opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 141 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Review of Admission Process in Kendriya Vidyalayas
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: T. RADHAKRISHNAN, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., SUDHEER GUPTA, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 141 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## REVIEW OF ADMISSION PROCESS IN KENDRIYA VIDYALAYAS

141.   SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:
2. SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:
3. SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:
4. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:
5. SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:
6. SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

- Will  the  Minister  of  HUMAN  RESOURCE  DEVELOPMENT  ´  be  pleased  to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to review the existing rules with regard to admission process in Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof along with aims and objectives thereto; (c) the time by which the said review of admission process is likely to be finalised; and the steps taken/being taken by the Government to provide quality education in
- (d) Kendriya Vidyalayas at a nominal fee?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) to (c) At present, there is no proposal to review the existing rules with regard to admission process in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs). (d) The Government has already taken adequate steps to provide quality education in Kendriya Vidyalayas such as recruitment of qualified teachers through centralized recruitment  test,  healthy  pupil-teacher  ratio,  well-equipped  infrastructure,  effective supervision and training policy, use of Information and Communication Technologies

- (ICT), remedial teaching for under achievers, etc.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 139 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Fake Universities
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL), SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, REKHA ARUN VERMA, SATYA PAL SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 141 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## REVIEW OF ADMISSION PROCESS IN KENDRIYA VIDYALAYAS

141.   SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:
2. SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:
3. SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:
4. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:
5. SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:
6. SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

- Will  the  Minister  of  HUMAN  RESOURCE  DEVELOPMENT  ´  be  pleased  to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to review the existing rules with regard to admission process in Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof along with aims and objectives thereto; (c) the time by which the said review of admission process is likely to be finalised; and the steps taken/being taken by the Government to provide quality education in
- (d) Kendriya Vidyalayas at a nominal fee?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) to (c) At present, there is no proposal to review the existing rules with regard to admission process in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs). (d) The Government has already taken adequate steps to provide quality education in Kendriya Vidyalayas such as recruitment of qualified teachers through centralized recruitment  test,  healthy  pupil-teacher  ratio,  well-equipped  infrastructure,  effective supervision and training policy, use of Information and Communication Technologies

- (ICT), remedial teaching for under achievers, etc.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 132 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Tur Dal in MDMS
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, P.R. SUNDARAM, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 132 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## Tur Dal in MDMS

132. SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV :

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of amount allocated for the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) per primary school child and per upper primary child in the country;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has approached the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (HRD) to include tur dal in mid day meal and hostel mess menu of colleges;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the objective behind such request from the said Ministry;
- (d) whether the prices of tur dal is higher to be included in the mid day meal and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)   the response of the Ministry of HRD to the said proposal?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

- (a) Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the present approved cooking cost per child per day for Primary  and  Upper  Primary  stages  is  Rs.4.13  and  Rs.6.18,  respectively.    In  addition,  the Central Government provides 100% funding for Foodgrains, Transport Assistance, Kitchen Devices  and  Management/Monitoring  Expenses.  Several  State/UT  Governments  are  also contributing  additional  funds  over  and  above  their  minimum  mandatory  share  under  the Scheme.
- (b) to (e) Yes, Madam.  Government of India has approved creation of a dynamic buffer of upto 20 Lakh tones of pulses for appropriate market intervention. Committee of Secretaries (COS) in the Meeting for disposal of Tur Pulses from Government of India dynamic buffer stock recommended that  D/o  School  Education  &  Literacy,  D/o  Higher  Education,  M/o  Human Resource Development, may firm up their requirement of Tur and other Dal and inform D/o Consumer Affairs (DOCA). The objective behind above request is, that the provision would be made to meet the requirement of pulses under Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) from the already  built  buffer  stock  of  pulses.    The  Ministry  of  HRD  has  communicated  the recommendation of COS to all the States/UTs to explore the option of procuring Tur Dal from the buffer stock. Some States/UTs have indicated requirement for Milled Tur Dal with a condition that the issue price of Tur Dal must be lower than the market price prevalent in the respective States. Therefore this Ministry has requested, the Department of Consumer Affairs to furnish, state-wise issue price of processed Tur Dal and the policy on price volatility so that the States may procure Tur Dal.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 130 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Reduction in Mandatory EPF Contribution
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: P.R. SUNDARAM, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, C. N. JAYADEVAN, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 130 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## REDUCTION IN MANDATORY EPF CONTRIBUTION

130. SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

SHRI C.N. JAYADEVAN:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

## Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether  the  Government  proposes  to  reduce  employees  as  well  as employers contribution to Employees Provident Fund from 12% to 10%;
- (b)if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the objective behind the move;
- (c)whether the representatives of employees unions, employers unions and the State Governments have strongly opposed the said proposal;
- (d)if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto; and
- (e)the other steps taken by the Government to bring EPFO contribution at par with other savings instruments like the National Pension Scheme? ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

- (a) to (e): With  a  view  to  bring  contribution  under  Employees'  Provident Funds  and  Miscellaneous  Provisions  (EPF  &  MP)  Act,  1952  to  be  paid  by employer  and  employee  at  par  with  other  savings  instruments  like  the National Pension System, Contributory Provident Fund, etc., an agenda item for lowering the rate of contribution from the present 12 per cent to 10 per cent was deliberated in the 218th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) held on 27.05.2017. All employees' and employers' representatives and State Government representatives were against reducing the rate of contribution from 12 per cent to 10 per cent.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 128 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: National Mission on Cultural Mapping
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA, DHARMENDRA YADAV, VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, PRALHAD VENKATESH JOSHI, BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL, Richard Hay, George Baker, ABHISHEK SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 128 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## NATIONAL MISSION ON CULTURAL MAPPING

128. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI:

SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

PROF RICHARD HAY:

SHRI GEORGE BAKER:

SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  launch  'National  Mission  on Cultural  Mapping'  under  the  Scheme  'Ek  Bharat  Shreshtha  Bharat'  to promote its culture and language in each and every State  of the country and  to  bridge  the  cultural  gap  in  the  country  and  enhance  interaction between people living in different States;
- (b)  if  so,  the  State-wise  details  thereof  and  the  aims  and  objectives  of  the said scheme along with its salient features;
- (c) if not, the time by which the said scheme is likely to be launched and the details  of  the  funds  likely  to  be  sanctioned  under  this  scheme,  State/UTwise;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  promote  destinations  that  are associated with warriors and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the government has identified the places for the circuit and if so, the details and the criteria adopted for selection of such places, place-wise along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism (DR MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) & (b) The Government has launched a scheme namely 'National Mission on  Cultural  Mapping  and  Roadmap'  on  29 th   March,  2017  which  is  not directly covered under the 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' Scheme but is an ENABLER for moving in the direction of promoting and bridging the cultural gap and collecting database of artists, artisans and various art forms across the country in order to create healthy competition in preserving local culture of various States and sharing the same with other States. The Scheme is not State/Place specific and will cover the whole country.
- (c) Does not arise in view of (a) & (b) above.

(d)  No,  there  is  no  proposal  under  consideration  of  the  Government  to promote destinations associated with warriors under the Scheme  of National Mission on Cultural Mapping and Roadmap.

- (e)  Does not arise in view of (d) above.
Lok Sabha Question No. 126 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Impact of Demonetization on MSMEs
Ministry: MICRO,SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
Asked by: SHIVKUMAR CHANABASAPPA UDASI, PONNUSAMY VENUGOPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 126 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 17.07.2017

## IMPACT OF DEMONETIZATION ON MSMEs

## 126. SHRI SHIVKUMAR UDASI: DR. P. VENUGOPAL:

Will the Minister of MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  demonetization  has  adverse  impact  on  the  viability  of Micro,  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises  (MSMEs),  and  has  resulted  into  rising  defaults  by MSMEs in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether  it  is  also  a  fact  that  one  of  the  reasons  for  these  defaults  was  that  a  large number of units of MSMEs have been shut down after demonetization; and
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  corrective  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SHRI HARIBHAI PARATHIBHAI CHAUDHARY)

