No. of question found : 11
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Q No: 27 |
Dated: |
Ministry: RAILWAYS |
Subject: RAILWAY ACCIDENTS |
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:-
(a) the division-wise details of the rail accidents that took place during each of the last three years and the current year;
(b) the main reasons of such accidents;
(c) the total loss of property suffered by the Railways and the number of persons killed/injured and the amount of compensation paid to the victims and their kins, accident-wise;
(d) the details of the inquiries instituted in each accident, the conclusion thereof and the action taken thereon; and Contd/….2
(e) the measures taken/likely to be taken by the Railways to check recurrence of such accidents especially with respect to introduction of safety devices and training of Railway officials?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI K. H. MUNIYAPPA)
(a) to (e): A Statement is attached.
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Q No: 95 |
Dated: |
Ministry: COAL
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Subject: RISE IN COAL PRICE |
Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the price of coal has been increased by the coal companies recently;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the hike in coal prices effected during the last three years;
(d) the norms/criteria adopted by the coal companies to regulate hike in coal prices;
(e) whether the recently effected increase was based on input costs, inflation index, market trends, etc; and
(f) if not, the reasons therefor, company-wise?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL AND MINISTER OF STATE (IC) IN THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS & PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION(SHRI SRIPRAKASH JAISWAL)
(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT AS MENTIONED IN LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.95 FOR ANSWER ON 25.11.2009 ASKED BY DR. MURLI MANOHAR JOSHI AND DR. MONAZIR HASSAN
(a)&(b): Yes Sir, Coal prices have been increased with effect from 16th October, 2009. Run of Mine (ROM) coal prices in all coal companies of Coal India Limited (CIL) other than Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) & Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) have been increased by 10% for all grades of coal over the then existing prices and such increase in respect of coal produced by ECL and BCCL is 15%, except for the portion of Raniganj coal of Grades A & B from such mines of ECL,which are supplied under Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to specific consumers at special price.
(c) : The position with regard to the last three years is given below :
(i) Coal prices were revised on 13th December 2007.ROM coal prices for all coal companies of CIL other than North Eastern Coalfields (NEC) were increased by 10% for all grades of coking and non-coking coal, over the then existing prices and in case of NEC the increase was 15%.
(ii) Coal prices of NEC were further revised on 09th March 2008.ROM coal prices of all grades of coal of NEC were increased by 50% over the then existing prices.
(iii) Coal prices were last revised in the current year on 16th October 2009, the details of which are given in the reply to part (a)&(b) above.
(d): The hike in the coal prices has been so regulated to ensure that –
(i) it remains competitive vis-à-vis price of imported coal,
(ii) the market is able to absorb such hike in coal price,
(iii) it generates additional resources in meeting the additional recurring expenditures,
(iv) it generates additional resources for fresh investment in new projects.
(e): Yes sir.
(f): Does not arise in view of the answer to part(e) above.
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Q No: 116 |
Dated: |
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES |
Subject: IMPACT OF RECESSION ON FPI |
Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the adverse impact of international economic recession has also been felt in the food processing industries of the country;
(b) if so the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has taken steps to provide relief to the industry through stimulus package; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI SUBODH KANT SAHAI)
(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 116 for answer on 26.11.2009 regarding Impact of Recession on FPI.
No study/survey has been conducted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to assess the impact of the international economic recession on the food processing sector in the country.
The food processing sector has been growing at an average rate of 14.03% in the past few years. Furthermore, Ministry has not come across of any case of retrenchment in this sector due to recession. These factors indicate that Food Processing Industries has not been affected adversely due to the current international economic recession. India has huge potential in food processing industry where only 2% of fruit and vegetables and 35% of milk produced are processed presently. The processed food industry ranks fifth in size, representing 6.3% of GDP and accounts for 13% of the country`s export and 6% of total industrial investment.
In order to increase level of processing and to promote food processing industries to exploit both the domestic and international market potential for processed food products, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries had come out with a Vision 2015 document which envisages tripling the size of the processed food sector by increasing the level of processing of perishables from 6% to 20% value addition from 20% to 35% and share in global food trade from 1.5% to 3% by 2015. An integrated strategy for promotion of agribusiness Vision, strategy and Action Plan for the Food Processing Sector has also been approved by the Government.
