<b>P Venugopal</b>: Govt must state quantum of black money retrieved

To begin my speech on this Motion, I would like to wholeheartedly thank honourable President, honourable Prime Minister Modiji and his team of senior ministers, who had extended a supporting hand to the Tamil Nadu government in promulgating an ordinance with regard to jallikattu.
 
Jallikattu is a 2,000-year-old traditional sporting event, conducted in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, as part of Pongal celebrations. Due to various reasons, there was a ban on jallikattu, which is against the fundamental, religious and cultural rights of the people of Tamil Nadu. This had deeply hurt the sentiments of several crores of Tamilians living not only in India but also abroad. There was a spontaneous eruption of protesters all over Tamil Nadu, demanding that the ban be lifted. Finally, with the extensive support of the central government, an ordinance was promulgated initially, and a law was finally passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, for the conduct of jallikattu. I once again thank the Centre and the honourable president for this great gesture.
 
Chairman sir, coming to the President’s Address per se, I would begin by quoting what the president said about women. In para 23, the President mentioned that the government had enhanced the maternity leave to 26 weeks, to support pregnant women. Here, I would like to say that the then government of Tamil Nadu, led by late Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, had enhanced this maternity leave for women working in the state government to nine months.
 
Again in paragraph 63, it is stated that legislation relating to women mirror the government’s guiding philosophy of social justice. In this regard, I would like to mention that the then state government of Tamil Nadu, under the late leader, J Jayalalithaa, reserved 33 per cent of seats for women in local bodies, from 1994 itself. This has been increased to 50 per cent from February 2016 by the late chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa. However, in Parliament a Bill regarding reserving one-third of seats to women in legislatures is pending for many years. I request the government to initiate action to pass this legislation. This will only empower women in earnest.
 
In paragraph 55, there is a mention of demonetisation. I would only wish to state that even now, after more than two-and-a-half months, the situation is not normal in the rural and remote areas of the country. I request the government to alleviate the sufferings of the people in those areas.
 
In the same paragraph, the President mentioned about the passage of Black Money Act, Benami Transaction Act, etc, which had resulted in a comprehensive policy-backed initiative against black money. While I am happy with these initiatives, I would like to remind what the government said on black money. It was stated that the government would bring back black money from abroad for the welfare of the poor in our country. I request the government to inform how much black money was traced in India and abroad and how much was retrieved.
 
Similarly, in paragraph 61, a mention was made about coal block and spectrum auctions. In the case of 2G spectrum case, it was mentioned that ill-gotten money was laundered. What action has the government taken in this regard to reach logical conclusions?
 
The President made a reference to the merger of Railway Budget with the General Budget. I would like to bring to the notice of this House that in the history of Indian Railways, the second railway line in India was opened and operated in the year 1856, between Royapuram and Wallajah Road in the then Madras Presidency. It is a pity that there is no new development in railway projects in the Southern Railway and whatever development that was there during the British rule only remains. The old British-era workshops are being closed due to outsourcing activities. Now that a separate and exclusive Railway Budget has been dispensed with, the members will have no chance to ventilate their grievances and seek new railway projects.
 
In paragraph 62, the President mentioned that the government had dispensed with interviews for recruitments to over 34 lakh Group C and D posts, that is, for non-gazetted posts. Here, I would like to mention that the policy on recruitment to Group C and D posts in defence and Railways needs immediate review. In the Railways, for the posts in Group C and D in Tamil Nadu, only five per cent of the candidates are selected from Tamil Nadu and the rest are picked from other states. If you consider the whole of Southern Railway, which includes parts of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, this figure may not go beyond 10 per cent. This has been going on for several years now. This not only deprives the local people from getting jobs in their own areas but this is also seriously jeopardising the safety and security of rail passengers. For example, if a person from another state is posted as a gangman or railway track maintainer in Tamil Nadu, he may not be able to perfectly patrol the tracks because of language issues, whereas if a person from the same state is posted, he can very easily identify the intruder; and create an alarm in case of any mischief. If an outsider is handed over this job, it may lead to safety issues. There is also a persistent demand that the government should do away with the centralised RRB examination and to take action to recruit local candidates for Group C and D posts. There is also a general impression that the centralised RRB recruitment has led to scams in the past and, therefore, it is requested that such exams may be held by Regional Recruitment Boards. There is also a demand to hold such exams in the regional languages to ensure fair and just chance to the poor people. I request the railway minister to kindly look into this and come up with an amended policy for recruiting people.
 
Chairman sir, for your kind notice, for many years there have been hundreds of fake candidates, who appeared in recruitment to ordnance factories, especially in Avadi Chennai and also the Railway Board examinations. The cases were registered against them but no action has been taken. There is no mechanism available to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future.

Edited excerpts from the speech by Lok Sabha member from Tiruvalluvar, P Venugopal, during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, on February 6