LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Wednesday, December 9, 2015 / Agrahayana 18, 1937 (Saka) ______ *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI JANAK RAM laid a statement regarding need to develop a Shiv circuit connecting places of religious importance associated with Lord Shiva in Muzaffarpur and Gopalganj districts of Bihar. (ii) SHRI SUBHASH CHANDRA BAHERIA laid a statement regarding need to provide compensation to farmers whose land has been acquired for construction of National Highway No. 148-D (Gulabpura to Uniara) in Rajasthan in accordance with the new policy. (iii) SHRI HARISH MEENA laid a statement regarding need to modernize the armed forces and allocate more funds for operational capabilities. (iv) SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA laid a statement regarding need to include Tonk, Sawai Madhopur and Gangapur cities of Rajasthan in the first phase of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (v) SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE laid a statement regarding need to increase remunerative price for paddy particularly for Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. (vi) SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE laid a statement regarding need to administer Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh by Union Government. (vii) YOGI ADITYA NATH laid a statement regarding need to include people belonging to Nishad community of Uttar Pradesh in the list of Scheduled Castes. (viii) SHRI LALLU SINGH laid a statement regarding need to set up a Cancer Research Institute and Hospital in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. (ix) SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI laid a statement regarding need to construct a rail line between Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Kosi in Uttar Pradesh. (x) SHRI THUPSTAN CHHEWANG laid a statement regarding need to send a central team to Ladakh to assess damages caused by the natural disasters. (xi) SHRI CHHEDI PASWAN laid a statement regarding need to declare Rohtas and Kaimpur districts of Bihar as drought-hit and provide adequate relief to the affected farmers. (xii) SHRI MUKESH RAJPUT laid a statement regarding need to construct bridges on river Ramganga in Arjunpur and river Ganga between Kamalganj and Kadhar in Farrukhabad parliamentary constituency, Uttar Pradesh. (xiii) SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL laid a statement regarding need to take step for expeditious development of vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis. (xiv) SHRI RAJEEV SATAV laid a statement regarding need to honour Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Jyotirao Phule with Bharat Ratna. (xv) SHRI R. DHRUVANARAYANA laid a statement regarding need to allocate more funds for the BRT Tiger Reserve. (xvi) DR. K. GOPAL laid a statement regarding need to provide unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community. (xvii) SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN laid a statement regarding need to expedite doubling of rail link work between Madurai and Kanyakumari. (xviii) DR. RATNA (NAG) DE laid a statement regarding need to construct a flyover at Bandel Junction Railway Station. (xix) SHRIMATI APARUPA PODDAR laid a statement regarding need to protect the ancient monuments in Arambhagh parliamentary constituency, West Bengal. (xx) PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD laid a statement regarding need to provide adequate funds for Krishna Marathwada irrigation project in Maharashtra under Pradhan Mantri Agriculture Irrigation Scheme and waive the loans of farmers distressed due to severe drought condition in the region. (xxi) SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS laid a statement regarding need to include Technical Institutes of Higher learning, located in Andhra Pradesh, in the Ph. D Scheme for IT and Electronics. (xxii) DR. BOORA NARSAIAH GOUD laid a statement regarding need to improve the condition of Asha workers in the country. (xxiii) SHRIMATI P.K. SHREEMATHI TEACHER laid a statement regarding need to extend the run-way of the proposed Kannur International Airport to 4000 metres. (xxiv) SHRI PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA laid a statement regarding need to start operation of international flights from international airport at S.A.S Nagar (Mohali) in Punjab and also name the airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. (xxv) SHRI BHAGWANT MANN laid a statement regarding need to protect the social media activists. (xxvi) SHRI RAJU SHETTY laid a statement regarding need to restrict the import of dairy products in the country. INDIAN TRUSTS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2015 THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI JAYANT SINHA) continuing said: The Indian Trust Act was formulated in 1882. When the Indian Trusts Act. 1882 was formulated, section 20 notified in a very precise and detailed way the financial instruments that could be used to invest these funds. Those provisions have become completely archaic now. The time has come to remove those archaic provisions and to replace them