RAJYA SABHA WEDNESDAY, THE 13TH MAY, 2015 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at 11-00 a.m.) 11-00 a.m. 1. Reference to the victims of earthquake in Nepal and India The Chairman made a reference to the massive earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale which struck Nepal and India, on the 12th of May, 2015 for the second time in a short span of less than a month, in which more than 60 persons reportedly lost their lives and more than 1000 others were injured in Nepal and more than 16 persons reportedly lost their lives and more than 38 were injured in the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The House observed silence, all Members standing, as a mark of respect to the memory of those who lost their lives in this earthquake. 11-02 a.m. 2. Papers Laid on the Table Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) on behalf of Shri Bandaru Dattatreya laid on the Table a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Notification No. G.S.R. 182 (E), dated the 12th March, 2015, publishing the Minimum Wages (Central) (Amendment) Rules, 2015, under Section 30A of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Shri Prakash Javadekar (Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers: — (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), New Delhi, for the year 2013-14, together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Review by Government on the working of the above Authority. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. 248 13TH MAY, 2015 Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:— (i) Foreign Trade Policy, 2015–20 (for the period from 1st April, 2015 to 31st March, 2020). (ii) Handbook of Procedures of Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2015–20, (for the period from 1st April, 2015 to 31st March, 2020). (iii) (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund (DMIC PITF), New Delhi, for the year 2013-14, 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 (iii) (a) above. Shri Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary (Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affaris) on behalf of Shri Kiren Rijiju laid on the Table:- I. A copy (in English and Hindi) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification No. G.S.R. 188 (E), dated the 13th March, 2015, publishing the Central Reserve Police Force Group 'B' and 'C' (Radio Operator, Crypto, Technical, Radio Fitter, Draughtsman) (Non-Gazetted) Male or Female Ranks (Signals) Recruitment (Amendments) Rules, 2015, under sub-section (3) of Section 18 of the Central Reserve Police Force Act, 1949. II. A copy (in English and Hindi) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification No. G.S.R. 319 (E), dated the 24th April, 2015, publishing the Central Industrial Security Force, Security Wing, Sub-Inspector (Executive) Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 2015, under sub-section (3) of Section 22 of the Central Industrial Security Force Act, 1968. III.(1) A copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers, under sub-section (1) of Section 70 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005:— (a) Annual Report of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi for the year 2013-14. (b) Review by the Government on the working of the above Institute. (2) Statement (in English and Hindi) giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (1) above. 249 RAJYA SABHA 11-03 a.m. 3. Message from Lok Sabha - Reported The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisiton, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015 Secretary-General, reported to the House the following message received from the Lok Sabha, signed by the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha:- ―I am directed to inform you that Lok Sabha, at its sitting held on Tuesday, the 12th May, 2015, adopted the enclosed motion in regard to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015. 2. I am to request that the concurrence of Rajya Sabha in the said motion, and also the names of the members of Rajya Sabha appointed to the Joint Committee, may be communicated to this House. MOTION ‗That the Bill further to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, be referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses consisting of 30 members, 20 from this House, namely:- 1. Shri Anandrao Adsul 2. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia 3. Shri Kalyan Banerjee 4. Shri R.K. Bharathimohan 5. Shri P.P. Chaudhary 6. Km. Shobha Karandlaje 7. Shri B. Vinod Kumar 8. Shri Murali Mohan Maganti 9. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab 10. Shri Chirag Paswan 11. Shri Nityanand Rai 12. Shri Ravindra Rai 13. Smt. Krishna Raj 14. Shri Udit Raj 15. Shri Mohammad Salim 250 13TH MAY, 2015 16. Shri Rajeev Shankarrao Satav 17. Shri Ganesh Singh 18. Shri Anurag Thakur 19. Prof. K.V. Thomas 20. Dr. V.P. Velagapalli and 10 Members from the Rajya Sabha; that in order to constitute a sitting of the Joint Committee the quorum shall be one-third of the total number of members of the Joint Committee; that the Committee shall make a report to this House by the first day of the first week of the next Session; that in other respects the Rules of Procedure of this House relating to Parliamentary Committees shall apply with such variations and modifications as the Speaker may make; and that this House do recommend to Rajya Sabha that Rajya Sabha do join the said Joint Committee and communicate to this House the name of ten members to be appointed by Rajya Sabha to the Joint Committee.‘ The above motion was adopted by Lok Sabha at its sitting held on Tuesday, the 12th May, 2015.‖ 11-04 a.m. 4. Report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources Prof. Mrinaal Miri laid on the Table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Fourth Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources (2014-15) on "Issues concerning flood management, compensation and status of ownership of submerged and eroded land in the country including compensation to farmers for loss of their crops destroyed by floods and right to disposal of the sand left in the fields of the farmers" pertaining to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. 251 RAJYA SABHA 5. Corrigendum to the Report of the Public Accounts Committee Shri Shantaram Naik laid on the Table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Corrigendum to the *Eighth Report of the Public Accounts Committee (2014-15) on the subject 'Water Pollution in India' withdrawing the Corrigendum laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha on the 29th April, 2015. 11-05 a.m. 6. Statements by Ministers (i) Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, laid on the Table, a statement (in English and Hindi) regarding Status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Eighty-first Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on the action taken by the Government on the Sixth Report of the Committee on "Inflation and Price Rise" pertaining to the Ministry of Finance. (ii) Shri Jual Oram, Minister of Tribal Affairs, laid on the Table, a statement (in English and Hindi) regarding Status of implementation of recommendations contained in the Forty-fourth Report of the Department- related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment on the subject "Working of Ashram Schools in Tribal Areas" pertaining to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 11-06 a.m. 7. Ruling by the Chair The Deputy Chairman gave the following ruling:— ―Hon‘ble Members may recall that on 7th May, 2015 Shri Naresh Agrawal had raised a Point of Order with regard to certain recommendations of the Committee of Privileges as contained in its 61st Report. The said report dealt with a case of alleged breach of privilege arising out of accessing the Call Detail Records of the then Leader of Opposition, Shri Arun Jaitley by Delhi Police and some individuals. Dissenting with the recommendations of the Committee, Shri Agrawal had requested that the Committee of Privileges should re-examine the issue. Many other Members joined him and desired that the matter be recommitted to the Committee on Privileges. * The Report was laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha on the 11th December, 2014. 252 13TH MAY, 2015 Speaking on the subject Shri Anand Sharma had desired that while re-examining the issue, the Committee should enlarge the scope of examination by including the matter of telephone tapping of sitting Members of Parliament. Some other Members also supported him. I had then observed that there was no problem in revisiting the Committee Report for which there was unanimity in the House. As far as the issue of enlarging the scope of Committee‘s examination, I had said that I would come back to the House after examining the matter. I have gone through the rules relating to question of privileges as contained in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha.