RAJYA SABHA MONDAY, THE 21ST AUGUST, 2006 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at 11.00 a.m.) 11:00 a.m. 1. Obituary Reference The Chairman made a reference to the passing away of Shehnai Maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. The House observed silence, all Members standing, as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed. 11:04 a.m. 2. Starred Questions The following Starred Questions were orally answered:- Starred Question No.341 regarding Shortage of universities in the country. Starred Question No.342 regarding Tribals residing in forest lands. Starred Question No.343 regarding Demands of anganwadi workers. (The House adjourned at 11.48 a.m. and re-assembled at 12-00 Noon.) Answers to Starred Questions Nos. 344 to 360 were laid on the Table. 3. Unstarred Questions Answers to Unstarred Question Nos. 2414 to 2568 were laid on the Table. (The House adjourned at 12.00 Noon and re-assembled at 12-30 p.m.) 12:30 p.m. 4. Statement by Minister Correcting Answer to Question Shri Sushilkumar Sambhajirao Shinde, Minister of Power, made a statement correcting the reply given in the Rajya Sabha on the 24th July, 2006 to Starred Question 2 regarding “Gap between consumption and generation of power”. 21ST AUGUST, 2006 12:31 p.m. 5. Papers Laid on the Table Shri Sushilkumar Sambhajirao Shinde (Minister of Power) laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India (Ministry of Power) and the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), for the year 2006-2007. Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj (Minister of Law & Justice) laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs) Notification G.S.R. 296 (E) dated the 19th May, 2006, publishing the Notaries (Amendment) Rules, 2006, under sub-section (3) of section 15 of the Notaries Act, 1952. Shri Md. Ali Ashraf Fatmi (Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development) laid on the Table:- I. (1) A copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers, under sub-section (3) of Section 29 of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Act, 1994:— (a) Annual Report of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, for the year 2000-2001. (b) Review by Government on the working of the above University. (2) Statements giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (1) above. II. A copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:— (i) (a) Annual Accounts of the Tezpur University, Tezpur, for the year 2004- 2005, and the Audit Report thereon, under sub-section (4) of section 31 of the Tezpur University Act, 1993. (b) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (ii) (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, for the year 2004-2005, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Review by Government on the working of the above Institute. RAJYA SABHA (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (iii) Statement giving reasons for not laying the Annual Report of the Nagaland University for the year 2004-2005 and the Audited Accounts thereof for the years 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, within the stipulated period. (iv) Statement giving reasons for not laying the Audited Accounts of the Assam University for the year 2003-2004 and the Annual Report and Audited Accounts thereof for the year 2004-2005, within the stipulated period. (v) Statement giving reasons for not laying the Audited Accounts of the North Eastern Hill University for the year 2004-2005, within the stipulated period. (vi) Statement giving reasons for not laying the Annual Report of the University of Delhi for the year 2001-2002 and the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts thereof for the years 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, within the stipulated period. Shrimati D. Purandeswari (Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:— (a) Annual Report of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi, for the year 2004-2005. (b) Annual Accounts of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi, for the year 2004-2005, and the Audit Report thereon. (c) Review by Government on the working of the above Samiti. (d) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) and (b) above. 12:32 p.m. 6. Reports of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Shri Sharad Anantrao Joshi laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes:— 21ST AUGUST, 2006 (i) Twelfth Report of the Committee including minutes of the sittings of the Committee relating thereto on the Department of Revenue (Ministry of Finance) on “Reservation for and Employment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC)”; (ii) Thirteenth Report of the Committee including minutes of the sitting of the Committee relating thereto on the Banking Division (Ministry of Finance) on action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the First Report of the Committee (Fourteenth Lok Sabha) regarding “Reservation for and Employment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Dena Bank and credit facilities provided by the Bank to them”; and (iii) Fourteenth Report of the Committee including minutes of the sitting of the Committee relating thereto on the Ministries of Home Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment and Tribal Affairs on action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the Fourth Report of the Committee (Fourteenth Lok Sabha) regarding “Atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and pattern of social crimes towards them”. 7. Statements of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Shri Sharad Anantrao Joshi lay on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Statements showing final action taken by the Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in Chapter I of the Nineteenth Report of the Committee (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) on “Working of Integrated Tribal Development Projects in Madhya Pradesh”. (The House adjourned at 12.33 p.m. and re-assembled at 2-00 p.m.) RAJYA SABHA #2:03 p.m. 8. Government Bills — Under Consideration/Passed 2:03 p.m. I. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2005. Further consideration on the motion for consideration of the Bill moved by Shri A. Raja, Minister of Environment and Forest, on the 18th August, 2006 continued. The following Members took part in the discussion:— 2:03 p.m. 1. Shri S.P.M. Syed Khan 2:09 p.m. 2. Prof. Ram Deo Bhandary** 2:16 p.m. 3. Shrimati Brinda Karat 2:32 p.m. 4. Shri Ajay Maroo** 2:51 p.m. 5. Dr. Radhakant Nayak 3:03 p.m. 6. Shrimati N.P. Durga 3:08 p.m. 7. Shri Sanjay Raut 3:17 p.m. 8. Ms. Sushila Tiriya *3:35 p.m. 9. Shri Sharad Anantrao Joshi 3:45 p.m. 10. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia 3:51 p.m. 11. Shrimati Prema Cariappa 3:55 p.m. 12. Shrimati Hema Malini The discussion was concluded and the Minister to reply on the 22nd August, 2006. 4:01 p.m. II. The Pondicherry (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2006. Shri S. Regupathy (Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs) moved:- “That the Bill to alter the name of the union Territory of Pondicherry, be taken into consideration.” _______________________________________________________________# From 2.00 p.m. to 2.03 p.m. some points were raised. ** Spoke in Hindi. * From 3.34 p.m. to 3.35 p.m. see item no.9 (1). 21ST AUGUST, 2006 The following Members took part in the discussion:— 4:03 p.m. 1. Shri Su. Thirunavukkarasar 4:09 p.m. 2. Shri V. Narayanasamy 4:29 p.m. 3. Shri R. Shunmugasundaram 4:34p.m. Shri S. Regupathy replied to the debate. 4:35 p.m. The motion for consideration of the Bill was adopted. Clauses 2 to 10 were adopted. Clause 1, the Enacting Formula and the Title were adopted. 4:37 p.m. The motion moved by Shri S. Regupathy that the Bill be passed was adopted and the Bill was passed. 4:38 p.m. III. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2005. Shri Sharad Pawar (Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) moved:- “That the Bill further to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, be taken into consideration.” The following Members took part in the discussion:— 4:47 p.m. 1. Shri Ramdas Agarwal** 4:57 p.m. 2. Shri Shantaram Laxman Naik y6:39 p.m. 3. Shri Sharad Anantrao Joshi 6:47 p.m. 4. Shri Moinul Hassan 6:53 p.m. 12. Shrimati S.G. Indira 6:57 p.m. 13. Shri Ravula Chandra Sekar Reddy 7:01 p.m. 14. Dr. Gyan Prakash Pilania 7:10 p.m. 15. Shri Jai Parkash Aggarwal** _______________________________________________________________** Spoke in Hindi. Ψ From 5.02 p.m. to 6.33 p.m. see item no.10 and from 6.33 p.m. to 6.39 p.m. Shri Shantaram Laxman Naik continued his speech. RAJYA SABHA 7:17 p.m. Shri Sharad Pawar** replied to the debate. 7:46 p.m. The motion for consideration of the Bill was adopted.