The Indian Medical Council

The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012

Sir, the Indian Medical Council Act was originally brought in 1956. It has been working extremely well for almost 50 to 55 years. Subsequently, prior to 2010, for five to six years, the CBI has been overviewing it and a couple of times, the Medical Council of India has been raided. It is obvious that everything was hushed up and managed and it was allowed to do all kinds of malpractices and things like that. The Government and the Ministry have become mere spectators. Even in 2010, when the Bill was finally brought, action was taken by the CBI, based on which the then President was arrested. It is really surprising to note that the whole thing has not happened overnight, like a magic. Fine, it has happened. The Ministry brought it before the House for ratification and asked for one year's time to form a proper Council again in a democratic way, particularly representing the whole country. It is really unfortunate that the hon. Minister is bringing it again and again. Last year, he brought it for taking one more year's extension. I am really unable to understand it. Are our Ministry and the Government so weak? Are we not in a position to reestablish a democratic autonomous body? Is the Government doing it for backdoor control? In fact, it reminds me of a small joke. When I was studying in intermediate, for two years I could not see a movie other than 'Yadon Ki Barat'. There was only one movie for continuously two years. Like that, the Ministry is coming every year for seeking extension. Ad hocism, as it is, is very bad. Moreover, if we see all over the world, our Indian doctors have got special quality and capability. Their foundation was extremely good. Our education system, particularly health care, is very important from our country's point of view. So such things are definitely not acceptable. By any chance, if the Prime Minister decides to run the whole country single handedly, is it possible? Is it possible without delegating powers and without creating autonomous institutions? This is really unfortunate to come to such a stage. In fact, in the last two years, so many scams have unearthed. There was no mention of any of these scams. The same story, the same saga have been continuing. There is no reply from the Minister. What is the guarantee that it will be completed in the next year also? We are not able to understand it.

I strongly oppose this Bill. Getting more time again shows the inefficiency of the Government. Thank you.

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Tax Collection And Reforms Thereof

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  FINANCE

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3449

ANSWERED ON-08.05.2012

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government has fixed any target/estimate for tax collection for the year 2011-12;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of net tax collection made till date against the Budget Estimate for the year 2011-12;
(d) whether it is also a fact that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked its field units to go slow on clearing refunds; and
(e) the action taken/being taken by Government to achieve the targets of tax collections?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI. S.S PALANIMANICKAM)
(a) to (c)Yes Sir, the details for F.Y. 2011-12 are as under:-
(Rs. In crore)
Budget Estimate for Direct Tax Collection Revised Estimate for Direct Tax Collection. Net Direct Tax Collection.
532,660 500,600 *493,912
* Provisional, Source: Pr.CCA, CBDT.
P.T.O../


-2-
(d) No Sir, in fact the amount of Refund issued in F.Y. 2011-12 is Rs. 97158 crores (provisional) in comparison to the amount of Rs. 75169 crores for F.Y. 2010-11. Thus, there is an increase of 29.25%.
(e) The following action is being taken by the Government to achieve the targets of tax collection:
(i) Monitoring of Advance Tax Collection by identifying cases where addition are confirmed in first appeal.
(ii) Monitoring of Advance Tax payment of top cases by the CCsIT concerned.
(iii) Recovery of Arrear demand by identification of actionable cases and put them for strict monitoring.
(iv) TDS augmentation : identification of cases of short deduction/short payment/late payment and initiating statutory action.
(v) Publicity and awareness campaign regarding tax payer’s education and voluntary compliance of tax duty.
(vi) Surveys of important business/trade/industry with a view to examine applicability of TDS.
(vii) Cross-verification of data collected through Annual Information Return with the return of income and issuance of notices in suitable cases. 

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Target Of Disinvestment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  FINANCE

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3448

ANSWERED ON-08.05.2012

(a) whether Government has fixed any disinvestment target for the financial year 2011-12;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the details of amount raised till date through disinvestment?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(S.S.PALANIMANICKAM)

(a) & (b) The Budget Estimates from disinvestment have been estimated at Rs.40000 crore for the year 2011-12 and Rs.30,000 crore for the year 2012-13. The estimates were revised at RE stage to Rs.13,144.55 crore.

(c) During 2011-12, an amount of Rs.13,894.05 crore was realized from disinvestment in Power Finance Corporation Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited. In 2012-13, till date, receipts are Rs.124.97 crore from disinvestment in National Building Construction Corporation Limited.

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Target For Providing Safe Drinking Water

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION

RAJYA SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO-449

ANSWERED ON-08.05.2012

(a) the details of habitations not covered with supply of safe drinking water across the country;
(b) the details of habitations covered till date with safe drinking water supply ;
(c) whether Government has fixed any target for providing safe drinking water during the last three years; and
(d) if so, the results achieved so far?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION
(SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH)


(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred in reply to Rajay Sabha Starred Question No.449 to be answered on 8/5/2012


(a): As per reports entered by the States on the online Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry out of 16,64,186 rural habitations in the country, there were 99,379 water quality affected habitations, in which at least one source is affected by water quality problem like excess Iron, Fluoride, Arsenic, Salinity and Nitrate contamination, that are remaining to be covered with provision of safe drinking water facility.

(b): The remaining 15,64,807 habitations have been fully or partially covered with safe and adequate drinking water facilities as on 1/4/2012.

