LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) _____ Thursday, November 29, 2007 / Agrahayana 8, 1929 (Saka) ______ WELCOME TO PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION FROM BAHRAIN MR. SPEAKER: On behalf of the hon. Members of the House and on my own behalf, I have great pleasure in welcoming His Excellency Mr. Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Dharani, Chairman of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the members of the Bahraini Parliamentary Delegation who are on a visit to India as our honoured guests. They arrived in India on Wednesday, 28 November, 2007. They are now seated in the Special Box. We wish them a very happy and fruitful stay in our country. Through them we covey our greetings and very best wishes to His Majesty the King, the Parliament, the Government and the friendly people of the Kingdom of Bahrain. SUBMISSION BY MEMBER Re : The Need to expedite the issuance of the notification regarding the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 THE MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SHRI PRIYA RANJAN DASMUNSI) responding to the point raised by an hon. Member, said: This Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament. The Government is actively considering the matter to notify it at the earliest. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI GIRDHARI LAL BHARGAVA laid a statement regarding need to upgrade Malviya Engineering College at Jaipur to the level of Indian Institute of Technology. (ii) SHRI GANESH SINGH laid a statement regarding need to undertake repair works on N.H. 7 and N.H. 75 passing through Satna Parliamentary Constituency in Madhya Pradesh. (iii) SHRI AVINASH RAI KHANNA laid a statement regarding need to bring forth a legislation for regulating the functioning of travel agencies in the country. (iv) DR. RAM LAKHAN SINGH laid a statement regarding need to undertake repair works of N.H. 92 between Gwalior and Bhogaon. (v) PROF. MAHADEORAO SHIWANKAR laid a statement regarding need to start production of coal in Besur and Nanded units of Western Coal fields Limited in Maharashtra. (vi) DR. K.S. MANOJ laid a statement regarding need to grant Swatantra Sainik Samman Pension to the survivors of freedom struggle in Kerala. (vii) SHRI RAGHURAJ SINGH SHAKYA laid a statement regarding need to ensure availability of fertilizers to farmers in Uttar Pradesh. (viii) SHRI GIRIDHARI YADAV laid a statement regarding need to ensure required quota of job reservation to OBCs in Government departments. (ix) SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE laid a statement regarding need to include Aurangabad under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. (x) SHRI SUGRIB SINGH laid a statement regarding need to expedite the construction of Khurda Road-Bolangir railway line in Orissa. (xi) SHRI PRABODH PANDA laid a statement regarding need to fix remunerative Minimum support Price for paddy and make arrangements for procurement of paddy directly from the farmers. (xii) SHRI MUNSHI RAM laid a statement regarding need to allot the remaining land earmarked by Defence Ministry for residential purpose to Ex-servicemen in Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh. (xiii) SHRI P.C. THOMAS laid a statement regarding need to constitute a separate fund for extending financial help to poor patients in the country. DEMANDS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS-(GENERAL)-2007-2008 AND DEMANDS FOR EXCESS GRANTS-(GENERAL)-2005-2006-Contd. SHRI ADHIR CHOWDHURY: The Hon. Finance Minister has sought authorization and has brought the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2007-2008 which includes 42 Grants and one Appropriation. These proposals involve the net cash outgo aggregating to Rs.11,896.60 crore. The gross additional expenditure is met by saving of the Ministries/Department, enhanced receipts and recoveries aggregating to Rs.21,420.82 crore. Rs. 11,257 crore is short and it is met by the issue of the PSU oil bonds. We have been criticized for resurrection of Administrative Price Mechanism. As you know, Spiralling fuel prices have been having a very adverse impact on our economy. If we do not provide any cushion to accommodate the price rise, then ultimately the poor people and the vulnerable section of our society would be affected. We cannot do away with the subsidiary regime overnight. Large influx of funds, appreciation of ‘rupee’ and the high interest regime are decelerating the consumer segment. So, it is an imperative for this Government to revive the consumer segment to keep the momentum in our industrial output. Our forex reserves have touched 286 billion dollar. We have five billion dollar of forex reserve for local infrastructure development. During the tenure of Mr. Chidambaramji, we