Questions asked by Mr. Muhammed Hamdulla A. B. Sayeed during Lok Sabha Budget session 2010

    No. of questions found: 07


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    4353

    UNSTARRED

    22.04.2010

    CIVIL AVIATION

    CONSTRUCTION OF
    AIRPORTS IN LAKSHADWEEP

    4353 . Muhammed HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether there is a proposal to construct airports at Androth and Minicoy Islands of Lakshadweep; and

    (b) if so, the details thereof?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION ( SHRI PRAFUL PATEL )

    (a): No, Madam.

    (b): Does not arise.

    4600

    UNSTARRED

    23.04.2010

    HEALTH AND FAMILY
    WELFARE

    SHORTAGE OF
    MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

    4600 . Muhammed HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether there is acute shortage of specialised doctors and para-medical staff in the Lakshadweep;

    (b) if so, the details thereof alongwith the reasons therefor; and

    (c) the steps taken/proposes to be taken to meet the shortage?
    ANSWER

    THE MINISTER OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE(SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)

    (a) to (c) Yes.Efforts are made from time to time for filling up the vacant posts on regular basis but no candidate is ready to joint there on regular basis. The requisitions are made to Union Public Service Commission for regular appointment from time to time. In the absence of regular incumbent, the specialists from Central Health Services (CHS) are deputed on rotational basis for a period of 90 days against the vacant posts.

    4869

    UNSTARRED

    26.04.2010

    SHIPPING

    REVIEW OF DESIGNS
    OF JETTIES

    4869 . Muhammed HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of SHIPPING be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether there is any proposal to review the designs of Eastern side embarkation jetties in Lakshadweep; and

    (b) if so, the details thereof?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI G.K. VASAN)

    (a): Yes, Madam.

    (b): A Committee under the Chairmanship of Capt. P.V.K. Mohan, Chairman, National Shipping Board alongwith other experts in various fields visited the site and submitted their report on the Eastern side embarkation jetties in Lakshadweep. Further, the alignment of berthing jetty at Kavaratti has been reoriented to 30o N instead of 17 o N and for extending North East arm of the berthing jetty to maximum possible extent in line with recommendations of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune after detailed studies.

    4987

    UNSTARRED

    26.04.2010

    SHIPPING

    CONSTRUCTION OF
    PASSENGER HALLS

    4987 . Muhammed HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of SHIPPING be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether there is any proposal to construct Passenger Halls at jetties of all islands in Lakshadweep; and

    (b) if so, the details thereof?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI G.K. VASAN)

    (a) & (b): No, Madam. However, small passenger shelters at all islands, except Bitra Island, have been constructed and are presently being used by passengers.

    5925

    UNSTARRED

    03.05.2010

    RURAL DEVELOPMENT

    VIGILANCE AND
    MONITORING COMMITTEES

    5925 . Shri HARISCHANDRA DEORAM CHAVAN
    HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether the Government has issued any guidelines directing the States and Union Territories to constitute District Vigilance and Monitoring Committees to supervise, exercise vigilance and monitor the implementation of all schemes under the Ministry of Rural Development;

    (b) if so, the details thereof including composition of the said Committees;

    (c) the States and Union Territories which have not constituted the said Committees till date alongwith the reasons therefor;

    (d) whether the view of these committees would be binding in the implementation of the schemes; and

    (e) if so, the details thereof?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITIYA`)

    (a): Yes, Sir. After the formation of XV Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Rural Development issued detailed guidelines for constituting the Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (V&MCs) to monitor the implementation of Rural Development Programmes.

    (b): Details of the objective, composition of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee and the meetings to be held are given in the Annexure.

    (c): The Ministry has nominated Chairmen/Co-Chairmen for the district Vigilance and Monitoring Committees and the State/District authorities were asked to constitute the district V&MCs. As per the information available, no district V&MC meeting has been held during the year 2009-10 in the States/UTs of Goa, J&K, A&N Island, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

    (d) & (e): For action on any points pertaining to the State Government, the Vigilance and Monitoring Committees have to forward their observation/recommendation to the State Government. The Ministry of Rural Development is to be informed of any gross violation noticed.

    Annexure

    Annexure referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5925 due for reply on 3.5.2010.

    Guidelines for Vigilance and Monitoring Committees
    1. Objective

    The Vigilance and Monitoring Committees are constituted with a view to fulfilling the objective of ensuring quality of expenditure, particularly, in the context of large public funds being spent under all the programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. These Committees would keep a watch on the implementation of the Programmes as per the prescribed procedures and Guidelines. The objectives include providing a crucial role for the Members of Parliament and elected representatives of the people in State Legislatures and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the implementation of the Rural Development programmes and to put in place a mechanism to monitor the execution of the Schemes in the most effective manner and within the given time frame so that public funds are put to optimal use and Programme benefits flow to the rural poor in full measure. These Committees are also to effectively liaise and coordinate with the Ministry of Rural Development and State Governments. The Ministry may consider withholding releases to districts which do not hold regular meetings of Vigilance and Monitoring Committees.

