PR ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATIONS: ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATION-250

Hon. Speaker Sir, the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation are being discussed here after privatising Air India. I fully appreciate the articulation of the hon. Minister, but the focal point to be discussed and responded was the privatisation of Air India. It is quite unfortunate that nothing is mentioned about it. I have raised so many issues regarding the Air India employees. The employees who are entitled to be in service up to the age of 58 years, have to retire as soon as Tata takes over. So, what is the fate of those retired employees of Air India. As far as the medical benefits are concerned, they are entitled to¹²⁰ avail these benefits even after retirement. So, I would like to ask whether these medical benefits and all other welfare¹⁴⁰ (1) schemes will be applicable to the Air India employees. These are the pertinent questions which we have raised in the House. Unfortunately, nothing has been answered. So, I would request the hon. Minister to respond to these questions also.

Hon. Chairman Sir, handloom and handicraft products have a significant contribution in our economy. They are not only sold in the domestic market, but most of the products are also exported abroad. Handloom sector is known for providing employment in rural areas. It is next only to the agriculture sector. Most of the weavers belong to the Other Backward Classes, Scheduled²⁴⁰ Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minority communities. They were all worst hit during the pandemic period as they have not been getting any work since 2020. However, the demand for handloom products has been increased by 13 per cent²⁸⁰ compared to the previous year. Thus, there is an urgent (2) need for the support of the Government to protect the weavers and the traditional economic enterprises. The Government has launched various schemes for the benefit of handloom weavers, but the livelihood of the weavers is at stake during the pandemic period. Hence, the Government should extend some monthly financial assistance to the families of the handloom weavers immediately.

Sir, another issue which I want to bring to the notice of³⁶⁰ the House is that there is an acute shortage of containers for exports. Every day, news reports are coming out on how our ports are choking the supply of containers by poor planning. A lot of shipping companies are avoiding the Indian ports as they are facing inordinate delay in getting the containers offloaded due to mismanagement of our ports⁴²⁰ by this Government. What is the result? Sir, the shipping companies have hiked their charges by a whopping 400 per cent to 500 per cent, and goods and (3) products are piling up in our ports due to mismanagement of the situation by the Ministry. All this is because of the poor planning on the part of this Government⁴⁸⁰ while implementing a project like Sagarmala. Sir, already there is shortage of containers in the world market, but this Government has done nothing to help our exporters. Today, we saw the hon. Prime Minister boasting of India's exports crossing 40,000 crore US dollars mainly due to increase in exports of petroleum products, engineering, jewellery and chemicals. But why is this Government silent about those sectors which are facing an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19? Has this Government taken⁵⁶⁰ any measures to help the exporters at the time of container shortage? I want to remind the Government that they are responsible to the ordinary people of the country who are dependent on these sectors.

Sir, the waterways sector has⁶⁰⁰ the potential to develop as an eco-friendly and cost-effective (4) alternative for cargo transportation within the country. I would like to say that it is being ignored by this Government. In fact, we are surprised to see a Cabinet Minister speaking on a subject that is no longer his portfolio. But nonetheless, he said a lot of things on which I agree with him. In fact, ships carry 90 per cent of the world’s goods across the globe and in India’s case, it is even more because 95 per cent of the volume of cargo comes to our country by shipping.⁷⁰⁰ So, ports are important for us. We have one of the most impressive coastlines in the world, and we should⁷²⁰ have developed our ports in a very significant way. I am sorry to say that we have not yet done so. I would like to know why the Ministry has continuously under-utilized the resources that were given to it by this Parliament. For the last three years, we have been (5) witnessing under-utilization of resources. Thus, I would like to say that despite India’s economic growth and all the prospects of the vast majority of the container ships coming to India, we are not getting them because our ports are not good enough. Our country lacks a major port near the international sea routes to handle large container vessels. This has also given China tremendous power in the Indian Ocean. I⁸⁴⁰ would urge the Minister to ensure that he remedies the under-utilization of funds in these key Ministries. Finally, I had mentioned in Parliament during the Question Hour that there are some very important legal instruments internationally that India is overdue in ratifying. I hope that he will do that. I also want to stress that there has to be a new legislative framework for the port sector. There have been a number of concerns expressed and I would urge that the Minister will treat these matters with a vision to (6) make India a land of major ports of great significance.

Sir, the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme has brought about a big change in the country. The Government of⁹⁶⁰ West Bengal did not participate in this programme in the beginning, but later, due to a verdict of the Supreme⁹⁸⁰Court, it was compelled to be a part of this programme. After this, more than 1.5 crore ration cards have been deactivated in West Bengal, and so far, 50 lakh ration cards have been declared as ‘rejected’. There is an apprehension that this number will increase in future. Hon’ble Chairman Sir, I wish to highlight the fact that the West Bengal Government has admitted that approximately Rs. 30,000 crore will be saved. This State Government has been in power since the year 2011. All these years, the financial assistance amounting to crores of rupees has been¹⁰⁸⁰ transferred from the Central Government to West Bengal. Who were (7) the fake ration card holders? Proper investigation must be conducted in this regard. It is not a paltry sum. There is a scam of more than Rs. 30,000 crore.¹¹²⁰ The ruling party in West Bengal is involved in this scam. This is the money of the taxpayers; this is the money of the common people of the country. This huge amount has been diverted to feed the fake ration card holders. I once again request the hon’ble Minister to order an inquiry into it and the culprits should be hunted down.

Hon. Chairman Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to take part in the discussion on¹²⁰⁰ the Demand for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Sir, it is a very important hour in which we are discussing about the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Demand for Grants related with the same Ministry. Sir, the international flights are going to be restarted. (8) The occasion is so important for all the passengers throughout¹²⁶⁰ the country and also for the foreign nationals who visit our country. The Government has updated entry requirements for incoming travellers, like vaccination and everything. Though I would like to emphasize the major points related to the Ministry, I have also to draw the attention of the House and the hon. Minister to certain points and to certain problems. These are very serious problems that are faced by the international airport in my constituency. Regarding the Ministry’s functioning, I have a few suggestions. For example, a proper grievance redressal system has to be established. That is my suggestion to the hon. Minister. Many issues are there which are coming out every day. The problems are not only related to the Ministry but also related to the passengers. There must be a proper grievance redressal system. Our passengers are facing¹⁴⁰⁰ (9) very serious problems and they need to be solved.

We always talk of our commitment to the cause of the common man. To achieve this goal, air travel has to be made more affordable and widespread. We have to ensure air travel to all areas throughout the country. I would like to draw the attention of the hon. Minister to the issue of collection of user’s fee. We are actually collecting money from the passengers. I came to know that from this year, the user’s fee is going to be increased in all the airports in the country. If we are really committed to the common man, then my humble request to the hon. Minister is that this user’s fee has to be withdrawn for ever. There is no meaning for the Government to collect such an amount from the (10) passengers.