4. COMMITTEE SECTION (PETITIONS)

Transcription

1 4. COMMITTEE SECTION (PETITIONS) 4.1 Main Functions: This Section deals with the following items of work:- (i) (ii) (iii) provides Secretarial assistance to the Committee on Petitions, General Purposes Committee, and such other ad-hoc Committees as may be assigned to this Section from time to time which involves issuance of notices for convening their meetings, preparation of agenda papers/ memoranda/ background notes/questionnaire/minutes/draft reports, etc. for the respective Committees; examination of petitions received for presentation or reporting to the Rajya Sabha in accordance with the provisions contained in Chapter X of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States; and processing of representations received from different quarters and wherever required, forwarding the same to the Ministries/Departments and Chief Secretaries of the States concerned for necessary action. 4.2 Examination of Petitions: The work of the Section in this respect involved examination of the petitions in the context of their admissibility under the Rules after obtaining comments/factual information from the concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central Government thereon. As against forty two petitions received during the year 2009, a total of thirty three petitions were received during the year Those were examined in terms of the Rules governing their admissibility, out of which only the following four petitions were admitted by the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha:- S. From whom received 1. Shri Kedar Singh Fonia, MLA, Uttarakhand and six others 2. Dr. Anupama Singh, r/o New Delhi 3. Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Centre for Social Research, Delhi. 4. Shri Prem Prakash Goyal, r/o Gangtok, Sikkim Countersigned by Subject matter of the petition --- Petition praying for development of Railway network in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan States. --- Petition praying for amendment in Section 498A of the Indian Panel Code, Smt. Viplove Thakur, Member, Rajya Sabha Shri Narayan Singh Kesari, Member, Rajya Sabha Petition prying for urgent need to curb female foeticide. Petition praying for protection of interest of bonafide Indian nationals residing in Sikkim prior to its merger with India in presentation/ report to House (By Secretary- General) (By Secretary- General) (By Smt. Viplove Thakur, M.P.) (By Shri Narayan Singh Kesari, M.P.) Above petitions after their presentation/reporting to the House, stood referred to the Committee on Petition for examination and report. 4.3 Committee on Petitions: - Under Rule 147(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, nominates ten Members to the Committee which holds office until a new Committee is nominated. The Committee was reconstituted on the 29 th September, 2010 with Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari as its Chairman. The same Committee continued in office at the end of the calendar year,

2 4.3.1 At the beginning of the year 2010, none of the petition was pending before the Committee. However, as compared to the previous year (2009) during which the Committee presented five Reports, it could conclude examination of one ATR during the year under review and the report thereon was presented to the House as per the following Table::- Report Subject-matter of the Report. 138 th On the action taken by Government on observations/recommendations contained in Hundred and Thirty-first Report on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of leprosy affected persons. Presentation to House Copy of the Report had been sent to the respective petitioner for their information. Report was also forwarded to the concerned Ministry for Action Taken Replies thereon Action Taken Replies: The Committee examined four ATRs i.e., on Hundred and twentyeighth Report, Hundred and Thirty-first Report, Hundred and Thirty-fourth Report and Hundred and Thirty-sixth Report, respectively, during the year 2010 and had closed examination of the ATR on its Hundred and Twenty-eighth Report. The Committee presented its Hundred and Thirty-eighth Report on the Action Taken by the Government on the observations/recommendations contained in its Hundred and Thirty-first Report on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of leprosy affected persons. Examination of ATRs on Hundred and Thirty-fourth Report and Hundred and Thirty-sixth Report could not be completed by it. ATRs on Hundred and Thirty-second, Hundred and Thirty-third, Hundred and Thirty-fifth Reports could not be considered by the Committee Meetings and Study visits of the Committee on Petitions: - The Committee held a total number of thirteen sittings during the year The details of the meeting, agenda, time taken, etc. are given below:- Meeting Time Devoted Hrs-Mts. Main Agenda To record oral evidence of the Secretaries in the Ministries of Women & Child Development and Road Transport & Highways and to consider Memorandum Nos. 3 and 5 of 2009 on Action Taken by Government on Hundred and Thirty-first Report on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of Leprosy Affected Persons (LAPs) Obituary reference to the passing away of Shri Janeshwar Mishra, a sitting member of the House and former Chairman of the Committee on Petitions To record oral evidence of the Secretaries in the Ministries of Labour & Employment and Finance (Departments of Financial Services and Revenue) and the Chairman, LIC of India and to consider Memoranda Nos. 8 and 9 of 2009 on Action Taken by Government on the Hundred and Thirty-first Report on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of Leprosy Affected Persons (LAPs) (i) Consideration of Memorandum 1 of 2010 on Action Taken by Government on the Hundred and Thirty-sixth Report on the petition praying for benefits of pay revision and pension to the VRS optees and retirees of IFCI; and (ii) Discussion on future course of action to be taken on the ATRs furnished by the Government on the Hundred and Thirty-first Report of the Committee on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of Leprosy Affected Persons (LAPs). 42

