Hon. Speaker Sir, I would
like to bring to the attention of this august House with a deep sense of
anguish and disappointment the careless attitude of this Government towards
bringing the Women’s Reservation Bill, which provides 33 per cent
reservation for them in the Lok Sabha. This Government had proudly announced in
its manifesto that it would implement and bring out this Bill as
soon as it assumed office. It has been nine years since it has come
to power with a thumping majority, but still the Bill has not seen the light of
the day. This shows100 that
their manifesto is a farce. It is not that women were not empowered in
this millennial era itself. They120
were not empowered right from the First Century BCE when Aristotle was
teaching in his principles that women140
were inferior. At that time, there was one woman who disguised as a man and got
the doctoral degree to160 be
celebrated as the first woman doctor in the world. Her achievements are imprinted
in history. Our Constitution also assures dignity and freedom from
discrimination. Article 4 of our Constitution guarantees women equal
opportunity as well as equality. So, it200
is high time that this Bill has to see the light of the day because it has
already been delayed after so many consultations. Our Prime Minister as
well as all the Cabinet Ministers will profess about uplifting women
with240 noble intentions of
making them empowered, and if they really mean to do what they say, then it is
high time that this Bill should be brought to light.
Hon. Sir, it is a matter
of great importance as it280
affects the life of students. There are millions of students in this country
who aspire to get into the300
IITs, NITs and IIITs and other institutes of national eminence. They get into
these320 institutes through
the JEE. They get only limited chances to write this examination, namely three
times to write the Mains and twice to write the Advanced JEE. The last attempt
for the batch of360 2020 was in
this year, but there were many computer glitches during the examination, like
the screen was frozen, the questions were appearing and disappearing, there
were power cuts, and in fact in some cases the examination centre was changed400 in the last minute and the students were
not informed in advance through SMS or email. So, many420 of them have exhausted their third
attempt this year and they cannot write another attempt. I would urge the Minister
of Education to advise the National Testing Agency to give an
exemption for these students who appeared in the examination in 2022 to be able
to write the examination in 2023, particularly the school-leaving480 batch of 2020. We cannot let
technological glitches ruin the future of aspirants who want to get into500 the institutes of higher education.
Hon. Chairman Sir, as we know, the 99th
Constitution Amendment which was passed by this House was struck
down by the Supreme Court, as a result of which the collegium system of
appointing judges continues. Recently, our Law Minister has been snipping at
the Supreme Court and at the collegium system. We did not560 take the hon. Minister seriously because
he is very talkative. But a person in high office, who cannot be
criticised except by a substantive motion, has come out to criticise the
striking down of the National Judicial Appointment Commission. The600 Government is trying to extend its power
everywhere, including the judiciary. It is not finding the judiciary pliable.
That is why, it is using a high dignitary to run down the collegium
system. At this point of time, our party640
believes that the collegium system should continue. It is not that it is perfect,
but the collegium system of the Supreme Court is actually a bigger guarantee
against the tyranny of the power by the Central Government. I oppose the
comments made by the high authority and also by the Law Minister against the
Supreme Court, and the collegium system.700
We will oppose all efforts to run down the independence of the Judiciary, which
is one of the pillars of720
the Constitution, which this Government is trying to bring down.
Mr. Chairman, Sir, our State of Kerala is facing
seasonal water shortage ranging from two to six months a year. With an annual
water availability of about 48000 million cubic metres, the per capita water
availability is only 1350 cubic metres per annum against a requirement
of 1800 cubic meters. In our State, 44 rivers contribute more than 80
per cent of our water800
needs. Decline of these river systems is the main reason for the water
scarcity. The once perennial rivers have now become seasonal with a
reduction of 60 to 100 per cent in natural summer flow. On top of this, due840 to climate crisis, we are now frequently
facing huge flood threats. Conserving and rejuvenating our river systems and
managing them efficiently and equitably is the best possible step
to ensure future water security for the state. In this context,
we have initiated an attempt to prepare a River Action Plan for two of the main
rivers in my constituency, with900
support from premier research institutes and various Government
departments and local self-governments and NGOs. I humbly submit that
the Union Government may provide a special package for the State of Kerala for
preparing and implementing River Action Plans for our 44 river systems, aimed
at rejuvenation and efficient management of these rivers.
