LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) _____ Wednesday, November 28, 2007 / Agrahayana 7, 1929 (Saka) ______ STATEMENT BY MINISTER Re: Stay of Ms.TaslimaNasareen in India THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI PRANAB MUKHERJEE): I rise to inform the House of the Government of India's stand on an issue which has attracted considerable public attention in recent days. As hon. members are aware, noted Bangladeshi writer Ms. Taslima Nasreen has been in India for some time. Throughout history, India has never refused shelter to those who have come and sought our protection. This civilizational heritage, which is now government policy, will continue, and India will provide shelter to Ms. Nasreen. Those who have been granted shelter here have always undertaken to eschew political activities in India or any actions which may harm India's relations with friendly countries. It is also expected that the guests will refrain from activities and expressions that may hurt the sentiments of our people. While these guests are in India, the Union and the State Governments provide them protection. This policy will also apply in Ms. Taslima Nasreen's case. SUBMISSION BY MEMBERS Re: Need to reconsider the Proposal for the use of Hindi as a language in High Courts and the Supreme Court. THE MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SHRI PRIYA RANJAN DASMUNSI) responding to the point raised by several Hon. Members, said: Every Committee of Parliament and every Commission of India has a right to examine the recommendations of any kind of committee appointed by the Parliament or by the Government. But ultimately the decision is taken only by the Government who is the Executive functionary and accountable to the House. We are quite serious to the unity of the nation. We are respectful to all languages in the Constitution including Hindi and Tamil. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI RAGHUVIR SINGH KOSHAL laid a statement regarding need to improve the mobile services provided by MTNL and BSNL in the country. (ii) SHRI SHISHUPAL N. PATLE laid a statement regarding need to ensure adequate wages and social security to Beedi workers in Bhandara and Gondia districts of Maharashtra. (iii) SHRI RAKESH SINGH laid a statement regarding need to provide subsidy to farmers directly with a view to improve their condition. (iv) SHRI VIRENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to grant clearance for the construction of Chandia dam project in district Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. (v) SHRI ANANTA NAYAK laid a statement regarding need to repair the stretch of N.H.-215 from Panikoili to Rajamunda in Orissa. (vi) DR. BABU RAO MEDIYAM laid a statement regarding need to appoint a nodal agency for monitoring the Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub Plan in States. (vii) SHRI P. MOHAN laid a statement regarding need to open Procurement Centres in paddy growing areas. (viii) SHRI RAMJI LAL SUMAN laid a statement regarding need to upgrade the Agra airport to the level of an International Airport. (ix) SHRI RAJNARAYAN BUDHOLIA laid a statement regarding need to release a commemorative postal stamp in honour of Pandit Paramanand, a great freedom fighter from Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. (x) SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV laid a statement regarding need to expedite the setting up of AIIMS at Patna. (xi) SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to construct railway line linking Bhadrachalam-Kovvur and Manuguru- Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh. (xii) SHRI M. SHIVANNA laid a statement regarding need to confer the status of a classical language to Kannada. DEMANDS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS (GENERAL) – 2007-08 AND DEMANDS FOR EXCESS GRANTS (GENERAL) – 2005-06- contd. SHRI K.S. RAO continuing said: The tax revenue is growing very impressively. Particularly, the direct tax revenues are increasing by 43 per cent, which is a good indication, thereby leading to a very robust growth in the economy. We are perhaps one of the largest world economies. I am very happy that the GDP growth rate was 9.4 per cent in 2006-07. By virtue of increase in the average living age of the people, most of the employees now live longer than what they used to live earlier. Naturally, the burden on the Government is going up. So, without affecting the interests of the employees, we have to find an alternative way. For that, the Government of India has already brought a Bill, and then referred it to the Standing Committee where we discussed it. My humble request in this context to our Left friends is to accept the Bill and then bring it immediately so that we can pass it. That is in the interest of the employees also. In spite of the fact that the international prices of oil have gone up from 35 to 100 dollars per barrel, the Government of India is not increasing the prices. I do not know what is scarce in this country now. We have got everything available. There may be some rains or may not be some rains and because of which there can always be fluctuation in the production of foodgrains, about which we need not be perturbed. The country has reached a stage of self-sufficiency in foodgrains. The foreign exchange reserves have gone up to more than 260 billion dollars, which is possibly one of the seventh largest in the world. In spite of hectic activity in industry and flow of foreign funds into the country, the hon. Finance Minister is able to regulate and control the inflation to 3.01 per cent. The hon. Finance Minister had promised to the nation that he would bring the revenue deficit to zero over a period of time. It is coming to that very soon. In regard to the fiscal deficit, he promised to reduce it to three per cent by 2008-09, and I am sure that he will be able to keep that up. The growth in agriculture is 2 to 2.5 per cent in this country. It has necessarily to be brought to four per cent. That is essential because more than 65 per cent of the people are living in the rural areas and most of them are depending on agriculture. Their income has to go up. No matter how much development we have achieved and no matter how much growth we have achieved in this country, it will not have real meaning unless it reaches those 60 per cent of the people who are living in the rural areas. The production per acre must be increased. That is possible only when the hon. Finance Minister concentrates on giving more allocation to Research and Development. The production of foodgrains in China, which has less cultivable area than what we have in India is to tune of 400 million tones, and the production of food-grains in India is only 209 million tones. I want the hon. Finance Minster to concentrate in the coming years on agriculture, rural areas and the people living below poverty line. I do not say that he has not done anything for the farmers. He has increased the credit to the agricultural communities, to the farmers from Rs.75,000 crore to more than Rs. 2.3 lakh crore. Similarly, the rate of interest also has been brought down from 11 per cent, 12 per cent to seven per cent. I am again requesting him that the rate of interest on the credit to the farmers must be reduced to three per cent. I have been telling since 1985 in this House that I do not find any reason as to why the Budget allocations must be made to the Economic Ministries, be it the Ministry of Civil Aviation, be it the Ministry of Railways or be it the Ministry of Petroleum. All these Ministries must not be given any allocation in the Budget. I am not against the Government support to the Public Sector Undertakings but those Public Sector Undertakings, which are incurring losses in spite of getting packing after package, should not be considered for such support regularly. Today if a poor man were to go to the Government hospital anywhere in the country, he is not getting the right treatment. In fact, he has been neglected. If he wants to go to a corporate hospital, he cannot pay. We have to take care of him. He will also be working right from the age of 10 or 12 and up to the age of 65. 60 per cent of the poor people remain in debt for ever and then they go on selling their land year after year, acre by acre while these industrialists are making money by lakhs and lakhs of crore. I would like to say about the Minimum Support Price fixed for the agricultural products. The mode of fixing the price is unscientific and unhelpful to farmers and their families. I humbly request that not only for paddy but also for cotton, maize, groundnut and almost for all the agro- products, while fixing up the price, it must be done on the same pattern as the Government is doing in regard to the industrial goods. My request to the Hon. Minister is that vocational education in the country should start from 8th class, so that a boy, be it from poor section or middle class, could be trained in a profession in which he has got some interest from his childhood. This require immediately allocating funds for giving skills to all the people in the rural areas in one sector or the other by which their lifestyle can be improved.