LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS of DEBATES (Proceedings Other Than
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LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Monday, April 27, 2015 / Vaisakha 7, 1937 (Saka) ______ REFERENCE BY SPEAKER HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members as you are aware on 25 April, 2015 in one of the worst ever natural disasters in recent times, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on Ritcher scale rocked Nepal sending strong tremors in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and Myanmar. The earthquake having epicenter 77 kms. northwest of Kathmandu, ripped through the upper part of South Asian peninsula that shook even the Mount Everest setting of avalanches on Everest peak. A major earthquake struck again on 26 April and several aftershocks are still being felt in the region. This catastrophic Himalayan tragedy resulted in over 3,200 deaths in Nepal flattering houses, destroying Dharahara Tower, most of the ancient temples in Durbar Square and other centuries old structures, causing widespread destruction across the nation. The resultant avalanches triggered by the earthquake also caused death of more than 25 deaths at the Everest base camp. Earthquakes in their wake have also caused devastation in India causing deaths of over 67 people, with highest causalities of around 50 in Bihar, followed by UP, large parts of North India from Himachal Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and having impact in Delhi too. The House expresses its solidarity and full support with the Government and the people of Nepal and all the affected people in various parts in our own country and our neighbouring countries in this hour of grief. The House also expresses its profound sorrow over the huge loss of lives which is feared to run into several thousands, widespread destruction and conveys heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wish speedy recovery of the injured. The Members then stood in silence for a short while. SUBMISSIONS BY MEMBERS Re: Loss of lives due to earthquake in Nepal and several parts of India and steps taken to prevent damages caused by earthquake in big cities. THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI RAJNATH SINGH) responding to the issue raised by several hon. Members said: Whatever happened in the forenoon of 25.04.2015 in India and Nepal, is not a small incident but a great tragedy. It is essential to mention here that our Hon. Prime Minister and myself was present to inaugurate the new building premises of National Intelligence Academy just five minutes before when this tragedy struck. Hon. Prime Minister promptly took a decision that we should convene a meeting to provide relief in this need of hour. A meeting was convened by him. I wish to assure this House on behalf of my Government that we express our condolences to those people who have been injured in this earthquake and moreover we would also like to assure that Government of India is standing with the Indian citizens and Nepalese citizens in this hour of crisis. Hon. Prime Minister has conversation with 11 out of 13 Ministers immediately after the movement tragedy struck. Next day I had also conversation with Chief Ministers of three states namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand. I made an appeal to them to provide cooperation in this regard. I told them that it is not possible to airlift all the peoples trapped there. As all the three states are situated along the Nepal border, it would be better if all the three states would send buses for rescue operation. Many people, be it a foreigner want to be evacuated to India. Our Prime Minister has made a provision regarding gratis visa. Citizens of other countries who want to be rescued to India, should be brought back to India. Immigration centres have also been set up on certain locations. All these decisions were taken that time only. Through this august House, I would like to thank all the Chief Ministers of three state governments for promptly sending buses and relief material to Nepal. I would also like to congratulate them for their cooperation and commendable job done by them. A powerful earthquake having magnitude of 7.9 on Richter scale rocked Pokhra region in Nepal at 11.45 hours on 25.04.2015. This earthquake caused large scale devastation not only in Nepal but various states in India were also affected by it. It has caused damage to the buildings and other structures in Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also. Necessary steps are being taken by the concerned state governments. However, five NDRF teams have been sent by the Government of India of which four are deployed in Bihar and one in Uttar Pradesh. I would also like to apprise that such teams have been deployed at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Gopalganj, Darbhanga, Muzzafarpur and Supaul in Bihar. We are also in constant touch with the state governments and we have promised them for providing help in this regard. National Disaster Management Authority is continuously assessing the whole scenario. Six other NDRF teams are being sent to Nepal. Indian Army has deployed a engineering task force and 18 medical teams at Kathmandu. 22 tonne of food materials and ration packets, 50 tonne mineral water, 2 tonne medicines and medical equipments, 1400 quilts and 40 tents have already been sent to Nepal. Whereas teams of Indian Army, Air Force and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have been sent to provide medical relief in Nepal. All these teams are equipped with medicines, stretchers, beds etc. An unmanned aerial vehicle is on the way to Nepal for rescue operations. A high level inter-ministerial team headed by Additional Secretary, Home Affairs comprising of senior officials from Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with communication experts have been sent to Nepal for making coordination in rescue and relief operations. As far as evacuation of Indians trapped in Nepal is concerned, we have succeeded in evacuating more than 2500 Indians so far. This number might have gone up so far. We are trying to evacuate them through air route and road route also. We have asked the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand to evacuate the Indians and other foreign nationals trapped in Kathmandu and other areas of Nepal through buses and ambulances by route. We have made provision for free visa to foreign nationals coming to India from Nepal. Similar facilities have been provided to those foreigners also who are coming to India from Nepal by road route. Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had been advised to set up relief camps at the border areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for facilitating the people coming from Nepal and I am very glad to apprise this House that these states governments have set up relief camps there. Sashtra Seema Bal personnel have been advised to facilitate the movement of people and also to provide first aid and other medical assistance in medical relief camps for earthquake victims in border areas. As per NDRF provisions, kin of every person who died in earthquake would be provided Rs.4 lakh and others would be Rs.2 lakh from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. Government of India would provide assistance to each earthquake victim and would also provide assistance to those people whose houses have been damaged. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY laid a statement regarding need to undertake development of Jasidh railway station, Jharkhand. (ii) SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA laid a statement regarding need to augment railway services providing better railway connectivity to Mandsaur Parliamentary Constituency, Madhya Pradesh. (iii) SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL laid a statement regarding need to need to enact a law ensuring adequate medical facilities and efficient medical staff in Ambulances. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Speaker. (iv) SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY laid a statement regarding need to build a memorial of Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Bhyinoy Kothi, Ajmer, Rajasthan. (v) DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI laid a statement regarding need to exempt Gujarat Safai Karamchari Vikas Nigam from Income Tax Act, 1961. (vi) SHRI BODH SINGH BHAGAT laid a statement regarding need to provide compensation to farmers whose crops have been damaged due to excessive rains, hailstorms and pest attacks. (vii) DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to take necessary steps for creation of employment opportunities in various sectors of economy for unemployed youth belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. (viii) SHRI P.R. SENTHILNATHAN laid a statement regarding need to accord approval of Cauvery, Vaigi and Gundar rivers interlinking project and canal modernization projects in Tamil Nadu. (ix) PROF. SAUGATA ROY laid a statement regarding need to provide compensation and announce loan waiver scheme for farmers whose crops have been damaged by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the country. (x) SHRIIMATI SAKUNTALA LAGURI laid a statement regarding need to allocate funds from the Central Road Fund to construct roads linking Dhenkanal to Joda in Odisha. (xi) SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU laid a statement regarding need to provide a comprehensive policy framework for investment and sustainable economic growth of Andhra Pradesh. (xii) SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA laid a statement regarding need to introduce an additional train from Vishakhapatnam to Araku in Andhra Pradesh. BUDGET (GENERAL), 2015-2016 - GENERAL DISCUSSION DEMANDS FOR GRANTS, 2015-2016 Ministry of Human Resource Development - Contd. SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV: I would like to demand from the government that value based education system should be provided. The reduction in budgetary allocation in the field of education should not happened. The reduction has taken place in the name of larger devolution of funds through the states. But I would like to say that this should not be done in the name of devolution.