Hon.
Speaker Sir, in my State, the location of
different Panchayats is identified by the State Government on the basis
of satellite remote sensing system. This system works well in those places
where there is plain land. But in the western part of the State,
particularly in my parliamentary constituency, the formation of land is
layer by layer, for which this technology is not suitable. As a result,
the crop loss assessed from the crop cutting report is incorrect. Therefore, I
request the hon. Minister of Agriculture to call for a report from the State
Government, and direct them to have a better system of assessment.
Hon. Chairman Sir, in my
parliamentary constituency, a special herb is cultivated in an area120 of 20 lakh acres. Even though farmers
are cultivating this herb, middlemen procure it at a low cost and140 (1) get it exported to foreign
countries. As a result, the farmers do not get remunerative
prices for this herb. I160
urge upon the Union Government to procure this herb at a reasonable price so
that the interests of the farmers growing this herb may be protected. I
would also request the Central Government to set up a medical research centre
in my constituency.
Sir,
there is a long coastline in my constituency, and I would like to
draw the attention of the House to the difficulties and threats
faced by the fishermen in my constituency every day. Understanding the
serious240 nature of this
issue, it is my duty to bring this to the notice of the Union Government. On
one side, the fishermen of my State are living in a grip of fear of
the Sri Lankan Navy; on the280
other side, natural disasters and boat accidents result in loss (2)
of lives of fishermen. I want to stress that the Union Government has the utmost
responsibility of protecting the lives of fishermen. I have raised the
issue of atrocities faced320
by Indian fishermen at the hands of the Sri Lankan Navy several times.
This Union Government has always shown a soft approach while Indian fishermen
are attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy. I have been stressing the need for
finding360 a permanent
solution to this issue. The Indian Coast Guard is assigned the job
of giving protection to fishermen. They have to be given adequate
number of boats for patrolling so that they can save the lives of
fishermen. Safety equipments are not supplied in sufficient quantities to the Indian
Coast Guard. They should also be provided enough fuel supply420 to continue patrolling for long hours.
Recently, the fishermen have lost their lives in boat accidents. The Government
has to show adequate care and concern in saving the lives of (3) fishermen.
When natural disasters take place, even the Indian Coast Guard boats cannot be
pressed into service for saving the lives of fishermen. In that case,
helicopters should be swung480
into action for saving the distressed fishermen.
Sir,
I thank you very much for allowing me to raise this matter of
urgent public importance. Shipping is the lifeline of the people of my
constituency. At present, four passenger ships are kept idle without
operating. In addition to that, a very big ship is also laid up due to an
unexpected fire in the engine. So, that ship is also not operational. Here, I
must congratulate the efforts taken by the560
crew of that ship to extinguish the fire. Otherwise, it would have been
a big disaster for the entire country because it was carrying more than 600
passengers onboard. Another ship is laid up for the last 15 days in600 island waters. Now, four to five major
ships are not (4) operational. Students who were supposed to appear for
their examination and patients who need specialised treatments are all stranded
on the island. When I asked why all these ships were640 not operating, they gave lame excuses.
They said that there is no docking facility at Cochin Shipyard. I
am sure that is not the real reason. The real reason here is that the funds
required for the operation of ships are not being given by the Union Territory Administration.
They have a special motive to shift the operation of ships700 from the public sector to the private
sector. This is a very dangerous situation. There are about 3,000
families which720 are directly
employed in the shipping sector. If the operations of the shipping sector are
going to be transferred to the private sector, there will be no
guarantee of jobs for these people.
Hon.
Speaker Sir, grapes are cultivated on a large area in the State of Maharashtra,
particularly in (5) my constituency. Due to the heavy
rains, this crop has got damaged this year. In order to give some relief to
grape cultivators, the rest of the crop should be800 saved by encouraging its export. I want
to request the Central Government to convene an urgent meeting of transporters
and sufficient space should be reserved for shipment of grapes, so that it
can be exported to foreign countries well within840 time. Transporters charge extra in case
of urgency. I request that Rs. 25 lakh per container should be given as grant-in-aid
for transportation of grapes. Normally, this crop lasts for six months but
this period can be extended up to 9 months by covering the crop with an
imported plastic cover. The import duty on this plastic cover should also be
reduced. Demand for grapes in Europe is 25 lakh metric tonnes, but we are
able to supply one lakh metric tonnes only. Hence, I would like to request
the (6) Central Government to take immediate steps to encourage
the export of grapes.
Sir.
I would like to bring to your attention the problems of Home Guards in
our country. Their960
services are equal to police personnel and causalities are also there throughout
the country. But they are getting meagre wages980 when compared to other police forces.
They are demanding for regularization of their services for a long time.
In 1947, the Government of India formulated an Act for utilization of
services of the Home Guards. The State Government has been paying daily wages
to the Home Guards and their recruitment has been taking place since 1962. They
are mostly belonging to the communities of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes,
and Other Backward Classes. Their services were mentioned in the Home Guards
Act as "voluntary service". The words "voluntary service"
may be deleted from the Act and their services may be regularized.1080 The pay and other allowances may
also be sanctioned to (7) them at par with police personnel working
in other services like police, firefighting, excise, etc.
Hon.
Chairperson, Sir, I would like to draw the attention of this august
House towards1120 the
increasing number of atrocities against the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled
Castes, and the minorities. The official data shows that crimes against these
communities are increasing in an alarming way. I recently visited Assam where I
saw that thousands of innocent people were being driven away from the places
where they had been living for years together. We are witnessing the
same experience in other places also. This House knows very well the Tripura
incident where a mosque was demolished1200
and atrocities on the Muslim population took place. These are all very sad
things. All this is used as an instrument to torture the innocent people.
Recently, a church was attacked and vandalized in Karnataka. This is a horrific
trend. In a prominent city in Haryana, Muslims are not being (8) allowed
to offer Friday prayers for the last two months.1260 When people come for offering Friday prayers,
hooligans attack them. This is a very sad thing. This kind of
vandalism1280 is going on all
over the country. This is nothing but misuse of power. People are
complaining about that but the police personnel are standing as mute spectators
and are not taking any action when these kinds of things are going on. The innocent
Muslims are escaping from that place to save their lives. In this regard,
I would like to say that approximately four lakh Muslims are living in
that area. You can very well imagine their deplorable condition when
they are being denied weekly prayer. This House may seriously think about that.
Not only that, there is spreading of hate speeches also. These kinds of things are
spoiling the secular nature of this country.
Sir,
I would like (9) to bring to the notice of this House the crisis
faced by the cashew sector including workers and entrepreneurs. More than five
hundred cashew factories are closed due to several issues and unsupportive
policies of the Central Government as well1440
as the State Government. More than two lakh women workers are working in
this sector, and due to COVID-19 pandemic, they are facing unemployment and
retrenchment. Their PF benefits are also diminishing. The entrepreneurs
are now being asked to clear their loans within months when the entire industry
is in doldrums due to the existing pandemic. The cashew sector is already the
victim of the State policy. The imported cashew is destroying the domestic
cashew industry. There are more than 800 factories spread across the
State but only 100 of them are currently functioning. I would like to urge
the Central Government to call a high-level meeting at the earliest (10) for
addressing this crisis and recommending long-term measures for protection
of domestic cashew sector, so that the workers and the entrepreneurs are
protected and the industry is revived. I would also urge the Government
to declare special package for securing better working conditions and raising
the living standard of workers1600
in this sector.
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