- (a)  &  (b):    Demonetization,  while  immobilizing  black  money  and  fighting  corruption  may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity in the country and affected MSMEs. However, as more and more transactions become cashless, it will improve the transparency of the economy.  In general the MSMEs have welcomed the initiative.
- (c): Ministry  of  Micro,  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises  has  not  conducted  any  study  on this issue.
- (d): The various steps  taken  by  the  Government  which  will  help  MSMEs  to  tackle  any adverse impact of demonetization are as follows:
- (i) Union  Budget  2017-18  has  proposed  to  reduce  the  tax  rate  of  MSMEs  reporting turnover of less than Rs 50 crore to 25% from the existing 30%.
- (ii) Recently under Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme the Union Government has approved augmentation of the corpus of the Credit Guarantee Trust from the present level of Rs. 2500 crore to Rs. 7500 crore.  Approval has been accorded to increase the coverage of the loans under the scheme from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crore. The scheme has also been extended to include NBFCs as lending institutions.
- (iii) As per the Union Budget 2017-18, under the Scheme of presumptive income tax, for small  and  medium  tax  payers  whose  turnover  is  upto  Rs.  2  crore,  the  presumptive income has been taken as 6% of the turnover instead of 8%, which is received in noncash means.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 124 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Autonomous Institutes
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: ADVOCATE NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 124 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## Autonomous Institutes

124. ADV. NARENDRA KESHAV SAWAIKAR: Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT  be pleased to state: (a)  whether  the  Government  has  decided  to  merge  some  autonomous  institutes/bodies  under  the administrative control of the Ministry; (b) if so, the details thereof along with the objectives of the said move; (c)  whether  the  merger  decision  is  likely  to  adversely  impact  the  autonomy/  functioning  of  the institutes and if so, the remedial measures taken by the Government in this regard; and (d) whether merger decision have been taken to reduce the financial expenditure of the Government and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)

(a) to (d): The Committee constituted by NITI Aayog for the review the autonomous bodies in  its  draft  interim  report  has  given  recommendations  for  rationalisation  of  some  of  the autonomous bodies. The Committee has recommended the clustering/umbrella arrangement wherein  a  group  of  similar  institutions  may  be  brought  together  under  the  overarching umbrella  framework  for  greater  efficiency,  better  oversight,  standardisation  and  mentoring support without losing the plurality of their discipline or their identifies.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 121 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Hindi as a Compulsory Subject
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: HUKUM SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.121 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## Hindi as a Compulsory Subject

121. SHRI HUKUM SINGH:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  students  of  schools  affiliated  to  Central  Board  of Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  and  Kendriya  Vidyalayas  may  have  to  study  Hindi compulsorily till X Class;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  formed  a  policy  in  consultation  with  the  States  to make the Hindi language compulsory and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) and (b) : The students of schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) (including Kendriya Vidyalayas) have to study Hindi compulsorily till class VIII. Similarly, Hindi or English must be one of the two languages to be studied in class IX and X.

In the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) schools, the following languages are compulsorily taught:

(i)Class I - V, Hindi English (ii)Class VI - VIII, Hindi, English, Sanskrit (iii)Class IX - X, any two languages out of English, Hindi and Sanskrit can be opted.

(c) : There is no policy of Government (Ministry of Human Resource Development) to make the Hindi language compulsory.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 120 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Demand-led Trained Workforce
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: M. I. SHANAVAS

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 120 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th  JULY, 2017

## DEMAND-LED TRAINED WORKFORCE

## 120.   SHRI M.I. SHANAVAS:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  and  objectives  of  various  schemes  conceptualized  by  the Government to create demand-led trained workforce;
- (b) whether  the  Government  intend  to  outsource  basic  training  for  such workforce in an institute of their choice;
- (c)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  engaged/  proposes  to  engage  qualified institutes by means of a master list, created by the Government based on different benchmarks; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

(a)  to  (e):  According to the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, the  nodal  Ministry  for  all  skilling  activities,  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 2016-20 was implemented through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with the objective to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant short term fresh skill training that will help them in securing  a  better  livelihood.  The  National  Skill  Development  Corporation (NSDC)  has  been  set  up  as  a  Public  Private  Partnership  entity  to  promote private  training  providers  to  set  up  skill  development  centres  across  the Country. The skill development centres run by these private training providers provide the training programme in various sectors like Agriculture, Automobile, Building and Construction, Capital Goods, Gems and Jewellery, IT&ITES, etc.

The salient features of the PMKVY scheme includes National Skill Qualification Framework  (NSQF)  based  quality  assurance  framework,  market relevant training  programmes,  recognition  of  prior  learning,  curriculum  alignment, national  certification,  employable  skills,  placements  etc.  The  scheme  also promotes  inclusivity  with  the  objective  to  safeguard  the  skilling  needs  of differently abled persons as well as living in difficult geographical areas. The scheme has targeted to impart skilling to one crore people over next four years (2016 to 2020) with an outlay of Rs.12,000 crore.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 119 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Registration of Employers/Employees
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: BALKA SUMAN

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 119 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYERS/EMPLOYEES

## 119. SHRI SUMAN BALKA:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether  ESIC  has  introduced  a  new  Scheme  to  promote  Registration  of
- Employers/Employees and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)whether ESIC has also enhanced Ceiling on Medical Expenditure and if so,
- the details thereof; and
- (c)the  details  of  steps  taken  by  ESI  Corporation  to  bring  more  and  more workers under the Social Security Coverage of ESI Scheme? ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

- (a): Yes, Madam. A Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees (SPREE) was launched to give one time opportunity to the  employers  to  cover  left-  out/uncovered  employees.    The  Scheme  was initially  open  from  20.12.2016  to  31.03.2017  and  further  extended  upto 30.06.2017.

## The salient features of the Scheme were as under:

- i) The employers registered during the period will be treated as covered from the date of registration or as declared by them.
2. ii) The newly registered employees shall be treated as covered from date of their registration.
3. (b):  Yes,  Madam.    Employees  State  Insurance  Corporation  (ESIC)  has approved enhancement of ceiling on medical expenditure incurred by State Governments  from  Rs.2150/-  to  Rs.3000/-  per  Insured  Persons  (IPs)  for  the year 2017-18.
4. (c):  The  ESI  Scheme  has  been  extended  to  325  districts  in  full  where  the scheme was earlier available in centres.  Apart from that, the ESI scheme has also been extended to 89 District Headquarters in the non-implemented areas. Besides this, regular inspections are conducted by the ESIC to bring more workers under the Social Security coverage of ESI Scheme.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 118 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Free SIM Card to Foreign Tourists
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: RAJAN BABURAO  VICHARE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†118 ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## FREE SIM CARD TO FOREIGN TOURISTS

## †118. SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to distribute free SIM Card to  the  foreign  tourists  at  the  airport  and  a  welcome  kit containing pre-activated SIM Card along with all the information  is  likely  to  be  provided  to  the  foreign  tourists coming to India under e-visa scheme; and
- (b)

if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a): The Ministry of Tourism has launched the initiative for providing pre-loaded SIM Card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-Visa w.e.f. 15th February, 2017. This initiative has been launched in  association  with  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Ltd.,  (BSNL),  wherein BSNL  would  distribute  pre-loaded  SIM  Cards  to  foreign  tourists arriving in India on e-Visa.

(b): This facility is currently available at Indira Gandhi International Airport (T3 Terminal), New Delhi and Kochi International Airport and only for tourists arriving in India on e-Visa. SIM cards are pre-loaded with a value of Rs.50 talk time and 50 MB data and will be activated on immediate basis so as to enable them use this facility instantly.

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