In recent times, the Government of India has also taken initiatives to give a boost to the sector by abolishing licensing for almost all food and agro-processing industries. The government has already granted tax holiday under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and as per provisions of Sub- Section 11(a) of Section 80-1b of the Income Tax Act a deduction from profits upto specified amounts is allowed in the case of an undertaking deriving profit from the business of processing, preservation and packaging of fruits or vegetables. The Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2009 proposes to also extend investment-linked tax incentive by way of insertion of a new section 35 AD in the Income Tax Act, 1961 to the business of setting up and operating cold chain facilities for specified products and to the business of setting up and operating warehousing facilities for storage of agricultural produce.
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Q No: 209 |
Dated: |
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS |
Subject: REGULATION OF SALARIES IN PRIVATE |
Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government proposes to regulate the high salaries being paid to the top Executives in the public and private sector and discourage conspicuous consumption so as to bring them in tune with the austerity measures being taken by high ups in the Government ;
(b) if so, the details thereof ; and
(c) the guidelines issued earlier and proposed to be issued in this regard?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS(SHRI SALMAN KHURSHID)
(a) No, Sir.
(b) Does not arise.
(c) Does not arise.
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Q No: 340 |
Dated: |
Ministry: POWER |
Subject: COST OF POWER GENERATION |
Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:-
(a) whether generation cost of thermal power is on the rise, since Oct. 2009;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the measures taken by the Government to contain the generation cost of lower?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER ( SHRI BHARATSINH SOLANKI )
(a) & (b) : The tariff for supply of electricity from a thermal generating station comprises two parts, namely, capacity charge for recovery of fixed cost and energy charge for recovery of fuel cost. Coal India Limited has vide their notification dated 15.10.2009 enhanced the prices of coal to be supplied by their coal companies and the revised prices have become effective from 00 hrs. of 16.10.2009. The cost of thermal generation has also increased due to import of coal.
(c) The steps taken by the Government for reducing the cost of power generation are given below:
i) The Electricity Act, 2003 creates a competitive framework for generation which should exert a downward pressure on costs.
ii) The National Electricity Policy lays maximum emphasis on full development of feasible hydro potential. The cost of power generation from hydro projects reduces significantly; in the long term.
iii) In respect of thermal power, the policy states that the economies of generation and supply of electricity should be the basis for choice of fuel from among the options available.
iv) The Tariff Policy, notified on 6th January, 2006 provides that all future requirement of power should be procured competitively by distribution licensees except in cases of expansion of existing projects or where there is a State controlled / owned company as an identified developer. For Public Sector projects also, the tariff of all new generation and transmission projects is to be decided on the basis of competitive bidding after a period of five years or when the Regulatory Commission is satisfied that the situation is ripe to introduce such competition.
v) The Mega Power Policy provides for zero customs duty for import of capital equipment and deemed export benefits for domestic suppliers for generation projects fulfilling eligibility conditions of this policy.
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Q No: 895 |
Dated: |
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING |
Subject: AUTHENTICATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS |
Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:-
(a) whether there exists any mechanism whereby viewers can verify the veracity of the claims being made through various advertisements telecast on Television Channels;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to enact a legislation to prevent the telecasting of advertisements espousing superstitions, blind faith and unverifiable claims;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether the Government proposes to make it a legal compulsion for the advertisers to guarantee the authenticity of the claims made through such advertisements; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING (SHRI C.M. JATUA)
(a) & (b) No Sir, the existing Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder do not provide any such mechanism.
(c) to (e) All TV Channels are required to adhere to the provisions of the Advertising Code prescribed under Cable TV Netwroks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder. Rule (7) (4) of the said rules provides that the goods and services advertised shall not suffer from any defect or deficiency as mentioned in Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Rule-(7) (5) of the said rules further provides that no advertisement shall contain reference which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous or supernatural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved.
(e) & (f) Apart from the above provisions, this Ministry had constituted a committee for reviewing the existing Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the rules framed thereunder to provide greater specificity to the provisions of existing codes. The Committee has submitted its report to the Government which is available on the website of the Ministry www.mib.nic.in under the heading “Self Regulation Guidelines 2008”.
