Thirdly, if we are finally unable to locate some papers, the Government will ensure that due investigations are carried out and guilty brought to book.

SHUMSHER K. SHERIFF, Secretary-General. [email protected]

157 ERRATA TO THE SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE DATED 22ND AUGUST, 2013

Page Line Correction No. No. 132 20 Delete 'the National Commission for' after 'for' 134 26 Read the Member's name as ‘SHRI SATISH 29 CHANDRA MISRA' Insert 'are' before 'given' 137 08-09 Read ‘them' for ‘the there m' 138 04 Add 'for' after ' was' 07 Read ‘MP' for ‘Mp' and Read ‘Rs.' for ‘as' 17 Read 'I salute' for 'Salute' 26 Read ‘excavation' for ‘mining' 139 18 Insert 'to' before '.the' 140 11 Read ‘are' for ‘as'

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