10. COMMITTEE SECTION (S&T)

Transcription

1 10. COMMITTEE SECTION (S&T) 10.1 Main Functions of the Committee: The Committee Section (S&T) is entrusted with the works relating to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment & Forests and providing Secretarial assistance to the Committee. The Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests is governed by rules 268 to 277 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States. Further, Rules 74 to 92 of the said rules relating to select Committee on Bills apply mutatis mutandis to the Committee. As provided in Rule 270, the Committee has the following functions, namely (a) consideration of the Demands for Grants of the related Ministries/Departments and report thereon. The report shall not suggest anything of the nature of cut motion; (b) examination of Bills pertaining to the related Ministries/Departments when referred to the Committee by Chairman or the Speaker; (c) consideration of Annual Reports of the related Ministries/Departments and report there on; (d) and basic long term policy documents presented to the Houses, if referred to the Committee by the Chairman or the Speaker, as the case may be, and report thereon provided that the Standing Committee shall not consider the matter of day to day administration of the related Ministries/Departments. The Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & forests, comprises of two Ministries, namely, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Science and Technology comprising of three Departments i.e. Department of Science and Technology; Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; and Department of Biotechnology and two independent Departments, namely, Department of Ocean Development and Department of Space. The Committee consists of 45 Members drawn from both the Houses (30 Members from Lok Sabha and 15 Members from Rajya Sabha) Term of the Committee: The term of the earlier committee (year 2000) had come to an end on 31 st December, 2000 and the Committee was reconstituted on 1 st January, The term of the reconstituted Committee expired on 31 st December, Consideration of Demands for Grants (): The Committee undertook one of its main functions, namely, examination of the Demands for Grants () of the related Ministries/Departments during the recess of the budget session of 2001 i.e. from 24 th March to 15th April,2001. The Committee had only 22 working days during the recess to complete the work. The Demands for Grants () of all the six Ministries/Departments within its purview were considered and reports nos. 86 th to 91 st, alongwith two Action Taken Reports (No. 84 & 85), were presented to Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of Lok Sabha. As a follow-up to the recommendations made by the Committee in its various Reports, six Action Taken Reports were received from the Ministries/Departments concerned. The Section prepared Action Taken Reports on the basis of replies received from the Ministries/Departments concerned and three Action Taken Reports viz. 92 nd, 93 rd and 94 th have been presented to Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of Lok Sabha on

2 10.4 Consideration of Bills: The Committee upon its re-constitution on had before it the Biological. While considering the Biological, the Committee heard the Secretaries of the Ministries/Departments and representatives of other organizations/experts/individuals etc. having knowledge and expertise in the field and also under took study visit of various places to acquaint itself with the knowledge and expertise of eminent authorities on the Bill. The Committee also met the representatives of State Governments in connection with the subject matter of the Bill. The Committee finally adopted the report on The same was presented to Rajya Sabha on and laid on the table of Lok Sabha on During the year under review, one Bill namely, Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2000 was referred to the Committee for examination and submission of Report thereon Meetings & Reports: The Committee held in all 26 meetings during the year and presented twelve reports(annexure 10.1)viz. six on Demands for grants and five Action Taken Reports on the recommendations contained in 76 th, 77 th, 86 th, 87 th and 91 st Reports besides the 95th Report on the Biological Diversity Bill. The details of the meetings of the Committee are as follows: MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE DURING THE YEAR 2001 S. No. Date Main Items of Agenda Evidence If Any Taken Time devoted Review of Forest (Conservation) Act, Secretary, M/o Environment & Forests; 02hr Observed silence as a mark of respect to the memory of victims of earthquake which struck Gujarat on Secretary, M/o of Tribal Affairs; Representatives of Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore; and Bharatiya Kishan Sangh; Delhi Representatives of National Working Group on Patent Laws, New Delhi; and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. 05hr.00 05hr.00 00hr Representative National Research Lucknow of Botanical Institute, Representatives of Arya 01hr.10

3 i) Chairman apprised the Committee about reference of a Bill, namely Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2000 ii) Consideration & Adoption of draft 84 th Report of the Committee iii) Consideration of the Demands for Grants of the Department of Biotechnology for the year Grants of the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the year Grants of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research for the year Grants of the Department of Ocean Development for the year Grants of the Department of Science & Technology for the year Consideration & adoption of draft 85 th, 86 th and 87 th Reports of the Committee Grants of the Department of Space for the year Consideration & adoption of draft 88 th, and 89 th Reports of the Committee Consideration & adoption of draft 90 th, and 91 st Reports of the Committee Vaidya Pharmacy Ltd., Coimbatore; and M.S. Swaminathan Researach Foundation, Chennai Secretary, Department of Bio-technology Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests Secretary, Department of Scientific & Industrial Research Secretary, Department of Ocean Development Secretary, Department of Science & Technology Secretary, of Space Department Representatives of Confederation of Indian Industry; and All India Biotech Association, Delhi 02hr.20 02hr.15 03hr.15 02hr.00 02hr.00 02hr.30 00hr.45 02hr hr Representatives of Public Interest Legal Support & Research Centre, New Delhi; and Dr Ranjitsinh, Environmental Expert 00hr.30 02hr.00

