LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Wednesday, December 3, 2014 / Agrahayana 12, 1936 (Saka) ______ OBITUARY REFERENCES HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon'ble Members, I have to inform the House of the sad demise of three former members Shri Ananda Pathak, Shri Jarbom Gamlin and Shri Abdul Rehman Antulay. Shri Ananda Pathak was a member of the Seventh, Eighth and Twelfth Lok Sabhas representing the Darjeeling Parliamentary Constituency of West Bengal.Shri Pathak was a member of the Committee on Industry during the Twelfth Lok Sabha.Shri Pathak was also a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1977 to 1980. He also served as member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1972. A man of letters, Shri Pathak also served as the Editor of Agradoot, a Nepali fortnightly. Shri Ananda Pathak passed away on 28 November, 2014 in Siliguri, West Bengal at the age of 84. Shri Jarbom Gamlin was a member of the Thirteenth Lok Sabha representing the Arunachal West Parliamentary Constituency of Arunachal Pradesh. Shri Gamlin was a member of the Committee on Defence; Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes and the Library Committee during the Thirteenth Lok Sabha. Shri Gamlin was a sitting member of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Earlier, he also served as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. Shri Jarbom Gamlin passed away on 30 November, 2014 in Gurgaon at the age of 53. Shri Abdul Rehman Antulay was a member of the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Fourteenth Lok Sabhas representing Raigarh formerly known as Kulaba Parliamentary Constituency of Maharashtra. Shri Antulay served as Chairman, Committee on Public Undertakings and Chairman, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Facilities and Remuneration to Members of Parliament during the Tenth Lok Sabha. He also served as member of Rajya Sabha for two terms. An able administrator, Shri Antulay served as Minister of Health and Family Welfare from June, 1995 to May, 1996; Minister of Water Resources from February, 1996 to May, 1996 and as Minister of Minority Affairs from January, 2006 to May, 2009 in the Union Government. Shri Antulay also served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1976 and 1980 to 1989. Shri Abdul Rehman Antulay passed away in Mumbai on 2 December, 2014 at the age of 85. We deeply mourn the loss of our colleagues and convey our condolences to the bereaved families. Hon'ble Members, as you all are aware, today is the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas tragedy. It was on this day that Bhopal suffered the dreadful industrial catastrophe in which thousands of people lost their lives and many others were left with debilitating illness due to after effects of exposure to deadly methyl isocyanate. The House reiterates its sustained support and commitment to the victims of the tragedy. The members then stood in silence for a short while. STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS (i) Re: Incident in District-Sukma, Chhattisgarh which happened on 01.12.2014. THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI RAJNATH SINGH): The State Police and the Central Armed Police Forces have been conducting operations in the LWE affected states to effectively tackle the problem of Left Wing Extremism. On the basis of intelligence inputs about the movement of CPI(Maoist) cadres, CRPF launched a multi phased massive operation on 16.11.2014 in the Chintagufa area of Sukma District, Chhattisgarh. In this operation, 2253 CRPF personnel and 224 State police personnel (a total of 2477 security personnel) participated. During the first and second phase of this operation on 17.11.2004 and 21.11.2014, there had been several encounters between security forces and Maoists. On the basis of information received from various sources which include intelligence and media sources, there have been report of killings of 12 Maoists on 21.11.2014. However, this is yet to be confirmed. During this multi phase operation, a few security forces personnel were injured who had been treated. The third phase of this operation was started on 27.11.2014. After combing operations in this densely forested area, when the troops of 233 Bn and 206 CoBRA Bn were returning to their camps, they were ambushed by Maoists near village Kasalpar. This incident occurred at 10.30 AM on 01.12.2014. The troops retaliated and responded to the Maoists’ attack bravely. This encounter lasted for around 3 hours. In this encounter, 14 CRPF personnel of 223 Bn. Have been martyred and 14 others were injured. As soon as this encounter started, other parties of CRPF which were present nearby rushed for reinforcement. The injured security forces personnel were brought to the base camp at Chintagufa and they were then sent to Jagdalpur and Raipur for further treatment. In this incident, the Maoists managed to take away the weapons and ammunitions of the deceased jawans. On 