with modern day financial instruments. What we have said in effect is that if we put this in place the Indian Trusts Act will be ready for the 21st Century and be able to help the people who are the beneficiaries of those trusts. The amendments seek to amend sections 20 and 20 (a) of the Act. Which will give the trustees greater autonomy and flexibility in investments. This Bill was introduced in 2009. It went to the Standing Committee. Most of the recommendations of the Standing Committee were accepted and that is the amendment that is now proposed to be considered and passed by this august House. SHRI HUKUM SINGH initiating said: I support this trust amendment Bill various trust have unutilized money. A way has been found how to utilize such money in the development of the country. It is a welcome step. We should reconsider the whole Bill encompassing all the provisions. The government today has taken a commendable step although it took 130 years. I thank the Government for taking this right step and introduced amendment to section 20 in the interest of the society and the country. Section 20(A) has been deleted. In India there are some mutts with deposits running into millions of rupees lying unutilized. The elderly had donated their properties to the wakf and the trusts with the conviction that their money would be utilized for the benefit of the society, education and would help the poor. SHRI S. SELVAKUMARA CHINNAIYAN: The Bill seeks to amend a 133-year old, Indian Trusts Act, 1882. It also outlines the manner in which surplus fund of the trust may be invested for future use and benefit of the trust. This Bill also proposes to delete some pre-Independence references to outdated and obsolete securities from the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. It may be recalled that the Law Commission of India in its 17th report, had earlier recommended for amending the Section 20. The Bill proposes to confer greater autonomy and flexibility on trustees of private trusts as regards investment on trust money. The proposed changes are consistent with the current economic environment. The Centre has taken an important step towards enabling private trust funds to be parked in listed shares and specified debt securities. Under Common Law, a trust is an arrangement under which the settler entrusts his property to certain persons or trustees, who become the legal owners of the trust property but hold it for the benefit of third parties, that is the beneficiaries. The Act extends to private trusts only and not to public trusts. Nonetheless, Indian courts have held certain provisions applicable to public trusts as well. A private trust's beneficiaries are a closed group, while a public trust for the benefit of a larger cross-section having a public purpose. There are thousands of trusts in India that include religious and charitable trusts managing large sums of money. Employee welfare trusts also have substantial funds. Some of these attitudes have changed in the past two years or so, largely driven by the advent of professional wealth managers. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: This Bill seeks to amend Section 20 and empower the Government to notify a class of securities for the purpose of investing trust money. The scope of this Bill when enacted would be restricted to private trusts registered under the Act. We all know that there are two types of Trusts - private and public. There are State laws relating to Trusts. Under the Income Tax Act, taxation of private trust is different from that of public, religious and charitable endowments. The Indian Trusts Act applies to private trusts only and has no application to public, religious and charitable endowments. Why the Government is not formulating a model legislation covering trusts and societies in lieu of the existing laws on societies, trusts, endowments, charitable institutions, etc. It is necessary to look into the recommendations of the Law Commission of India afresh. Today the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the Religious Endowments Act, 1863, the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, the Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920 and the Waqfs Act, 1995. The Law Commission of India looked into the matter afresh and considered the recommendations made by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission and gave its Report to make a model legislation. That Report is still awaited. How long will it take and what is the present position? This Bill, as has been introduced by the Minister, proposes to confer greater autonomy and flexibility on trustees of private trusts as regards investment of trust money. The proposed charges are consistent, I would say, with the current economic environment. EPFO management has decided to invest five per cent of its incremental deposits in ETFs only during the current fiscal. I would like to understand from the Government what are the other bodies which are going to invest in this, on which the Government is going to give permission. I support the Bill. SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: I rise to support The Indian Trusts(Amendment) Bill, 2015.