4 To consider the future programme of sittings of the Committee. 01hr To Discuss the visit of the Standing Committee for Education, Research and Technology Assessment of the Deutscher Bundestag (German Parliament) in September- October, 2001 To consider the future programme of sittings of the Committee. the Biological the Biological the Biological the Biological the Biological Consideration of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Bill, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests and Representatives of Government of Himachal Pradesh 00hr.20 01hr.00 00hr.35 03hr.00 02hr.35 02hr.05 Consideration of draft 92 nd, 93 rd, 94 th & 95 th Reports of the Committee. 02hr.35 02hr.45 03hr.00 00hr Computerisation: The Section is fully computerized, and is equipped with three Personal Computers. All the work relating to drafting of notices, minutes, reports etc. is being done on Computers. The computers have been linked with LAN facility and two P.Cs. have been provided with internet facility. This Section is trying

5 to make maximum use of the facilities provided. Necessary training has been imparted to the staff posted in this Section and all of them are computer savvy. The data-entry in the Committee Meetings, Tours & Reports software has been made on a regular basis and all meeting notices and tour programmes are entered in the software Tours/Visits: The Committee undertook four study visits to different places for a total number of 20 days during the year. The Committee was accompanied by the officers of the Secretariat. The details of the tours are as follows: Destination Date Organisation Visited Purpose Bhopal, Durg & Indian Institute of To examine the functioning of the Nagpur to Forest Management, Institutions under the Govt. of Madhya Ministries/Departments falling Pradesh, Govt. of within the administrative control of Chattisgarh, National the Committee and hold Environmental discussions with certain Engineering Research institution/individuals/organizations Institute /representatives of State Governments on the subject matter of Biological Diversity Bill, 2000 Sriharikota Srinagar Jammu Darjeeling, Gangtok, Guwahati Shillong & & & to to Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Ministry of Environment & Forests and Regional Research Laboratory G.B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Projects of DST, Guwahati Refinery, Bongaigoan Refinery & Petrochemical Ltd. & Assam Pollution Control Board Visited by the Chairman of the Committee in connection with launching programme of 1 st development flight of GSLV. To examine the functioning of the Institutions under the Ministries/Departments falling within the administrative control of the Committee and hold discussions with certain institution/individuals/organizations /representatives of State Governments on the subject matter of Biological Diversity Bill, 2000 To examine the functioning of the Institutions under the Ministries/Departments falling within the administrative control of the Committee. To examine Control of Pollution & discharge of the effluents etc vis-àvis the prescribed environmental standards at Refineries Inspection Report: An annual office inspection 2001 is to be conducted by Deputy Secretary (Com.) to examine the functioning of the Section Goals & Achievement: During the year under review, following goals were set out; -

6 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Consideration of Demands for Grants () of related Ministries/Departments and report thereon; Consideration of Action Taken Notes received from the related Ministries/Departments on the reports on the Demands for Grants and preparation of Action Taken Reports thereon; Preparation of draft report on Biological and presentation thereon; Consideration of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2000; and Circulation of printed 80 th to 91 st Reports of the Committee. As regards Sl. No. (i) the Committee considered the Demands for Grants () of the related Ministries/Departments and presented six reports thereon during the Budget session of year As regards Sl. No. (ii), out of six reports, three Action Taken Reports have been prepared and presented/laid to both the Houses in the winter session. Remaining three reports have also been prepared and to be presented/laid in the budget session of As regards Sl. No. (iii), 95 th Report on Biological has been presented/laid to both the Houses of Parliament on 4 th December, 2001 in the winter session. As regards Sl. No. (iv), during the year under report the Committee, started the consideration of the Bill. As regards Sl. No. (v), except English version of the 83 rd Report, all reports were circulated to the Members Miscellaneous work: Besides attending the work entrusted to the Committee, it also takes up for consideration other matters. During the year under review, the section approached the Science & Technology Wing, Embassy of India, Japan and Russia and requested them to put our Secretariat in their mailing list for their monthly/quarterly Publications on Science & Technology. Consequently, the section is regularly receiving the Publications and the same were circulated to the Members of the Committee. The Section also received same kind of journal/reports from Science & Technology Wing, Embassy of India, Germany for the last two years. The Committee was scheduled to meet the visiting Senate Committee on Science & Technology of Nigeria on 16 th April, 2001, the meeting was cancelled due to preoccupation of the Committee. The Committee had an opportunity to interact with thestanding Committee for Education, Research and Technology Assessment of the Deutscher Bundestag (German Parliament) was scheduled to meet with the Committee 1 st October, The visit, however, was subsequently postponed Training: During the year under review,the staff of the Section participated in various training programmes conducted by the Training Unit on Rules & Office Procedure and Office-Manual Budget: The budget grant for the financial year was Rs. 35,000/- and the actual expenditure incurred till the month of December, 2001 is Rs.17,091/-. The expenditure has been incurred on serving refreshments during the meetings.

7 The Section is maintaining a register to note the expenditure.

8 List of Reports of the Standing Committee on Science & Technology presented/laid during the year Annexure 10.1 Report No. Subject Date of adoption Eighty-Fourth Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Seventy-seventh report of the Committee on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Space Date of Presentation/ Laying Eighty-Fifth Action Taken on the recommendations contained in the Seventy-sixth report of the Committee on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Ocean Development Eighty-Sixth of Scientific and Industrial Research for the year Eighty-Seventh of Biotechnology for the year Eighty-Eighth of Ocean Development for the year Eighty-Ninth of Science & Technology for the year Ninetieth Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the year Ninety-First of Space for the year Ninety-Second Ninety-Third Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Ninety-first report of the Committee on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Space Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Eighty-seventh report of the Committee on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Biotechnology

9 Ninety-Fourth Action taken on the recommendations contained in the Eighty-sixth report of the Committee on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research Ninety-Fifth The Biological