Review of Proceedings in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The government on Friday sought Parliament’s nod for net additional spending of over 3.25 lakh crore Rupees in the current fiscal, which includes over 1.09 lakh crore Rupees towards fertilizer subsidy payout.

Besides, approval for 80,348.25 crore Rupees has been sought for meeting expenditure of the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry mainly towards giving free foodgrains to the poor.

Approval has also been sought for the expenditure of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas towards payments of LPG subsidies to oil marketing companies and LPG connections to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, among others totalling 29,944 crore Rupees.

As per the first batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, approval is being sought for gross additional expenditure of about 4.36 lakh crore Rupees.

Of this, proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to over 3.25 lakh crore rupees, and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of ministries/departments or by enhanced receipts aggregates to over 1.10 lakh crore rupees.

Approval has also been sought for 6,000 Crore Rupees additional expenditure by the Rural Development Ministry, which includes 4,920 crore rupees for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticised the government’s November 2016 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, claiming that the move did not meet the desired goals as cash in circulation and fake currency have gone up.

The comment was vehemently countered by the Nishikant Dubey of BJP who said the Reserve Bank of India took the “big step” to eliminate corruption and terror financing which were “rampant” under the Congress rule.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Chowdhury said cash in circulation increased from 18 lakh crore rupees in 2016 to 31 lakh crore rupees currently. Also, fake currency and deposits in Swiss banks have increased, he claimed.

Choudhary said, “the health of the economy is in a bad shape because of demonetisation. It was launched with the objective of bringing back black money and stopping fake currency and terrorism. But none of the objectives of demonetisation has been fulfilled,” he said.
Dubey countered Chowdhury saying RBI decided to go ahead with demonetisation to end the menace of terrorism, black money, and fake currency. He also alleged that Congress sides with the “tukde-tukde gang” those involved in corruption.

On November 9, 2016, India demonetised the then prevailing high-value currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations with an aim to check black money, fake currency, and terror financing.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also told Lok Sabha that state governments are responsible for keeping faculty members in case of government-run medical institutions and in case of private medical colleges, the responsibility lies with the respective managements. The Minister said the government would not hesitate to take strong action against those medical colleges which are found to be involved in irregularities.

Replying to a question about the progress of the All India Institute of Medical Science at Madurai, he said classes for students have already started while work on the permanent building will begin soon after some delay due to changes in the proposed structure, leading to an increase of budget from 1200 crore to 1900 crore rupees.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Passport services in the country have improved by “500 per cent” ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014.
He also said that as many as 32 million Indians of Indian origin people live abroad and the Ministry of External Affairs has been rendering services to all of them.

He said the Ministry is working continuously to speed up passport issuance and meet high or seasonal demand for passports by taking various steps including organising special drives or melas on weekends.

He said, Since June, a total of 234 passport melas have been held and 500 more will be held in the coming days. All efforts are being made so that no one applying for a passport is denied one, he added.

Responding to a question on whether the Ministry discriminates against areas represented by opposition MPs while opening Passport Seva Kendras, Muraleedharan said the Modi government has been offering all help to states ruled by opposition parties or areas represented by opposition MPs. “I myself have opened a Passport Seva Kendra in Kerala in a constituency represented by a Congress MP,” he said.

Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur assured that traditional sports like Mallakhamb, Thang-Ta, Yogasana, Gatka and Kalpetta will soon go international. He said the Ministry will open 1000 Khelo India centres across the country by August 15 next year. Several MPs urged the government to create sports infrastructure in rural areas and initiate measures to include rural youth in selections, as the House resumed debate on sports and steps taken by the government in this regard.

In his reply, Thakur said that the focus of the government is on identifying talent from rural areas and training them to become international athletes.

“The demand that in rural areas, Khelo India centres must be opened, we will start with opening 1000 Khelo India centres. The process for 733 such centres has already started and by next August 15, we will finish work of opening 1000 Khelo India centres,” he said. The minister further said that there is a need to move beyond the sense of region and state to embrace the spirit of team India.

Mr Thakur recalled Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s statement that when a sportsman wins it gives Indians the to celebrate the concept of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat.” He also stated that in 2014, the budget for his Ministry was increased from 1219 crore rupees to 3062 crore rupees.  Stating that there is discrimination against para-athletes, Thakur said that India’s performance in this category has improved in Olympics.

Thakur also mentioned how through the Khel Mahakumbh in Gujarat, villagers were given an opportunity to play sports. He urged MPs to organise Khel Mahakumbh in their constituencies which will also give them chance to connect with the youth of the country, he said. The Minister said that the ministry has an inventory of 16,000 indoor stadiums, open grounds, and hockey stadiums across the country.

Addressing the query on lab testing, Thakur said that the National Forensic Science University and the Youth Affairs Ministry have signed an agreement with nutritional supplement testing laboratories to provide athletes supplements that do not get them barred from international events. This, he said will ensure an increase in knowledge among the sportsmen, assured quality, and ensure that they get a safe and dope-free supplement. Thakur said that the Government started the Fit India certification and fit India schools week was organised. During COVID too 4.3 lakh schools participated.

“Promoting traditional games, Khelo India youth games -5 such sports which are traditional games have been included. They are Mallakhamb, Thang Ta, Yogasana, Gatka and Kalpetta. Many athletes participated and they are not regional but national and soon they will be made international,” said the Minister.