MONDAY, THE 17TH APRIL, 2000 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at 11.00 a.m.) 1. Oath or Affirmation The following Members made and subscribed oath/affirmation and took their seats in the House: — ANDHRA PRADESH 1. Dr. Alladi P. Rajkumar 2. Shri Dasari Narayana Rao 3. Smt. Geetha Vanga 4. Shri K.M. Khan 5. Shri K. Rama Mohana Rao 6. Shri Ramamuni Reddy Sirigi Reddy BIHAR 7. Shri Faguni Ram 8. Smt. Kum Kum Rai 9. Shri Mahendra Prasad 10. Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh 11. Shri Ram Kumar Anand 12. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad 17TH APRIL, 2000 13. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia 14. Shri Ven Dhamma Viriyo 15. Shri Vijay Singh Yadav GUJARAT 16. Dr. A.K. Patel 17. Shri Arun Maharajkishan Jaitley 18. Shri Lekhraj Hemraj Bachani 19. Shri Raju Parmar HARYANA 20. Shri Faqir Chand HIMACHAL PRADESH 21. Shri Kripal Parmar JAMMU AND KASHMIR 22. Mirza Abdul Rashid KARNATAKA 23. Smt. Bimba Raikar 24. Shri K.B. Krishna Murthy 25. Shri K. Rahman Khan 26. Shri M. Rajasekara Murthy MADHYA PRADESH 27. Shri Arjun Singh 28. Shri Bhagatram 29. Shri Hansraj Bhardwaj 30. Shri Kailashchandra 31. Shri P.K. Maheshwari 32. Shri Vikramsingh MAHARASHTRA 33. Shri Balavant Parashuram Apte 34. Shri Ram Jethmalani 35. Shri Ramkrishna Suryabhanji Gavai 36. Shri Sanjay Nirupam ORISSA 37. Shri Baijayant Panda 38. Shri Birabhadra Singh 39. Shri Manamohan Samal RAJASTHAN 40. Shrimati Jamna Devi 41. Shri Mool Chand 42. Shri Rama Prasad UTTAR PRADESH 43. Shri Balvir Kumar Punj 44. Shri Dara Singh Chauhan 45. Shri Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar 46. Shri Janeshwar Misra 47. Shri M.M. Agarwal 48. Shri Rajeev Shukla 49. Shri Rajnath Singh 50. Prof. Ram Bakhsh Singh Varma 51. Shri Sacchidanand Hari Sakshi Ji Maharaj 52. Shrimati Sushama Swaraj WEST BENGAL 53. Dr. Biplab Dasgupta 54. Shri Dipankar Mukherjee 55. Shri Jayanta Bhattacharya 56. Shri Manoj Bhattacharya 57. Shri Nilotpal Basu 17TH APRIL, 2000 11-50 a.m. 2. Welcome to New Members The Chairman welcomed the new Members. 11-52 a.m. 3. Starred Questions Starred Question was orally answered. Starred Question No.321 regarding Construction of homes for old-aged. Answers to remaining questions (322 to 340) were laid on the Table. 4. Unstarred Questions Answers to Unstarred Question Nos.2444 to 2598 were laid on the Table. 12 Noon 5. Papers Laid on the Table Shri Omar Abdullah (Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:— (i) (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the Overseas Construction Council of India, Mumbai, for the year 1998-99, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Review by Government on the working of the above Council. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (ii)(a) Forty-fourth Annual Report and Accounts of the Plastics Export Promotion Council, Mumbai, for the year 1998-99, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b)Review by Government on the working of the above Council. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (iii) (a)Annual Report of the Rubber Board, Kottayam, Kerala, for the year 1998-99. (b)Review by Government on the working of the above Board. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. Shri Omar Abdullah (Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) on behalf of Dr. Raman, laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:— (i) (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the National Council for Cement and Building Materials, New Delhi, for the year 1998-99, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Statement by Government accepting the above Report. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (ii) (a) Twenty-ninth Annual Report and Accounts of the Automotive Research Association of India, Pune, for the year 1998-99, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Statement by Government accepting the above Report. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (iii) (a) Fortieth Annual Report and Accounts of the Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association, Thane, Maharashtra, for the year 1998- 99, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Statement by Government accepting the above Report. 17TH APRIL, 2000 (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. 