RAJYA SABHA WEDNESDAY, THE 7TH JULY, 2004 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at 11-00 a.m.) 11-00 a.m. 1. Oath or Affirmation The following Members made and subscribed oath/affirmation and took their seats in the House :— CHHATTISGARH 1. Shri Dilip Singh Judev MADHYA PRADESH 2. Shri Pyarelal Khandelwal MAHARASHTRA 3. Shri Sharad Anantrao Joshi 11-05 a.m. 2. Starred Questions The following Starred Questions were orally answered:- Starred Question No. 41 regarding Priorities in the power sector. Starred Question No. 42 regarding Steps to bring holistic development in rural areas. Starred Question No. 43 regarding Snags in Jaguar engine. Starred Question No. 44 regarding Hydel project in Kerala. Starred Question No.45 regarding Poll related violence in different parts of the country. Answers to remaining Starred Question Nos. 46 to 60 were laid on the Table. 3. Unstarred Questions Answers to Unstarred Question Nos. 58 to 79 were laid on the Table. 12-00 Noon 4. Papers Laid on the Table Shri Shankarsinh Vaghela (Minister of Textiles) laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India (Ministry of Textiles) and the National Handloom Development Corporation Limited for the year 2004-2005. Shri S.S. Palanimanickam (Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance) laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Economic Survey, 2003-2004. 12-01 p.m. 5. Recommendations of the Business Advisory Committee The Chairman informed the House that the Business Advisory Committee in its meeting held on Tuesday, the 6th July, 2004, allotted time for Government Legislative and other Business as follows:- BUSINESS TIME ALLOTTED 1. General discussion on the Railway Budget for 2004-05. 10 hours 2. Consideration and return of the Appropriation Bill relating to 1 hour Demands for Grants on Account (Railwys) for 2004-05, after it has been passed by Lok Sabha. 3. Discussion and adoption of Resolution to be moved by the half-an-hour Minister of Railways for constitution of a new Railway Convention Committee (Fourteenth Lok Sabha) for determination of ‘Rate of dividend payable by the Railways to the General Revenues and other ancillary matters’. 4 General discussion on the General Budget for 2004-05. 12 hours 5. Consideration and return of the Appropriation Bill relating to the following Demands for Grants, after they have been passed by Lok Sabha:- (i) Demands for grants on Account (General) for 2004-05} 1 hour (ii) Demands for Excess Grants (General) for 2001-02. } 12-03 p.m. 6. Leave of Absence Shri Chittabrata Majumdar (West Bengal) was granted leave of absence from all the sittings of the House for the 202nd Session of the Rajya Sabha. 12-04 p.m. 7. Resignation by Member The Chairman made the following announcement in the House:— “I have to inform Members that I have received a letter from Dr. A.R. Kidwai, a Member representing National Capital Territory of Delhi, resigning his seat in the Rajya Sabha. I have accepted his resignation with effect from the 7th July, 2004.” 12-05 p.m. 8. Special Mentions 12-05 p.m. 1. Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy raised a matter regarding need to provide special financial package for Andhra Pradesh. 12-07 p.m. 2. Shri Karnendu Bhattacharjee raised a matter regarding need to start construction work of Silchar by-pass road. 12-09 p.m. 3. Prof. M.M. Agarwal** raised a matter regarding need for reducing the burden of School Bags on children and to provide basic facilities to them. 12-11 p.m. 4. Shrimati. N.P. Durga raised a matter regarding need to formulate Handloom, Textile and Apparel policy. _______________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. 12-13 p.m. 5. Prof. Saif-ud-Din Soz raised a matter regarding demand for providing better security to senior citizens. 12-15 p.m. 6. Shri K. Rama Mohana Rao raised a matter regarding need for intervention of the Union Government to stop suicide by farmers in Andhra Pradesh. 12-17 p.m. 7. Shrimati Prema Cariappa raised a matter regarding divorce on fake certificates of mental illness to women and demanded stringent action against the culprits. 12-19 p.m. 8. Shri Kalraj Mishra** raised a matter regarding adverse impact of VAT on Medium and Small Scale Industries. 12-21 p.m. 9. Shri Ravula Chandra Sekar Reddy raised a matter regarding demand for status quo in admission procedure in the Birla Institute of Technology at Pilani and Goa. 12-22 p.m. 10. Shri Shahid Siddiqui** raised a matter regarding demand for providing rail concession to the students of Madarsas in the country. 12-23 p.m. 11. Shri E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan raised a matter regarding demand to solve the problems being faced by fishermen of Tamil Nadu. _______________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. 12-24 p.m. 9. Panel of Vice-Chairmen The Chairman announced that the following Members have been nominated to the Panel of Vice-Chairman :— 1. Shri Santosh Bagrodia 2. Shrimati Sarla Maheshwari 3. Shri Balawant alias Bal Apte 4. Shri Dinesh Trivedi (The House adjourned at 12-25 p.m. and re-assembled at 2-01 p.m.) 2-01 p.m. 10. The Budget (Railways), 2004-2005 General discussion on the Budget (Railways), 2004-2005, commenced. The following Members took part in the discussion:— 2-01 p.m. 1. Shri Balbir K. Punj 2-47 p.m. 2. Shri Moolchand Meena* 3-16 p.m. 3. Shri Dipankar Mukherjee 3-36 p.m. 4. Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy 3-52 p.m. 5. Shri Abu Asim Azmi** 4-04 p.m. 6. Dr. Prabha Thakur** 4-24 p.m. 7. Shri P.G. Narayanan 4-33 p.m. 8. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad** The discussion was not concluded. (The House adjourned at 4-59 p.m. till 1-30 p.m. on Thursday, the 8th July, 2004) ___________ .