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Q No: 1009 |
Dated: |
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT |
Subject: WORLD BANK REPORT ON SECONDARY |
Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:-
(a) whether in its recent report, the World Bank has stated that India`s Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in secondary school is 40% as compared to 70% in East Asia and 82% in Latin America and that 48% secondary school students in India never go beyond that level;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Government has conducted any study in this regard;
(d) if so, the outcome thereof; and
(e) the concrete measures taken by the Government to encourage secondary and higher education in the country?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT(SMT. D. PURANDESWARI)
(a) & (b) The World Bank report “Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity” (January, 2009) has mentioned that the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the secondary & senior secondary level in India at 40 percent is far inferior to the GERs of countries in East Asia (average 70 percent) and Latin America (average 82 percent). It also states that the incompletion rate of secondary education in 2004-05 in India was 48% (11% drop out in classes IX and X, and 37% failure in 10th grade examination).
(c) & (d) As per the Selected Educational Statistics-2006-07 of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for secondary stage (classes IX and X) was 53.27%, and GER for classes IX to XII was 41.13%.
(e) With the objective to universalise access to secondary education and to improve its quality, a centrally sponsored scheme called Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) has been launched in March 2009 by the Central Government. The scheme envisages enhancing the enrollment ratio to 75% for classes IX and X within 5 years by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation, improving quality of education imparted at secondary level through making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms and removal of gender, socio-economic and disability barriers.
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Q No: 1706 |
Dated: |
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT |
Subject: SOCIAL SECURITY FOR UNORGANISED |
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has come out with a policy on social security for workers in the unorganized sector;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to spread the awareness about the same in the country including rural areas?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a) to (c): The Government has enacted ‘the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. The Act provides for constitution of National Social Security Board which shall recommend formulation of social security schemes viz.,life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection and any other benefit as may be determined by the Central Government. The Act provides for setting up of Workers Facilitation Centres to perform functions including dissemination of information on social security schemes for unorganised workers.
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Q No: 1755 |
Dated: |
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT |
Subject: CENTRAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE COUNCIL |
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:-
(a) the mandate entrusted to the Central Employment Guarantee Council;
(b) the details of suggestions/recommendations made by the said Council since its inception for effective implementation of the schemes meant for rural development; and
(c) the action taken by the Government thereon?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT(SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITYA`)
(a): Section 10(1) of NREGA provides for constitution of the Central Employment Guarantee Council. The Council shall perform and discharge the following functions and duties,namely:
1. Establish a central evaluation and monitoring system ;
2. Advise the central government on all matters concerning the implementation of this act;
3. Review the monitoring and redressal mechanism from time to time & recommend improvements required;
4. Promote the widest possible dissemination of information about the schemes made under this act
5. Monitoring and implementation of this act
6. Preparation of annual reports to be laid before Parliament by the Central Government on the implementation this act
7. Any other duty of function as may be assign to it by the Central Government.
(b): The suggestions made by the members of the Central Council mainly relate to intensification of IEC activities for awareness generation, positioning of adequate staff at all levels alongwith their training, strengthening social audit and grievance redressal system, convergence of NREGA with other Rural Development programmes,enhancement of administrative expenses, review of NREGA guidelines, setting up of District Ombudsman and evaluation of NREGA.
(c) : In order to implement the suggestions/ recommendations made by the members of Central Council in its various meetings held so far, the Ministry has taken the following steps:-
(i) Administrative expenditure limit under NREGA has been enhanced from 4% to 6% to meet the expenditure on IEC activities and for deployment of dedicated staff with the implementing agencies.
(ii) Orders dated 7.9.2009 have been issued by the Ministry directing all State Governments to set up District Ombudsman for redressal of grievances in a time- bound manner.
(iii) Social Audit instructions have been notified vide Notification dated 31.12.2008.
(iv) Guidelines have been issued for convergence of NREGS with Rural Development programmes of Ministries of Environment & Forests, Agriculture, Water Resources, Departments of Land Resources, programmes of Department of Rural Development such as PMGSY and SGSY.
(v) Evaluation study of NREGA has been commissioned to NSSO.
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Q No: 1880 |
Dated: |
Ministry: MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES |
Subject: CLASSIFICATION OF SMALL INDUSTRIES |
Will the Minister of MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES be pleased to state:-
(a) The criteria adopted for the classification of MSMEs; and
(b) The details of legal provisions for regulating the functioning of MSMEs in the country?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI DINSHA PATEL)
(a) Enterprises have been classified under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 broadly into
(i) Enterprises engaged in the manufacture / production of goods pertaining to any industry &
(ii) Enterprises engaged in providing / rendering of services.