(c) & (d): The targets and achievements for providing safe drinking water to water quality affected and partially covered habitations in the last three years is as under:

Year Target Achievement
2009-10 1,58,589 1,48,879
2010-11 1,21,812 1,19,401
2011-12 1,45,169 1,38,391


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Wind Power Energy Projects

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3362

ANSWERED ON-07.05.2012

(a) whether Government has identified the locations for wind power energy projects across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise
(c) the details of total wind power energy potential available across the country;
(d) the details of funds earmarked/released for the implementation of wind power energy projects, State-wise; and
(e) whether there is any time-frame fixed for implementation of these projects?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
(DR. FAROOQ ABDULLAH)

(a) Suitable sites for wind power energy projects are identified in the Indian Wind Atlas and wind monitoring data. The Ministry has established 653 wind monitoring stations in the country through Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), Chennai for carrying out wind resource assessment. The wind data of these locations is available with C-WET and is used by developers for setting up of wind power projects.

(b): The State-wise details of wind monitoring stations are given at Annexure-I.

(c): As per an estimation done by the Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), Chennai, the wind power potential in the country is estimated at 49,130 MW at a height of 50 m. The State/UT-wise details are given at Annexure-II.

(d): The Ministry provides funds only for Generation based Incentive (GBI) for wind power energy projects through the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The funds released for GBI during 2010-11 and 2011-12 are Rs. 25.00 crore and Rs. 21.18 crore respectively.
(e): Wind Power Installations are taken up in commercial mode with private sector investment under the policies of respective State Governments.


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Early Completion Of New Broad Gauge Railway Line

Demand For Early Completion Of New Broad Gauge Railway Line From Rayadurg To Thumkur

Sir, the new broad gague railway line between Thumkur and Rayadurg (207.65 km) via Kalyandurg, Madakasire and Pavagada was sanctioned in 2008-09, at a total cost of Rs.970.34 crore. This project of Rs.970.34 crores is to 103 be executed on a 50:50 cost sharing basis between the Railways and the State Governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Sir, this line is very important for the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This new line would reduce the journey time from the present seven hours to four hours, and will also save journey on a 146 km-distance between Rayadurg and Chennai. The people of the three States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would be benefited a lot after the completion of this line. The work on the line has not yet been completed.

In view of the above, I would urge upon the Government of India to take immediate steps, including sanctioning of funds, to facilitate early completion of the new broad gauge railway line between Thumkur and Rayadurg.

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Consumer Awareness Projects

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3304

ANSWERED ON-07.05.2012

(a) the details of consumer awareness projects sanctioned by and pending with Government during the last three years, across the country, State-wise;
(b) the details of financial assistance provided during the last three years, Statewise;
(c) whether Government has achieved the desired results;
(d) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(e) whether there is any monitoring mechanism in place to evaluate the performance of these projects?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K. V. THOMAS)

(a) & (b): Details of funds released to State Governments for their consumer awareness activities in last three years is annexed. No project is pending with the Government.

(c) : Yes sir.

(d) : Does not arise.

(e) : Yes sir, Department has engaged professional agencies to evaluate performance of the projects.

ANNEXURE

STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3304 FOR 07.05.2012 REGARDING Consumer awareness projects.

Details of funds released to State Governments for their consumer awareness activities:

S.No.	Name of States	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
1	Andhra Pradesh	Nil	4600000.00	3450000.00
2	Bihar	Nil	Nil	Nil
3	Chhattisgarh	Nil	Nil	Nil
4	Goa	304000.00	Nil	300000.00
5	Gujarat	Nil	Nil	3600000.00
6	Haryana	Nil	Nil	Nil
7	Himachal Pradesh	1919076.00	Nil	Nil
8	Jharkhand	Nil	Nil	Nil
9	Karnataka	Nil	Nil	Nil
10	Kerala	Nil	2800000.00	2100000.00
11	Madhya Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil
12	Maharashtra	4881785.00	Nil	Nil
13	Orissa	6000000.00	Nil	Nil
14	Punjab	Nil	Nil	Nil
15	Rajasthan	4498638.00	Nil	Nil
16	Tamil Nadu	5800000.00	4800000.00	4650000.00
17	Uttar Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil
18	Uttrakhand	Nil	Nil	Nil
19	West Bengal	Nil	3577079.00	2700000.00
20	Arunanchal Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil
21	Assam	Nil	Nil	Nil
22	Manipur	Nil	Nil	Nil
23	Meghalaya	Nil	1400000.00	1050000.00
24	Mizoram	1600000.00	1600000.00	1200000.00
25	Nagaland	1600000.00	2200000.00	1650000.00
26	Tripura	Nil	800000.00	600000.00
27	Jammu & Kashmir	Nil	Nil	Nil
28	Sikkim	800000.00	800000.00	600000.00
29	Delhi	Nil	Nil	Nil
30	Pondicherry	Nil	Nil	Nil
31	Andaman & Nicobar (UT)	Nil	Nil	Nil
32	Chandigarh (UT)	Nil	Nil	Nil
33	Daman & Diu (UT)	Nil	Nil	Nil
34	Dadar & Nagar Haveli(UT)	200000.00	200000.00	Nil
35	Lakshadweep (UT)	Nil	Nil	Nil
	Special Project
S.No.	Name of States	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
1	Kerala	Nil	Nil	3100000.00
2	Tamil Nadu	4000000.00	Nil	Nil
3	Sikkim		1698000.00

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