LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Thursday, December 21, 2017 / Agrahayana 30, 1939 (Saka) ______ OBITUARY REFERENCES HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon'ble Members, I have to inform the House about the sad demise of three of our former Members, Shri Mahendra Singh, Shri Purushottam Kaushik and Shri S.S. Kothari. Shri Mahendra Singh was a member of the 8th Lok Sabha representing the Guna Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. Shri Singh was a member of the Joint Committee on Office of Profit. Shri Singh was a sitting member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Cabinet Minister in the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He also served as member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly for five terms. Shri Mahendra Singh passed away on 11 September, 2017 in Gurugram, Haryana at the age of 72. Shri Purushottam Kaushik was a member of the 6th and 9th Lok Sabhas representing the Raipur and Durg Parliamentary Constituencies, respectively of Madhya Pradesh, now in Chhattisgarh. Shri Kaushik was Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation from 1977 to 1979 and Minister for Information and Broadcasting from 1979 to 1980. Shri Kaushik was also a Chairman, Railway Convention Committee and a member of the General Purposes Committee. Earlier, Shri Kaushik was a member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1977. Shri Purushottam Kaushik passed away on 5 October, 2017 in Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh at the age of 87. Shri S.S. Kothari was a member of the 4th Lok Sabha representing the Mandsaur Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. He was a member of the Committee on Absence of Members from the Sittings of the House. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Shri Kothari has to his credit a number of articles on taxation, economics and financial subjects. Shri S.S. Kothari passed away on 7 November, 2017 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh at the age of 87. We deeply mourn the loss of our former colleagues and I am sure the House would join me in conveying our condolences to the bereaved families. The Members then stood in silence for a short while. _______ *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (1) DR. KIRIT SOMAIYA laid a statement regarding alleged irregularities committed by a private company. (2) SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIA laid a statement regarding need to exempt employees of Gujarat Safai Karamchari Vikas Nigam from Income Tax Act. (3) SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO laid a statement regarding need to establish Institute of Automotive Research Association of India in Adityapur in Jamshedpur Parliamentary Constituency, Jharkhand. (4) SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY laid a statement regarding need to set up a Divisional office of Life Insurance Corporation at Deoghar in Jharkhand. (5) SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA laid a statement regarding need to provide adequate power supply for irrigation to farmers in Chitrakoot and Banda districts of Uttar Pradesh. (6) SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA laid a statement regarding need to include religious places associated with Guru Gobind Singh in Ambala Parliamentary Constituency, Haryana in Tourism Corridor. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (7) SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS laid a statement regarding need to take necessary remedial measures to control Cotton Pink Ball Worm affecting the cotton farm in Vidarbha Parliamentary Constituency, Maharashtra. (8) SHRI RAM TAHAL CHAUDHARY laid a statement regarding need to ensure compliance of orders of Government of India by JSSC and JPSC regarding requirement of Caste certificate for the purpose of recruitment in Jharkhand. (9) SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA laid a statement regarding need to implement the recommendations of Kamlesh Chandra Committee report on rural postal employees. (10) DR. SHASHI THAROOR laid a statement regarding need to provide adequate compensation to victims of cyclone 'Ockhi'. (11) SHRIMATI MAUSAM NOOR laid a statement regarding need for a CBI inquiry into the death of migrant labourer from West Bengal in Rajasthan. (12) SHRI R. P. MARUTHARAJAA laid a statement regarding need to provide a medical aid coach in every express trains. (13) SHRI NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN laid a statement regarding need to provide remunerative price of paddy to farmers in Odisha. (14) SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE laid a statement regarding need to uproot Tuberculosis from the country. (15) SHRI MUTHAMSETTI SRINIVASA RAO (AVANTHI) laid a statement regarding need to set up a Central University in Rayalseema region and a Tribal University at Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. (16) SHRI DHARAM VIRA GANDHI laid a statement regarding need to probe the issue of grabbing of public and private land by religious sects in Punjab. (17) SHRI RAJU SHETTY laid a statement regarding need to take measures for welfare of farmers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. _______ GOVERNMENT RESOLUTION AND SUPPLEMENTARY DEMANDS FOR GRANTS - SECOND BATCH FOR 2017-18 THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN) moved the Resolution "that this House approves the recommendations contained in Paras 9, 10 (to the extent that reimbursement of losses on operation of 'strategic lines' is made by General Revenues to Ministry of Railways), 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 (the rate of interest will be paid on the basis of average cost of borrowing) of the Sixth Report of Railway Convention Committee (2014) which was presented in Lok Sabha and laid in the Rajya Sabha on 2nd December, 2016." SHRI M. VEERAPPA MOILY initiating said: Before I get into the core of the subject I would like to make a general observation. When we are reviewing the DISHA programme we find that the money is not being released by the Government of India timely. Another point is about the big programme, that is, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). In all these three and a half years, there is no money. In Karnataka, it has not come. I do not know whether it has come in rest of the States. As regards the state of our economy as on today, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has conceded that various reasons have contributed to the slowdown of growth rate to 5.7 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter. Both the decisions happened in quick succession - first demonetization and then the GST. So, I would like to know whether you have made any evaluation of the impact of GST on inflation. What is the impact of impact of demonetization on employment both in the organized sector and in the unorganised sector? I would also like to ask the Government that how can it ensure fiscal regulation? Even the IMF forecast has reduced 2017 growth forecast to 6.7 per cent. The RBI has also reduced the growth forecast by an identical margin. Similarly, when the question of VAT came, there again it was scrutinised. This Government want everything in a hurry. Everybody suggested not to implement GST from 1st of July. It is alright the Government has done it. But, what is the effect of it? Has any impact study on GST been done? You could have waited for six months more to implement it. Provisions of a Bill is not properly deliberated and discussed on the floor of the House. In the last three and half years this Government has referred only two Bills to the Standing Committee on Finance. Committee system should not be politicised. The Government should not try to interfere with the Committee system. That is my appeal through this forum. Already our domestic saving rate is coming down very sharply. It was 37 to 38 per cent. Now without this Bill, it has come down to less than 30 per cent. The soundness of the economy of any country depends upon its domestic savings. With this Bill, again more panic will be created and as a result depositors may start withdrawing and there may a run on the banks. I am not going to question the methodology as regards GDP because you have chosen to change the methodology after 2015. But that 5.7 per cent according to the methodology adopted after 2015 is equivalent to 3.7 per cent of the earlier methodology as regards GDP. This is what you need to address sometimes. The Government had not implemented the expenditure reforms. None of the three Reports given by Shri Parthasarathy Shome has seen the light of the day. As far as infrastructural projects are concerned, they remained muted in the first quarter of 2017-18. In fact, if there is no realisation about the deficiencies, then you will never benefit. Ultimately, it would harm the country also. There is a shortage in tax revenue, both direct and indirect. How is the Government going to mobilise additional funds. According to the latest World Inequality Report, India's top one per cent earners received 22 per cent of the national income in 2014. So, the inequality has increased. There is a conflict between the Government and the RBI. Similarly, a handful of people pay the bulk of our tax. The number of crorepatis has grown sharply. That has increased by 22 per cent by 2015-16. This is the inequality status. All States barring Delhi reported revenue losses in October on account of Goods and Services Tax. The GST Council has slashed rates on 215 items. Then, there is a report saying that there is a low factory growth due to GST. The Government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of GDP for 2017-18. Mere talking about target is not going to help you? There should be honesty in presenting the facts before this House and I find it lacking here. Then, there is the fear of bank failure.