Hon. Chairperson, Sir, when a woman travels,960 all that she wants is safe travel
whether it is late at night or early in the morning. However, despite980 many efforts, the safety of women in
public transport, especially on trains, has not been accomplished. They
face1000 incidents of eve-teasing
or fear of sexual harassment and thus, have to avoid travelling long
distances. This issue of safety consequently prevents their access to
public transport and to travel freely like their male counterparts. It
affects the mobility choices of women. They may adopt different strategies,
such as avoiding travel at certain times, travelling in groups, or
avoiding travel altogether. These barriers faced by women due to lack of
safety can affect their access to opportunities and impact their autonomy.
Thus, along with the current measures and acts, having a ladies’ special train
will help us in achieving our1100
goal of increasing the safety and security of women passengers and removing the
barriers to women’s safe access to public1120
transport. Therefore, I request the hon. Minister of Railways to
introduce a special sleeper-class train with all compartments reserved
for women passengers as it would ensure a safe travel experience for women from
all backgrounds.
Sir, the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India is a regulatory body tasked
with regulating and licensing the insurance and re-insurance industries in
India. The IRDA has a new proposal to bring Bima Sugam Exchange against the
interest of insurance industry1200
and its policy holders. This industry is having assets of more than Rs.
40 lakh crore at present which was earned by the dedicated services of the
staff, agents, and development officers of insurance industry. It is one of the
wealthiest public sector undertakings. It is giving its major
share to the Indian economy for providing basic amenities in the1260 rural areas across the country by
giving loans to the Central Government and State Governments, and its share is
mostly1280 with the Government
sector only, and not with any private sector. If IRDA's above proposals
are accepted,1300 there
will not be any chances for the ordinary people, who are unable to read and
know the terms and conditions while choosing a policy, to suit their earnings
and savings and to avail the benefits of policies. At present, around 200
different sets of insurance policies are offered in the insurance
industry by both Government and private companies. Since, ordinary
people have to apply for a policy through online portal only, due to ignorance,
there would be more chances of rejection of their choice or they may
be unaware of the claim details of their policies on its1400 maturity. There are more precedents
on the privatization policy of the Government in the past. The recent
and classic example is the erstwhile DoT which was converted into BSNL
Corporation during the Prime Ministership of1440 late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
and now it is on the edge of Government CPSU status and will be thrown out by giving
incentives to the private sector from the Government budget. Hence, I urge upon
the Union Government to drop IRDA's proposal to save the Government-owned
insurance industry's wealth of Rs. 40 lakh crore, to save the interest of
policy holders, and to save more than 24 lakh well-educated agents, staff, and Development
Officers who are wholly depending on this self-employment for their
livelihood.
Hon. Chairman Sir, sports
unite youth, sports give confidence, and sports build trust in communities.
Federations and associations play a major role in sports. Private sector also
plays a very important role in the investment part of sports. How is the
Ministry planning to welcome the private sector to support rural sports in the
southern part and other parts of India? How are the private companies going to1600 support rural people?
We have a tax-terrorism
mentality now. All the agencies are now after the business people who are not
supporting the Government. Will there be a change in this mindset and will they
be encouraged to support the major rural sports events? Will there be any
concessions given to them? Further, we hear about many incidents of insensitive
attitude of federations.
How does the Sports
Ministry appreciate the sensitivity of an association? At the same time, how
does it punish or how does it handle the insensitivity of an association? In
the reply to a Question asked in the Lok Sabha, the hon. Sports Minister replied
that under the Khelo India Scheme, there are 300 projects sanctioned and around
Rs. 2753 crores have been spent. It is well appreciated that the Government is
taking interest in investing in the projects. But there are only five projects
announced for Tamil Nadu out of 300 projects. Why is this discrimination? Tamil
Nadu also needs support from the Central Government. I hope in the coming year,
Tamil Nadu will also be given its due share in promotion of sports.
