LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS of DEBATES (Proceedings Other Than
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LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Tuesday, December 23, 2014 / Pausa 2, 1936 (Saka) ______ STATEMENT BY MINISTER Re: Omission of sprinter Dutee Chand from Commonwealth Games Squad. THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL): I wish to make a suo-moto statement in this august House in response to submission made during 'zero' hour on 22.07.2014 by Shri Bhupinder Singh, Member of Parliament and others regarding 'Omission of sprinter Dutee Chand from Commonwealth Games Squad', I had assured the House that Government will provide all assistance to Ms. Dutee Chand to return to the track. In accordance with the assurance given to the House, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) took several concrete steps for challenging the disqualification of Ms. Dutee Chand on the basis of IAAF Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism before the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), Lausanne, Switzerland. SAI had engaged Mr. Jim Bunting of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP of Canada to represent Ms Dutee Chand at the CAS pro bono. SAI has been providing all supporting costs and will continue to do so until the final decision is delivered by CAS. SAI has also connected with international experts to support Ms. Dutee Chand and strengthen SAI's current position on the discriminatory IAAF Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism. SAI has also taken steps to reinstate her at the 'Center of Excellence' (COE), NIS Patiala, for her continued training. I am happy to inform the House that in response to Ms. Dutee Chand's prayer that she should be allowed to participate in National events pending the final decision of CAS, the CAS on 18th December, 2014 has provisionally allowed her to compete at National and State level Tournaments. This would enable Ms Dutee Chand to participate at National level events like the forthcoming National Games -2015 and other competitions organized by the Athletics Federation of India or its affiliated units. Meanwhile, efforts are being taken to expedite a final decision from CAS. I would like to assure the House that we will leave no stone unturned in our fight for gender equality and non-discrimination in sports. We will continue to support Ms. Dutee Chand in the coming days. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY laid a statement regarding need to ensure transparency and compliance of rules in works outsourced by the Central Coalfields Limited and the Bharat Coking Coal Limited in Giridih Parliamentary Constituency, Jharkhand. (ii) SHRI CHAND NATH laid a statement regarding need to provide Income tax exemptions to cooperative banks. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Speaker. (iii) SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA laid a statement regarding need to operate direct international flights from Jaipur Airport, Rajasthan to Bangkok, Singapore, Hongkong, Shanghai and Kualalumpur. (iv) DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI laid a statement regarding need to undertake development of National Highway No. 147 between Sarkhej and Gandhinagar in Gujarat. (v) SHRI OM BIRLA laid a statement regarding need to formulate and implement a scheme to provide clean drinking water to people in Rajasthan. (vi) SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI laid a statement regarding need to take steps to curb infiltration into the country from India- Bangladesh border. (vii) SHRI OM PRAKASH YADAV laid a statement regarding need to start operation of passenger flights from Sabeyan Airport in Gopalganj district, Bihar. (viii) SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN laid a statement regarding need to set up a Postgraduate Institute of Oncological Sciences and Research in Kerala. (ix) SHRIMATI APARUPA PODDAR laid a statement regarding need to declare Narajole Rajbari, a historical place in West Bengal as a heritage building and take measures for the conservation of the same with adequate financial provisions. (x) SHRIMATI SAKUNTALA LAGURI laid a statement regarding need to convert National Highway No. 6 between Kharagpur and Sambhalpur into four lane and also to construct a road over-bridge and a bypass road in Keonjhar city. (xi) MOHAMMED FAIZAL laid a statement regarding need for speedy implementation of the National Food Security Act in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. (xii) SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS laid a statement regarding need to expedite the construction of National Highway No. 54(E). (xiii) SHRI BHAGWANT MANN laid a statement regarding need to release all the prisoners form jails who have completed their sentence particularly in Punjab. (xiv) ADV. JOICE GEORGE laid a statement regarding need to review the High Range Mountain Landscape Project covering Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts of Kerala. VALEDICTORY REFERENCE MADAM SPEAKER: Hon’ble Members, the third session of the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, which commenced on 24th November, 2014 is coming to a close today. During this Session, we had 22 sittings spread over 129 hours and 47 minutes. The Session saw the disposal of important Financial, Legislative and other Business. Discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) for 2014-15 lasted for approximately 4 hours before the demands were voted and the related Appropriation Bill was passed. During the Session, 16 Bills were introduced. I am happy to inform you that during the session 18 Bills were passed which is almost a record in the recent years. This has been possible only due to your cooperation and efforts. Some of the important Bills passed were the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2014; the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill, 2014; the Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Laws (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2014; the Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014; the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014; the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2014; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014; and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014. During the session, 440 starred questions were listed, out of which 103 Questions could be answered orally. Thus, on an average, about 4.68 Questions could be answered per day. Written replies to the remaining Starred Questions, alongwith 5058 Unstarred questions, were laid on the Table. Two half-an-hour discussions were raised, one by Dr. Kirit Somaiya on the Plastic Hazards; and the other by Shri Tathagata Satpathy regarding ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)’ and the concerned Ministers replied thereto. About 684 matters of urgent public importance were raised by the members after the Question Hour and by sitting late in the evening. Hon. Members also raised 257 matters under rule 377. The Standing Committees presented 70 Reports to the House. During the session, four important matters were raised by way of Calling Attention, namely (i) abduction of and harassment meted out to Tamil Fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy; (ii) situation arising out of food adulteration in the country; (iii) hike in prices of life saving drugs and prevalence of spurious drugs and (iv) spread of Encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country . In response to these Calling Attentions, the concerned Ministers made statements and also replied to the clarifications sought by the members. The House also held four short duration discussions under rule 193 on subjects of urgent public importance, namely (i) need to expedite the process of bringing back black money stashed abroad; (ii) regarding the natural calamities in various parts of the country; (iii) discussion on the reported dilution of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme; and (iv) situation arising due to the reported incidents of religious conversion. The fourth discussion was allowed by me as a special case without any entry in the List of Business. The discussions on these important matters concluded with the reply of the concerned Ministers. As many as 36 statements were made by the Ministers on various other important subjects and three statements were made by Hon’ble Minister of Parliamentary Affairs on Government Business. During the Session, as many as 2123 papers were laid on the Table of the House by the Ministers concerned. Coming to the Private Members' Business, 68 Private Members’ Bills were introduced during the Session. Motion for consideration of the Central Himalayan States Development Council Bill, 2014, moved by Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on 8 August, 2014 was taken up for further discussion on 28 November, 2014. The member-in-charge withdrew the Bill by leave of House after conclusion of discussion. Motion for consideration of another Bill namely, the Acid Control Bill, 2014 which sought to provide for control of sale and distribution of acids was moved by Dr. Kirit Premjibhai Solanki on 28 November, 2014. The Bill was further discussed on 12 December, 2014 and withdrawn by leave of the House by the member-in-charge after conclusion of discussion on that day. Motion for consideration of the Senior Citizens (Provision of Geriatric and Dementia Care) Bill, 2014, moved by Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab on 12 December, 2014 did not conclude on that day. Discussion on Private Members' Resolution regarding implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers moved by Shri Raju Shetti on 18 July, 2014 was further discussed on 5 December, 2014 and was withdrawn by leave of the House on 19 December, 2014. Another resolution regarding scheme for development of technical skills amongst youth to enable them to contribute towards making India a modern country and achieving the goal of `Make in India’ was moved by Shri C.R. Patil on 19 December, 2014 and remained part-discussed. In this session, we lost over 3 hours 28 minutes of time due to interruptions and forced adjournments. However the House sat late for about 17 hours 30 minutes to transact important financial and other business which is indeed a matter for appreciation and I thank the Members.