    2. Composition

    The District Level Vigilance & Monitoring Committees would have the following composition:
    I. Chairman: The Chairman of the District Level Vigilance & Monitoring Committee would be a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) elected from the District or a Minister, nominated by the Ministry of Rural Development. The nomination would be done as per the following criteria:

    (i) Where there are more than one Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) or Minister(s) representing a district, the Speaker (Lok Sabha), Deputy Speaker (Lok Sabha) or a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers or Leader of the Opposition shall be nominated as the Chairman.

    (ii) If none of the Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) representing the district holds any office as referred to at
    (i) above, the senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) shall be nominated as the Chairman.

    (iii)Further, in case of same seniority, the Chairman shall be the Member of Parliament having the largest part of the district under the jurisdictions of his/her Parliamentary Constituency.

    (iv) If the District has more than one Parliamentary constituency (Lok Sabha) as its segments and the senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) is made Chairman of District Level Vigilance & Monitoring Committee in some other district, the next senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) shall be the Chairman.

    (v) The other Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) representing the district shall be designated as Co-Chairman.

    In the absence of the designated Chairman, Co-Chairman (if any), with consensus among the Co-Chairmen present, would preside over the meeting. If no Chairman / Co- Chairman is present, the Members who are present shall elect a Chairman from among themselves to preside over the scheduled meetings.

    II. Member Secretary: The Member Secretary of the District level Village & Monitoring Committee would be the District Collector / District Magistrate/ Deputy Commissioner except in cases where specific exemption has been given by the Union Government.

    III. Members: The other Members of the Committee shall be as follows:

    (i) All MPs (Lok Sabha) of the District to be designated as Co-Chairman.

    (ii) One Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) representing the State and exercising option to be associated with the District level Committee of that District (on first come basis), to be designated as Co-Chairman.

    (iii) All member of the State Legislative Assembly belonging to the District.

    (iv) One representative of the State Govt./UT Administration.

    (v) Chairperson of the Zilla Panchayat.

    (vi) All Chairpersons of Panchayat Sámities.

    (vii) Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat.

    (viii) Project Director, DRDA.

    (ix) One Member from a reputed NGO to be nominated by the Chairman in consultation with other Members of Parliament in the Committee.

    (x) One Professional from the field of Social Work/ Social Science to be nominated by the District Collector.

    (xi) One representative each of SC/ST and Women to be nominated by the Chairman in consultation with other Members of Parliament in the Committee.

    3. Meetings of the Vigilance & Monitoring Committee are to be held at least once every Quarter, after giving sufficient notice to the Hon`ble MPs/MLAs and all other Members.
    4. Member Secretary shall convene the meeting on the direction of the Chairman.

    5984

    UNSTARRED

    03.05.2010

    COMMUNICATIONS
    AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

    OFC NETWORK IN
    GRAM PANCHAYATS

    5984 . Shri R. DHRUVANARAYANA
    ASADUDDIN OWAISI
    ANAND PRAKASH PARANJPE
    HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    M. B. RAJESH
    Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether the the Government proposes to set up Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) Network in all the Gram Panchayats of the country;

    (b) if so, the details thereof;

    (c) whether the Government proposes to involve Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this regard;

    (d) if so, the details thereof;

    (e) the time by which it is likely to be implemented;

    (f) whether the Government has also any proposal to link Lakshadweep Islands and the main land through Optical Fibre Cable to provide broadband services; and

    (g) if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be implemented?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI GURUDAS KAMAT)

    (a) to (e) An Inter-Ministerial Committee was set up to prepare concept paper on “Broadband for all – an integrated approach for rural areas”. The Committee has, inter-alia, recommended that Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) should be provided to all the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats to ensure availability of high speed broadband to all of them. The recommendations of the Committee are under consideration.

    The Government does not proposes to involve Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this regard.

    (f) & (g) At present, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) does not have any proposal to link Lakshadweep Island and the main land through OFC to provide broadband services. The present connectivity is through satellite media.

    6621

    UNSTARRED

    06.05.2010

    CIVIL AVIATION

    AIR SERVICES TO
    LAKSHADWEEP

    6621 . Muhammed HAMDULLA A. B. SAYEED
    Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:-

    (a) whether there is a proposal to introduce new ATR flight services to Lakshadweep Islands;

    (b) if so, the details thereof;

    (c) whether there is also a proposal to extend the runway/airstrip of Agatti airport in Lakshadweep;

    (d) if so, the details thereof; and

    (e) if not, the reasons therefor?
    ANSWER

    MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION (SHRI PRAFUL PATEL)

    (a) and (b):- At present, Air India and Kingfisher Airlines are operating four flights each per week on Cochin-Agatti-Cochin route.

    (c) and (d):- Yes, Madam. The Master Plan with a request for provision of required additional land and reclamation of the lagoon was projected to Administration of Lakshadweep to be provided free of cost to Airprots Authority of India (AAI) for extension of Runway 04/22 by 366m so as to enable operation of ATR-72-500 type of aircraft without load restrictions alongwith associated infrastructure.

    (e):- Does not arise.

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