2.12.2014, the martyred and injured security forces personnel were brought to Jagdalpur and Raipur by two MI-17 helicopters. On receipt of information about the incident, I along with senior officials reached Raipur on yesterday morning. DG, CRPF and other senior officers are camping in the area. I would like to reiterate that the Central Government is committed firmly to tackle the Left Wing Extremism. For this purpose, the Central Government is implementing a multi-pronged strategy. This includes implementation of security related measures, development related measures and ensuring rights and entitlements of tribals and other weaker sections of the society. As a result of the implementation of this strategy, the morale of the Maoists has weakened. The number of surrenders of Maoists cadres has increased substantially in the current year. The LWE violence has also been declining since 2011 and his trend continues in the current year also. It is our firm commitment to provide every possible assistance to the security forces and we will continue the operations till this problem is fully eradicated. I would also like to clarify that whenever state Governments ask for CAPFs for maintaining coordination. We are also taking all possible measures to increase the capability of the State Governments. I offer my condolences to the security forces personnel who laid down their lives in this incident on 01-12-2014 and express my deep sympathy to the aggrieved family members. (ii) Re: Prime Minister’s recent visits abroad THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS (SHRIMATI SUSHMA SWARAJ): As Members are aware, the outcome of the historic general election in India has rekindled international interest and restored global confidence in India. Indeed, at a time of uncertainty and turbulence in the world, the new Government in India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seen as one of the positive developments in the world. There is unprecedented optimism about India’s rapid progress under Prime Minister’s leadership; and, widespread expectation of effective and meaningful contribution from India for advancing peace, stability and prosperity in the world. Prime Minister has consistently advocated a proactive and innovative approach to foreign policy that is aligned with our Government’s primary goal of accelerating national economic development. India needs access to capital, technology, resources, energy, markets and skills; a secure environment, a peaceful neighbourhood and a stable world; and, an open and stable global trading system. Our approach is also rooted in our inheritance of a timeless tradition of global engagement and peaceful co-existence; and, dictated by the evolving imperatives of a globalised world. We have set new milestones and reached new frontiers in India’s foreign policy. The global response has been just as unparalleled. Since the last session of the Parliament, Prime Minister has visited Japan, the United States, Myanmar, Australia, Fiji and Nepal, besides participating in the United Nations General Assembly. We were honoured by the visits of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and these few months, Prime Minister has met around 45 international leaders from every inhabited continent of the world. He has participated in India-ASEAN Summit, the East Asia Summit, the G20 Summit and the SAARC Summit – each of which is crucial to the future of our region, Asia and the world. Despite our shared democratic values with Australia and her enormous potential to become a vital strategic and economic partner for India, it took 28 years for the Prime Minister of India to visit Australia. Although Fiji is an influential country in the Pacific region an 37% of its population is of Indian origin, his visit to Fiji was the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 33 years. Prime Minister became the first India leader to host a meeting of Pacific Island countries during his visit to Fiji. The Pacific islands share our challenges and also collectively constitute an influential voice in international forums. This pioneering initiative received a rousing response from the island countries. It marks the beginning of sustained Indian partnership with the Pacific region. Prime Minister had the honour to address the Joint Session of the Australian Parliament – the first India Prime Minister do so – and became the first international leader to address Fiji’s recently elected Parliament under the new Constitution that restored democracy to the island country. Both address were extremely well received in the host countries and the world. In each visit, Prime Minister reached out to people in every walk of life, on a scale rarely seen before during visits by Indian leaders. It reflected our belief that in the modern era, relations between nations go well beyond national capitals and official engagements. Our external engagement stands out not merely for the symbols of honour that he received, but also in terms of outcomes.