Thank you very much, hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity.
The issue, which I am going to raise is a very important one as far as development
of Lakshadweep is concerned. I need your shelter and advice on this issue
because it is a peculiar issue which may not be affecting other areas.
There is a service in Lakshadweep, which in 1995 was encadred to the DANICS post.
Earlier, Lakshadweep was not included in the service, but in 1995 it got
included in it. The peculiar problem that we face now is that most of the
officers who come to Lakshadweep from the 13 encadred posts are freshers. So,
they are directly coming to join the service in Lakshadweep. Now, what is the
problem? The problem is that they find it difficult to understand the peculiar
issues of Lakshadweep.140
Secondly, most of the officers do not want to come to Lakshadweep because it is
a far-away place from their hometowns.160
Thirdly, the post of the Director, which is controlled by DANICS, is very much
locally-dependent. The local people want to go and communicate their issues
with these officers, but the officers do not find it easy to understand their
language. These three issues are hampering the development of Lakshadweep. When
count Lakshadweep over a 12-month period, then obviously four months go waste because
of monsoon. So, basically, we have six to eight months and in these six to eight
months also, it becomes very difficult for these officers to understand the
issues. To pin this particular issue, I raised it on several occasions in the
Parliamentary Committees and in the recent Committee meeting, of which I am also
a Member.280
A proposal was also sent from the Lakshadweep Administration to extend
the services of DANICS to the local people. The hon. Minister of State for Home
Affairs is also sitting in the House, and I am happy to see him.320 The Administration has suggested to extend
the services of DANICS to the local people. The problem presently being faced
is that the growth of local officers, who are educated and well-qualified, is
becoming stagnant at the level of Superintendent or Accountant. They do not
have any possibility to grow further whereas in Delhi Administrative
Subordinate Services Cadre they have a high pay, and these local officers
cannot reach up to that level because there is big pay disparity there also. In order to have a patch-up with the parity,
the Lakshadweep Administration has proposed a final solution that the local
officers should420 also be
encadred to DANICS. My strong opinion is that the son of the soil should also
get proper opportunity. I wish that my people should also dream of joining the
prestigious Indian Administrative Service so that Lakshadweep can be served in
a better way. This is a peculiar scenario and the Lakshadweep administration
has submitted a detailed proposal480
to the MHA. The MHA is taking it up in a slow manner by sending unnecessary and
unwanted questions to the Lakshadweep administration, which is not expected
from the MHA. The hon. Minister may kindly look into the proposal of
Lakshadweep administration in a serious way. This issue should be taken up
seriously so that Lakshadweep can be developed in a big way.
Hon. Speaker Sir, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is one of the
Maharatna companies of our country. It gives560
employment to lakhs of people in the country. The BPCL has four major
refineries. The most important one is situated in Cochin; the second one is in
Mumbai; the third one is in Madhya Pradesh; and the fourth one is in Assam. Sir, it has assets of Rs.8.5 lakh crore; and
it is making a profit of Rs.13,000 crore before GST; and after GST, it is
making a profit of Rs.8,000 crore. Sir, this refinery is not just producing640 petroleum products but also the by-products,
which are used as raw material for many other companies across the country.
Bitumen is one major example which provides raw material for the entire State
of Kerala. Sir, 27 per cent of the LPG cylinders is spread over 8.5 lakh crore
families. There are many Central Government schemes which provide subsidies to
the common700 man through LPG
cylinders. There are many other products which are being processed in this
country. Sir, 52 airports are being provided with aviation fuel with the help
of the BPCL. There are many other factors. When the Government takes steps to
privatise, we should also understand the story. There is an old story of a
greedy man who kills his golden goose for becoming rich overnight.
Unfortunately, he neither gets the golden goose nor the golden eggs. I strongly
condemn the decision to privatise Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The
Government should withdraw this decision. When we talk about800 nationalism, the pride of the nation is
being sold at a fast rate. The hon. Finance Minister has declared that the
Government will complete the process of selling two iconic institutions of the
Indian nation – Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and840 Air India – before March next year. The
reason for selling Air India is that it runs in losses and the reason for
selling BPCL is that it runs in profits. The paradox apart, I must point out
one fact that the Government is selling the family silver when it puts the BPCL
on the block. I understand the compulsion of the Government to meet the
disinvestment target, failing which, the fiscal deficit target will go for a
toss, but the Government owes an explanation why it chooses to sell a Maharatna
company lock, stock and barrel.
The company is one of the largest profit-making companies, even by the
standards of the private-sector companies. Last year, it made a turnover960 of Rs. 3.37 lakh crore and a profit of
Rs. 7,132 crore. That profit, unlike the profit of huge private and
multinationals,980 does not go
to the private individual’s hands or go overseas in full measure. The
Government of India is the direct beneficiary of the profits that BPCL makes.
Hon. Speaker, Sir, last year alone, BPCL contributed Rs. 2,196 crore to the
Government as dividend. It paid Rs. 30,000 crore to the Government in the last
ten years. In today’s newspaper, the hon. Finance Minister said that the
profitability has gone down but that is not correct. For the last four years,
the contribution as dividend to the Central Government is Rs. 8,483 core. Sir,
why the Government is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs! I represent
the place where one of the biggest expansion plans of the company is now nearing
completion. The BPCL has invested Rs. 23,000 crore to make a major foray into
petrochemicals.1120 The
company, in partnership with the Government of Kerala, is setting up a
petrochemical park which is going to attract investments in tens of thousands of
crores of rupees. Now, after having done everything, after investing huge
amounts and making an entry into a very profitable business, you want to sell
it for a song. This is unacceptable and the Government must drop its plan.
The Chit Funds Act, 1982 was enacted to provide for the regulation of
Chit Funds which have conventionally satisfied the financial needs of the low-income
households. Chit Funds provide an important source of finance and at the same
time, an avenue to save for small businesses and low-income households in
India. In a Chit Fund, a group of individuals come together for a predetermined
duration and contribute a certain sum of money by way of1260 periodical instalments at regular
intervals. By combining credit and savings in a single scheme, people who are
in need of1280 funds and those
who want to save are able to meet their requirements simultaneously. But there
were many concerns raised by the stakeholders and to address those concerns the
Government formed a Key Advisory Group on Chit Funds to review the existing
legal, regulatory and institutional framework for Chit Funds and its efficacy
and to suggest legal and regulatory initiatives required for orderly growth of
the sector. The legislative recommendations of the KAG included amendments to
the Chit Funds Act, 1982 with an objective of reducing the regulatory or
compliance burden of the Chit Funds industry on the one hand and to protect the
interest of the subscribers of Chit Funds on the other hand. The Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Finance,1400
during the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, in its 21st Report had addressed all the issues
and had also recommended finalisation of the legislative and administrative
proposals for strengthening and streamlining of the registered Chit Fund
sector. Further, the said Committee,1440
in its 35th Report which is the Action Taken Report, has again recommended the
need to quickly firm up the legislative and administrative proposals for the
Chit Fund sector. Today, I am bringing this Bill for the consideration of the
House but there are some key points on the amendments to the Chit Funds which
have been proposed. If you allow me, I will just take a couple of minutes to
throw some light on them or if you want the Members to discuss them, I am open
to it.1530
To access this dictation exercise on YouTube, please follow the links given below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsWEoh1oFJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4FFs5Stsc