The manufacturing and service enterprises have been further classified into micro, small and medium based on investment in plant and machinery and in equipments respectively. Details are as under:
Class /Category Manufacturing Service
Micro Enterprises Investment upto Rs.25 lakhs Investment upto Rs.10 lakhs
Small Enterprises Investment above Rs.25 lakh Investment above Rs.10 lakh
and upto Rs.5 crore and upto Rs.2 crore
Medium Enterprises Investment above Rs.5 Investment above Rs.2 crore
crore and upto Rs.10 crore and upto Rs. 5 crore
(b) The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 aims at facilitating the promotion and development and enhancing the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. The Act provides for a statutory consultative mechanism at the national level with wide representation of all sections of stakeholders, particularly three classes of enterprises i.e. micro, small and medium enterprises, and with a wide range of advisory functions. The Act also contains enabling provisions for notification of schemes/programmes for micro, small and medium enterprises, progressive credit policies and practices, preference in Government procurements to products and services of the micro and small enterprises and mechanisms for mitigating the problems of delayed payments to micro and small enterprises.
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Q No: 3071 |
Dated: |
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC |
Subject: STOCK OF FOODGRAINS |
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:-
(a) the details of the buffer stock of foodgrains during the last three years and the current year, commodity-wise;
(b) whether there has been a decline in the present buffer stock vis-a-vis the last year`s buffer stock;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(d) whether any scheme has been formulated to increase the procurement of foodgrains to augment the buffer stocks; and
(e) if so, the details thereof alongwith the steps taken to meet the shortage of foodgrains?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (PROF. K.V. THOMAS)
(a)to(c): The stock position of wheat and rice vis-à-vis buffer norms since 1.4.2006 is as under:-
(in lakh tons)
As on Actual stock Buffer norms Actual stock Buffer norms
of Wheat of Rice
1.4.2006 20.09 40 136.75 122
1.7.2006 82.07 171 111.43 98
1.10.2006 64.12 110 59.70 52
1.1.2007 54.28 82 119.77 118
1.4.2007 47.03 40 131.72 122
1.7.2007 129.26 171 109.77 98
1.10.2007 101.21 110 54.89 52
1.1.2008 77.12 82 114.75 118
1.4.2008 58.03 40 138.35 122
1.7.2008 249.12 171 112.49 98
1.10.2008 220.25 110 78.63 52
1.1.2009 182.12 82 175.76 118
1.4.2009 134.29 40 216.04 122
1.7.2009 329.22 171 196.16 98
1.10.2009 284.57 110 153.49 52
There is no decline in the stock of wheat and rice during the current year. On the other hand, as can be seen from the above, the stocks during the current year are higher than those during the corresponding period last year.
(d)&(e): The following steps have been taken by the Government to maximize procurement of wheat and rice for the Central Pool and augment their availability in the country:
Wheat
(i) Wheat export on private account has been banned from 9.2.2007 till further orders.
(ii) Import of wheat on private account at zero duty has been permitted till further orders.
(iii) MSP of wheat during RMS 2010-11 has been further increased to Rs. 1100 per quintal.
(iv) Allocation of 10 lakh tons of wheat was made to State/UT Governments under OMSS (Domestic) from September, 2009 to December, 2009 to check inflationary trends in food economy. 5 lakh tons of wheat have also been allocated by Government for sale to bulk consumers through open tenders by FCI from September, 2009 to December, 2009.
Rice
(i) In KMS 2009-10, MSP of Rs.950/- and Rs.980/- per quintal has been fixed for Common and Grade ‘A’ varieties of paddy. The Government has also allowed a bonus of Rs.50/- per quintal on both varieties of paddy during KMS 2009-10.
(ii) State Governments have been requested to maximize the procurement of rice by opening sufficient number of procurement centres and by making other necessary arrangements for the procurement of paddy and its milling.
(iii) State Governments have also been requested to enforce a minimum levy of 50% on rice millers.
(iv) Commission to societies and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for KMS 2009-10 has been fixed at 2.5% of MSP.
(v) Export of non-basmati rice has been banned w.e.f. 1.4.2008.
(vi) Export of Basmati Rice has been restricted at Minimum Export price (MEP) of US$ 900 per MT.
(vii) Import of rice at zero duty has been permitted.
(viii) To have an assessment of major rice purchases by private trade, a notification titled “Rice (Stock Declaration by Companies or Firms or individuals) Order, 2009 has been issued under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 on 11.11.2009.