I would like to draw the attention of the hon. Minister to
the ever-increasing environmental threat posed by both micro and macro level
usage of plastics and related products and their toxic effects resulting in
pollution at every level, be it air, water, land, groundwater or, for
that matter, visual pollution. All over India and beyond, plastic garbage
has caused tremendous choking of sewage and drainage systems resulting in
severe health hazards, water-borne diseases and epidemics. While we acknowledge
that something needs to be done immediately, steps taken by the Central
Government are far from reality. Merely announcing a nationwide plastic ban
will always turn out to be futile unless we provide viable and sustainable
alternatives to the common people. Financial penalty is no solution to this
behavioural menace. My humble request to the Ministry is to evaluate
this problem140 more seriously and dedicate more research to
come out with alternatives like glass, wax-coated cloth, fibre cloth, wood,
bamboo, earthen160 pots, etc. That will not only be
eco-friendly but it will also address the need of the common people.
Hon. Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank you for giving me this
opportunity with a sympathetic heart to raise an important issue in this
august House. I would like to call upon my colleagues’ attention
also as I rise to share the most painful and horrific incident which
happened in my constituency in Tamil Nadu. Sujith Wilson, a two-year old
child, fell into a borewell hole and was battling for his life, we do not know
for how many days, but the rescue operation ended after four days. The
poor child was left without water, food, air, love and care280
of mother and was crying inside that dark hole. The last thing which was heard
was the sound of ‘amma’. Later, we heard only the hard breathing of
the child. Those were probably his last hours. While I recall the320
incident, I still feel shivers down my spine. I could not sleep for
days. As a responsible MP, I was left in a very difficult and painful
situation to console the family and answer thousands and thousands of
people who gathered at the spot, across the State and outside with the hope and
prayer that the child will be rescued. About a thousand people were deployed in
the rescue operation. There were National and State Disaster Response Teams,
fire service, district and police administration in full swing, and experts
from premier technical institutions like NIT and Anna University. ONGC and420
L&T also came to the rescue. There were private volunteer teams which were
involved with their own rescue apparatus. Later we realised that we were
left to depend only on them and that none of the Government agencies had
that kind of rescue mechanism. They all worked hard for four days. The former
President of Congress Shri Rahul Gandhi, and480 our hon.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also prayed for the well-being of the child. After
that, it got the national attention.
Sir, this is a very important issue. We do not realise this as an issue
and that is how these incidents keep happening. Coincidentally, hon. Minister
of Science and Technology is also here. I need two more minutes to explain the
importance of this issue. Sir, millions of people outside Tamil Nadu and India
prayed. I share with560 deep guilt and pain that we could
not rescue the child, not even his fragile little body. Actually, we could
not face the family at the spot. What we realised is that in the last part
of the rescue operation we could smell only the decomposed body of that
boy. See the situation of the family and the people who gathered around! This
is not the only such incident. What kind of trauma, loneliness and fear the
family would have640 gone through! Though the Tamil Nadu
Government was in charge of the rescue mission, they could have called the
responsible rescue machinery like Disaster Management Force at the right time
when the child was at 14 feet and later 27 feet down the hole. The child could
have possibly been saved then. But the child slipped further to 63 feet700
and 87 feet during the rescue operation. Then it seemed that everything
came to an end. There is no rescue operation as such. This is not the only such
incident. At least 12 other children have died in similar incidents in Tamil
Nadu. According to NDRF, over 40 children have died after falling into borewell
holes since 2009 across the country. One week after this horrific incident, a
similar thing happened in a village in Haryana where a five-year old was pulled
out dead from a borewell hole by the NDRF. I am afraid that this kind
of sheer negligence happens800 because the children who fall
into borewell or drainage holes generally come from a poor background.
Obviously, these people do not have voice and representation. Maybe this is the
reason disasters of this scale and magnitude keep happening in840
the country. On one hand, we are losing child after child without any
remorse or regret; on the other hand, we have our ISRO sending rockets
into space.
I thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to
speak on a very important subject. At the inception, I extend my warm
wishes and congratulations for celebrating the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak
Dev at Shri Kartarpur Sahib. I thank hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
who helped us realize our long-pending demand of 72 years. I also thank the
Central Government for this achievement. I also thank our hon. Chief Minister
of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh for his efforts in making this possible.
Moreover, I thank the Pakistan Government960 for
allowing us to achieve our long-pending demand. Sir, I urge upon the
Government to do away with the980 requirement of passport
for this purpose. Aadhaar card should serve the purpose. Besides, the
fee of 20 dollars should also be done away with. Sir, I also want to
specifically thank you because the Committee on External Affairs in 16th Lok
Sabha had recommended in 2017-18 that the Kartarpur corridor be opened for Sikh
pilgrims. Sir, coming back to the subject, our trade relations with
Pakistan have come to a screeching halt after the Balakot attack. Around 5000
porters and coolies have been directly affected and 10,000 people have been
indirectly affected due to the stoppage of trade between the two
countries. So, I urge upon the Government that trade between the two countries
be resumed at the earliest. Before it was suspended, trade worth 1500 crores of
rupees was undertaken between the two countries. Those depending on this trade1120
are finding it difficult to make both ends meet. I request the Government to
kindly intervene in this matter and resume the Indo-Pak trade at the earliest.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I would like to raise a matter of very serious
importance which deals with the international relations and
international issues. Recently, the hon. Prime Minister visited Brazil. Despite
the change of Government, Brazil has chosen to stay with BRICS. That was
actually a surprise to the world. BRICS represents Brazil, Russia, India, China,
and South Africa. Each Member of this very diverse and dispersed group has
internal contradictions which are not easily overcome. There are sharper
contradictions between China and India. It was Russia that helped to develop
this forum and sustain it. The Russian objective was to mount international
opposition to the United States in the unipolar order that1260
followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. As China rose in 21st
Century, it found common ground with1280 Russia in fighting
US dominance of the world. China also found the BRICS a useful forum to promote
a global economic agenda. It is in sync with its emergence as the world’s
biggest exporter and second largest economy. For both Russia and China,
having three large developing nations – India, Brazil and South Africa – as
partners in their enterprise makes immense political sense. But what is India’s
gain? How is our interest in alignment with the declared policies of the BRICS?
Many of India’s problems in the multilateral domain are rooted in China’s
opposition. It stalled our efforts to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It also
stalled taking action against the extremists who are being harboured in
Pakistan. Delhi’s biggest trade1400 deficit is with China.
India has cited China’s economic threat for not joining the RCEP. On countering
terrorism, China views the problem through Pakistani eyes. There is a profound
imbalance of power with BRICS. Chinese economy is twice as large1440
as the other four put together. What does India gain by becoming a part of
BRICS? Will the Government come out with an answer?
Hon. Speaker, Sir, the topic of
discussion is something that affects each and every one of us, irrespective of
our caste, creed, age and religion. In fact, it is affecting us while we stand
and talk about it here in the Parliament. It is high time we stop politicising
over these grave issues. The public is smart and the current state is that of a
climate emergency. Delhi is our Capital and it is worst affected. It is a fact
that cannot be ignored. The State can no longer get away with these
gimmicks like odd-even, shutting construction sites, etc. We need long-term
sustainable solutions. We need to stop stealing the future from our kids and
stop playing the blame game. It is time to own up and act in a
responsible manner.1596
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To access the above dictation exercise on YouTube, please follow the links given below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8L2KYCAvNk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF6Bg3cU7rQ