have been registering the annual growth of our economy to the tune of 8.6 per cent, and in the current fiscal, it has gone to 9.2 per cent. We are already resorting to the dictum of faster and inclusive growth. Inclusive growth relates to distributive justice for fuelling our savings and investment rates, which would help to generate more employment, quality of education, quality of health etc. Our taxes are buoyant which attributed is to the robust growth of our economy and better tax compliance. Direct taxes has already registered an increase of 85 per cent, and the entire credit should go to the Finance Ministry because by providing better tax administration, the number of tax compliance has been growing up. I would like to draw the attention of the Hon. Finance Minister to the fact that the Public distribution System has not been working to the manner it deserves. The entire PDS system in West Bengal has virtually collapsed. Due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, the Food Supply Department of the State Government cannot maintain the required stock. The State Government is purchasing APL rice at the rate of Rs.830 and when it goes to the distribution level it accounts Rs.890 per quintal. I would request the Hon. Finance Minster and the Government also to look into this. SHRI BIKRAM KESHARI DEO: I rise to oppose the Budget. Though growth rate of GDP is stated to have been achieved at 9.2 per cent in 2006-2007, the mainstay of our economy-agriculture is lagging behind. In this sector we are supposed to achieve a growth rate of 4.4 per cent but we have achieved only 2.3 per cent. This sector has been completely neglected and inflation has not been controlled in the country. Inflation has already crossed 5.4 per cent. Every consumer item, which the aam aadmi requires, is not available to him. Micro Finance is in a very poor shape. The starvation deaths are taking place. The migration is taking place. There are so many adversities attached to the agriculture during drought and flood and it is being affected badly. When the Government announces the procurement price of wheat at Rs.1,000 quintal, why could it not increase the procurement price of paddy at Rs.1,000? We have more rice eaters than those who consume wheat. The mainstay of agriculture is paddy. Therefore, to protect the farmers the credit policy should be properly done. The interest rates should be reduced to four percent. The farmers are committing suicides. This is a matter of concern. This needs to be taken into account very seriously. As per the last Economic Survey report, it has been seen that the downfall in the mining sector has affected the revenue earnings. It has to be looked into. SHRI SUDHANGSHU SEAL: Our GDP growth is nearly 10 per cent. But in agricultural sector we are not getting the desired result. 70 per cent of our population lives on rural sectors. We can upgrade rural sector, agriculture sector, if the Government is serious to introduce certain measures. We need to have cold storage facilities in all the districts and villages, which we do not have. There is a very big market for our products – domestically as well as globally. Infrastructure facilities should be provided to export our products. We should have our own refrigerated containers for export of our products. Moreover, we can have a plenty of value added products from our produce. It requires more and more numbers of food processing units to be set up and if some help and cooperation is extended to these units there will be tremendous possibility of export. Excise Duty on hand tools be reduced to make them accessible to the artisans, carpenters and car-repairing mechanics so that they may excel in their trade and become able to give good products. This rural sector gets the facilities through rural banks. The rural banks are not getting any facility if you compare them with the nationalized banks. This factor should also be looked into. SHRI SHAILENDRA KUMAR: This is a very critical situation that 83 crore and 63 Lac people in the country do not have even Rs.20 only per day to sustain their lives. We need to pay special attention towards the poor. It is deplorable that we haven’t been able to achieve cent percent literacy in the country. We have to make more efforts to bring down infant mortality rate. Like-wise we have to make arrangement to make drinking water available for all. Even today the SC/ST colonies and slums are without lights. The Government have to ensure power security. We are tapping our energy sources indiscriminately which need to be paid attention to. UPA Government is committed to eradicate poverty from the country within a period of 5 years. However, what we find is that poor is becoming poorer. Rampant tax evasion throughout the country is causing great loss to the revenue.