3 To review pending items of work and to decide its future programme Obituary reference to the passing away of Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha (i) Oral evidence of the Secretary, Department of Financial Services (M/o Finance) alongwith the CEO and MD, IFCI Ltd. and the Government Nominee Directors on the Board of IFCI Ltd. on Action Taken by Government on its Hundred and Thirty-sixth Report on the petition praying for benefits of pay revision and pension to the VRS optees and retirees of IFCI; and (ii) Consideration of Memorandum 2 of 2010 on Action Taken by Government on the Hundred and Thirty-fourth Report on the petition praying for exemption to certain categories of charitable organizations from payment of income tax on receipt of anonymous donations Obituary reference to the passing away of Shri Virendra Bhatia, a sitting Member of Rajya Sabha and former member of the Committee on Petitions (i) Obituary reference to the passing away of Shri Digvijay Singh, a sitting Member of Lok Sabha; and (ii) To review pending items of work and chalk out its future programme To chalk out the future programme of the Committee on Petitions (First meeting of the re-constituted Committee) To consider and adopt its draft Hundred and Thirty-eighth Report on Action Taken by Government on the observations/recommendations contained in its Hundred and Thirty-first Report on the petition praying for integration and empowerment of Leprosy Affected Persons (LAPs) (i) To hear the petitioners on the petition praying for development of Railway Network in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and others Himalayan States; and (ii) To hear the petitioner on the petition praying for amendments in Section 498A of the IPC, (i) To hear Chairman, Railway Board, M/o Railways on the petition praying for development of Railway Network in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and others Himalayan States; and (ii) To hear the petitioners on the petition paying for urgent need to curb Female Foeticide Study visits of the Committee on Petitions during the year Dates Places Visited Discussions held with Purpose to 25 June, 2010 Vadodara, Ahamadabad, and Mumbai Pune Interaction with the representatives of charitable organisations, experts, people's representatives and State Government officials on the petition praying for exemption of certain In connection with the examination of the Action Taken Report on its Hundred and Thirty-fourth Report on the petition praying for exemption of certain categories of 43

4 categories of charitable organizations from payment of income-tax on receipt of anonymous donations. charitable organizations from payment of incometax on receipt of anonymous donations Besides attending to the work connected with the meetings of the Committee on Petitions, the Section also handled all correspondence with the Ministries/Departments concerned on various aspects connected with the implementation of the recommendations/observations of the Committee as contained in its Reports presented to the House from time to time General Purposes Committee: - From 1 st July 2000 onwards the provisions relating to General Purposes Committee (GPC) find place in Chapter XXIII of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States. In accordance with Rule 279(2), the Committee holds office until a new Committee is constituted. The functions of the Committee are to consider and advise on such matters concerning the affairs of the House as may be referred to it by the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha from time to time. No fixed number has been laid down for its membership and the Deputy Chairman, Members of the Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Chairmen of all Standing Parliamentary Committees of Rajya Sabha, Leaders of recognized Parties/Groups in the House are nominated to this Committee. The Committee with thirty-one Members was reconstituted on the 26 th October, Hon ble Chairman nominated/re-nominated Members to fill the vacancies caused due to retirements and resignation in All the new Members of the Committee were informed about their nominations through letters individually addressed to them Meetings of General Purposes Committee:- The Committee held one sitting and considered a Memorandum during the year 2010, the detail of the which are given below:- Meeting Time Devoted Hrs-Mts. Main Agenda Memorandum 1 of 2010 on "Strengthening the Functioning of Question Hour" Preparation of Paragraphs for inclusion in the Journal of Parliamentary Information: Paragraphs for inclusion in the Journal of Parliamentary Information containing information about the work transacted by the two Committees, namely, the Committee on Petitions and the General Purposes Committee were prepared and sent from time to time to the Research & Library Section for incorporation in the Journal being issued quarterly Representations received from various individuals/organizations: As against two hundred thirteen in the last year, three hundred and seventy five representations on various subjects addressed to the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha/Chairman, Committee on Petitions/Secretary- General, Rajya Sabha, were received from different quarters during the year All such representations were examined in the Section and in appropriate cases copies thereof were sent to the concerned Ministries/Departments and concerned State Governments for appropriate action. Replies received from the Ministry/Department on their representations were also sent to the representationist in most of the cases Settlement of Refreshment Bills: Sixty-five bills received from the Assistant Commercial Officer (Catering), Northern Railway, Tea Board, Coffee Board, Parliament House Complex in respect of refreshment served in the meetings of the Committees were processed and sent for payment to the Establishment (Accounts) and Budget Section Settlement of Tour Bills: During the year 2010, four Tour Bills pertaining to the expenditure incurred on the study visit of the Committee to Banguluru, Vadodara, Mumbai and Pune have been settled by the Committee. 44

5 4.10. Budgetary Allocation: This Section was allocated a sum of Rs. 60,000/- in the Budgetary grant for the Financial Year under the Head Other Administrative Expenses ( )" out of which Rs. 28,139/- was utilized for settlement of Bills in respect of refreshments served in the meetings of the Committees till 31 st December, Status of Computerization: This Section has been provided with Five Pentium based PCs, which were extensively used for disposing of various items of work assigned to the Section. All computers have been linked with Local Area Network and internet facilities. The Section is regularly feeding and updating the data in the Committee Software and uploaded Reports to the Rajya Sabha Website. and SMS facilities were used to inform the Members about the meetings of the Committee. Computerized diary of the receipt has also been done in the Section receipts were diarized in the year Training: None of the officials of the Section was deputed for training during the year, Inspection of the Section during the year: The Annual Office Inspection of the Section for the year 2010 was conducted on 8 th March, 2010 by Shri D.K. Juneja, Joint Director Goals and objectives of the Section achieved during the year: The details of the activities undertaken by the Section in the year 2010 have been enumerated above. Similarly, a quarterly statements on the petitions pending before the Committee was compiled and submitted for perusal/information of the Chairman, Committee on Petitions. In the context of the goals of this Section, an Action Plan was also prepared and acted upon. These goals were, to a large extent, achieved with success. 45