LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Tuesday, March 8, 2016 / Phalguna 18, 1937 (Saka) ______ OBITUARY REFERENCES HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon'ble Members, I have to inform the House about the said demise of three former members Shri Jashubhai Dhanabhai Barad, Shri Basori Singh Masram and Shri Pawan Diwan. Shri Jashubhai Dhanabhai Barad was a Member of the 14th Lok Sabha representing the Junagadh Parliamentary Constituency of Gujarat. He was a Member of the Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution and the Committee on Absence of Members from the sittings of the House. Earlier, he was a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for three terms from 1990 to 2003 and served as Minister in the State of Gujarat. At the time of his demise, Shri Barad was a sitting Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Shri Jashubhai Dhanabhai Barad passed away on 25th January, 2016 in Ahmedabad at the age of 60. Shri Basori Singh Masram was a Member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Mandla Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. Shri Masram was a Member of the Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment and the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table. Earlier, Shri Masram was a Member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 1998 and served as Minister of State in the Government of Madhya Pradesh during 1998. Shri Basori Singh Masram passed away on 26th January, 2016 in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh at the age of 70. Shri Pawan Diwan was a Member of the 10th and 11th Lok Sabhas representing the Mahasamund Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. He served as a Member of the Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution during the 10th Lok Sabha. Earlier, Shri Pawan Diwan was a Member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 1979 and served as Minister for Social Welfare and Jails in the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Shri Pawan Diwan passed away on 2nd March, 2016 in New Delhi at the age of 71. 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 House then stood in silence for a short while. STATEMENT BY MINISTER Re: The Issue of Tax Proposals for EPF/Superannuation Fund THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY): Some changes are proposed in the Finance Bill for the tax treatment of Recognised Provident Fund and NPS. The purpose of proposed reform in tax regime is to encourage more number of private sector employees to go for pension security after retirement instead of withdrawing the entire money from the Provident Fund Account. Towards this objective, the Government has announced that 40 per cent of the total corpus withdrawn at the time of retirement will be tax exempt both under recognised Provident Fund and the National Pension Scheme. It is expected that the employees of private companies will place the remaining 60 per cent of the Corpus in Annuity, out of which they can get regular pension. When this 60 per cent of the remaining Corpus is invested in Annuity, no tax is chargeable. This means that the entire Corpus will be tax free, if invested in annuity. Only the periodic return on Annuity will be taxable. The Government in this Budget has also made another change which says that when a person investing in Annuity dies and when the original Corpus goes in the hands of his heirs, then again there will be no tax. The idea behind this mechanism is to encourage people to invest in pension products rather than withdraw and consume the entire Corpus after retirement. The main category of people for whom EPF scheme was created are the members of EPFO who are within the statutory wage limit of Rs.15,000 per month. Out of around 3.7 crore contributing members of EPFO as on today, around 3.26 crore subscribers are in this category. For this category of people, there is going to be no change in any dispensation. However, in EPFO there are other contributing members who have accepted EPF voluntarily and they are employees of private or public sector companies. At present, even this category of people can withdraw the whole amount without any tax liability. In the proposed amendment, there will not be any tax liability for such employee at the time of retirement if he contributes 60 per cent in any annuity product so that pension security can be created for him according to his earning capacity. However, if he chooses not to put any amount in annuity product, the exemption will be limited to 40 per cent. A number of representations have been received from various sections of the society including Members of Parliament suggesting that this change will force people to invest in annuity products even if they are not willing to do so. The main argument is that the employees should have the choice of where to invest. Theoretically, such freedom is desirable but it is important for the Government to achieve policy objectives by the instrumentality of taxation. In the present reform, the policy objective is not to get more revenue but to encourage people to join the Pension Scheme. There are various other suggestions received which can also achieve the same policy objective of encouraging people to join the pension scheme. In view of the representations received, the Government would like to do a comprehensive review of this proposal and therefore I withdraw the proposal in paragraph 138 and 139 of my Budget Speech. The proposal of 40 per cent exemption given to NPS subscribers at the time of withdrawal remains. REFERENCE BY SPEAKER Re: International Women's Day HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon. Members as all of you are aware that 8th March is celebrated as International Women's Day through the world. Today, on the occasion of International Women's Day, I would like to extend my greetings to the entire House. As you are aware that a National Conference of Women Legislators was held for the first time in New Delhi on 5th and 6th March and the subject of the conference was 'Women Legislators: Building Resurgent India'. The women legislators from all the states and union territories along with the women Members of Parliament from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participated in this two days conference. The comprehensive deliberation in the conference was centered around the theme as to how the women legislators can participate in making a resurgent India. Besides, the contribution of women legislators in the socio- economic development of the country in its varied dimension and their role in good governance and right legislation were also deliberated upon. The outcome of the conference was that there was an urgent need for ensuring the qualitative participation of women in maximum possible number with the objective of ensuring equal access to facilities like education, health, safe drinking and basic sanitation and promoting social and financial inclusion. It was unanimously decided in the conference that all will strive for the creation of equal access to accessible, inclusive, quality education and strengthening affordable, equitable and accessible public health service and citizens centric governance for the purpose of building a strong nation. It was also decided in the conference that all will willingly work for ensuring the implementation and monitoring of targeted sustainable development goals and setting up of a transparent, responsible and inclusive government for the purpose of building a resurgent India. The women participating in the conference had adopted a resolution that day that they would strive for ensuring the qualitative participation of the greatest number of women in the process of decision-making, nation building and development work in all walks of life and they have to be committed towards removing all the obstacles in the path of achieving these objectives. Today, I hope that all of us would participate and extend our concurrence for all the said objectives on this occasion of International Women's Day because I am of this opinion that ensuring greater access to women in the sphere of education, social inclusion and nation building will ensure the prosperity of entire family and the country. My greetings to all of you! Thereafter, following Members also made their submissions on the subject: SHRIMATI SONIA GANDHI: Thank you for allowing me to speak on this International Women's Day. Our history is full of examples of women playing central and important roles in all years of life. Way back in Agust, 1928, when women in many countries were fighting for the right to vote, the Congress Party pledged itself to that right when India became free. Over the past six and a half decades, women have made many striking achievements in different fields, which is quite remarkable, keeping and considering the obstacles they have had faced. However, while we applaud these accomplishments, the fact remains that women continue to be victim of oppression and discrimination. Thanks to the vision of Rajiv Gandhi that we have mandatory reservation for women in Panchayats and Nagar Palikas. Today, over 40 per cent of 40 lakh elected representatives in urban and rural local bodies are women. This I believe is nothing short of a revolution. Today, is an occasion to celebrate but it is also an occasion to look inwards at ourselves as women. Ever so often women end up, and that too for no fault of theirs, as victims of some traditions.