opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 2563 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Guidelines for declaration of Natural Calamity
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sumedhanand Saraswati

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2563

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 09 TH  JULY, 2019/ ASHADHA 18, 1941 (SAKA )

GUIDELINES FOR DECLARATION OF NATURAL CALAMITY

†2563. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of guidelines for declaring a disaster as a natural calamity;

(b) whether loss suffered due to cyclone arising from specific area may be considered a natural calamity;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor;

(d)  whether the affected State is provided special assistance in case of natural calamity; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a) to (e)    Government has issued guidelines for operation of the State Disaster  Response  Fund  (SDRF)  and  National  Disaster  Response  Fund (NDRF)  which  have  been  created  under  the  Disaster  Management  Act 2005, to provide financial assistance for emergency response and relief. