RAJYA SABHA _______ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE _______ (Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) _______ Friday, March 19, 2021 / Phalguna 28, 1942 (Saka) _______ OBSERVATION BY THE CHAIR 1. MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I have an appeal to make in view of the reports coming from certain States that the virus pandemic is spreading. So, I only appeal to all the Members of Parliament who are here, who are there in their respective fields to be extra careful. I know that you are all public representatives, You can't live in isolation. At the same time while dealing with people, meeting them or going to your constituency or other areas, be careful. Strictly follow the advice given by the Healthy Ministry, Home Ministry, Central Government as well as the guidelines issued by the State Governments concerned from time to time and see to it that they are followed. My appeal is not only to you, but also to the people in general. The Members of Parliament should take interest to see that the people are guided properly. We are seeing that though the severity has come down, but the cases are spreading here and there. It is because the people in their respective areas are not following discipline. This is a very, very important aspect. We should not allow the situation to deteriorate. We are all happy, the world is happy, the country is happy, people are happy. We have been able to contain it, and we were hoping that we would totally succeed. Meanwhile, these ___________________________________________________ This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 429 reports are coming. So, please take care to see that you follow guidelines and secondly, see to it and guide people that they also follow the guidelines issued by the Central and State Governments from time to time. The vaccination process is on. I request all the Members and their family members who are eligible, to take vaccination this weekend, in their respective places and see to it that the eligible people also volunteer to take the vaccine. 2. MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, as I could go through the notices to raise issues for which permission is given liberally, it seems that Members have run out of the issues. So they are trying to invent or search for some issues. I can only caution them and tell them that they have got every liberty to raise issues. I am here to facilitate bringing of important issues to the notice of the Government through this House. But the point is this. One, you may also get a doubt why certain Members are getting opportunity the second time. Some got permission yesterday and they have got permission today also. The reason is that as I run out of the issues, which are eligible for admission, and then there is an issue, which is really worth raising, though it is the second chance to the concerned Member, I am giving it to them without compromising on my basic rule. If there are many Members, then definitely it will go according to the priority on the basis of the eligibility of the issue and on the merit of the issue. If fewer Members have asked for Zero Hour Submissions or Special Mentions, you might have seen that we have combined Zero Hour Submissions and Special Mentions and we are giving permission even to raise Special Mentions instead of placing them on the Table of the House. I am allowing Members to raise it in the House, so that it gets the attention of the Government. That is the practical problem. I only suggest this to the Members. Please see to it that your Zero Hour issues are issues of larger public interest and current in nature and also on a specific issue. The second point is that we have seen it today and even earlier also that some Members tend to drag Governments and then make criticism. What I am saying is that you can definitely refer to an incident. But making allegation against a State Government which is not here to defend itself and even against the Central 430 Government because we have not given it to the concerned Minister to respond here, it is not going to solve any problem. The third issue about which I would like to tell the Members is this. Some Members are developing a habit of making running commentary while sitting. That is not going to solve any problem. Any solution can be found only if you bring it through proper system to the notice of the Chairman. If the Chairman thinks it fit or if it is appropriate to accept, then permission would be given. Otherwise, you may raise your voice loudly for a minute but that will not be helpful because the media is not going to cover it and the record will not include the same. So, I only request the Members to bear with the Chair's advice and follow the rules and regulations and procedure so that we can have maximum opportunities. One more issue just now came to my mind. If a Member makes a submission and if the Minister wants to respond and the Minister indicates to me, only then can I permit. If the Member wants clarification and the Minister is not responding, I cannot permit it. As per the rule, clarification is not mandatory. If the Minister wants to clarify and if there is time, the Chair will be more than happy to allow the Minister to give clarification and allow the Member to get the clarification. This has to be kept in mind. Once I receive a notice, I go through it and then find out whether the issue can be raised in the present form and in the present Session. Then, you will get an opportunity. Keep that in mind. So, you will have to bear with me. Nowadays, I have developed a new system. Whenever there is opportunity and time available, I go through names of the Members on Zero Hour submissions as well as Special Mentions and if those Members are present in the House, then I call them and give them an opportunity. So, that has to be understood. _______ 431 MATTERS RAISED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE CHAIR 1. Need to Implement the Recharge Plan for Jawai Dam in Western Rajasthan SHRI OM PRAKASH MATHUR: I want to make my point about the recharge of Jawai Dam, the largest dam in western Rajasthan. This dam was completed in 1957, but it has been filled only eight to ten times in all these years. This is irrigating about 40 thousand hectares of land in 40 villages. We have demanded that additional water of the Sabarmati river should be brought to the Jawai dam. Its DPR was also almost prepared and Rs 12 crore was also sanctioned but till date it was not paid any attention. Jawai Dam is the lifeline of not only western Rajasthan but for the entire Marwar. Now, more than one million population of about 40 villages is getting drinking water from it. Recently 500 more villages have been added to it, but the land of farmers remains dry even today. Therefore, I would urge the government to complete the Jawai recharge scheme at the earliest. (Several hon’ble Members associated.) 2. Need to Ensure Proper Data Analysis for OBCs in Census 2021 SHRI RAJEEV SATAV: The OBC census has been demanded for many years. The government had also assured in 2018 to get the Census of OBCs done. But the OBC column has been removed from the census. Reasonable benefits to OBCs can be provided only after their census is done. Therefore, the government is urged that the government should immediately think for conducting OBC census. (Several hon’ble Members associated.) 3. Problems being Faced by Spice Exporters SHRI G.V.L. NARASIMHA RAO: During nine months of COVID, in 2020, our spices exports have increased by 20 per cent. Several exporters encountered difficulties with regard to settlement of 432 payments as some unscrupulous people in some countries create difficulties. So, the Ministry of External Affairs and the concerned Missions in the respective countries should come forward to lend assistance to them by way of settling disputes as per the existing local mechanism in those countries. Restrictions are imposed in some countries on imports from our country but not on the imports from other countries on similar product. So, this kind of double standards actually deprive our farmers from getting right value for their produce and deprive exporters to export to high–value market like Mexico. Therefore, I request both the Ministries to take note of this and set up a helpdesk in every Mission where our exporters can approach for redressal of their problems related to payments. (Shri Subhash Chandra Singh, Dr. Amar Patnaik, Dr. Sasmit Patra and Shri Bhaskar Rao Nekkanti associated.) 4. Need to Reduce GST on Cancer Treatment Drugs SHRI SUJEET KUMAR: Cancer has become a major health concern in our country. In fact, it is the second major cause of death, after heart disease. It impacts the people belonging to the lower socio- economic strata of our society. The proportion of expenditures, directly paid by the patients with a lower-medium income, is very high. There is an urgent need for lowering the prices of cancer drugs in our country to make these life-saving drugs available and affordable to the patients belonging to the poor segments of the society. One of the identified ways to reduce the prices of cancer drugs is through deduction of GST on cancer drugs.