12-01 p.m. 6. Reports of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications Shri Kartar Singh Duggal laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports of the Standing Committee on Communications:— (i) Sixth Report on Action Taken by Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Ninth Report (Eleventh Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Communications on `Selection of Multi Access Relay Radio (MARR) Technology' relating to the Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications). (ii) Seventh Report on Action Taken by Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Fourteenth Report (Eleventh Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Communications on `Postal Network' relating to the Ministry of Communications(Department of Post). (iii) Eighth Report on Action Taken by Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Twelfth Report (Twelfth Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Communications on `Working of Telecom Factories' relating to the Ministry of Communications(Department of Telecommunications). (iv) Ninth Report of the Standing Committee on Communications (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2000-2001) relating to Ministry of Communications (Department of Posts). (v) Tenth Report of the Standing Committee on Communications (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2000-2001) relating to Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications & Department of Telecom Services). (vi) Eleventh Report of the Standing Committee on Communications (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) on Demands for Grants (2000-2001) relating to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 12-02 p.m. 7. Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways Shri Rumandla Ramachandraiah laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the First Report of the Standing Committee on Railways on Demands for Grants (2000-2001) of the Ministry of Railways. 12-04 p.m. 8. Motion for Election to the Rubber Board — Adopted A motion for election of one member to the Rubber Board was moved and adopted. 12-05 p.m. 9. Motion for Election to the Coffee Board — Adopted A motion for election of one member to the Coffee Board was moved and adopted. 12-08 p.m. 10. Special Mentions 12-08 p.m. 1. Shri Amar Singh** and Shri Suresh Pachouri** raised a matter regarding police brutality on students of Jamia Milia Islamia on 9th April, 2000. 12-53 p.m. _____________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. 17TH APRIL, 2000 2. Shri Ramachandra Khuntia raised a matter regarding pathetic conditions in the cyclone affected areas in Orissa and inadequate rehabilitation work. 12-59 p.m. 3. Shri Ahmed Patel** raised a matter regarding drought and famine conditions in Gujarat. (The House adjourned at 1.04 p.m. and reassembled at 2-12 p.m.) 2-12 p.m. 11. Government Bills — Passed The Food Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2000 Shri Shanta Kumar** (Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution) moved for the consideration of the Bill. The following Members took part in the discussion: — 2-13 p.m. 1. Shri Eduardo Faleiro 2-26 p.m. 2. Shri C.O. Poulose 2-33 p.m. 3. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia ** 2-40 p.m. 4. Shri S. Viduthalai Virumbi 2-55 p.m. 5. Shri Vayalar Ravi 3-03 p.m. 6. Shri Drupad Borgohain 3-05 p.m. 7. Shri Prem Chand Gupta 3-17 p.m. 8. Shri N. Thalavai Sundaram _____________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. 3-26 p.m. 9. Dr. Raja Ramanna 3-31 p.m. 10. Shri B.P. Singhal 3-34 p.m. Shri Shanta Kumar replied to the debate. 3-53 p.m. The motion for consideration of the Bill was adopted. Thereafter, clause by clause consideration of the Bill was be taken up. Clause 2 was adopted. Clause 1, the Enacting Formula and the Title were adopted. 3-54 p.m. Shri Shanta Kumar moved; That the Bill be passed. The motion moved by Shri Shanta Kumar that the Bill be passed was adopted and the Bill be passed. 3-55 p.m. II. The Sugarcane Control (Additional Powers) Repeal Bill, 2000 Shri Shanta Kumar** (Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution) moved. The following Members took part in the discussion: — 3-56 p.m. 1. Shri Santosh Bagrodia ** 4-08 p.m. 2. Shri R. Margabandu 4-14 p.m. 3. Shri Manoj Bhattacharya _____________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. 17TH APRIL, 2000 4-25 p.m. Shri Shanta Kumar replied to the debate. 4-33 p.m. The motion for consideration of the Bill was adopted. Thereafter, clause by clause consideration of the Bill was taken up. Clause 2 was adopted. Clause 1, the Enacting Formula and the Title were adopted. 4-35 p.m. Shri Shanta Kumar moved: That the Bill be returned. The motion moved by Shri Shanta Kumar that the Bill be passed was adopted and the Bill was passed. 4-38 p.m. 12. Statement by Minister Shri Ram Naik (Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas) made a statement regarding increase in the prices of certain petroleum products with effect from the midnight of March 22-23, 2000.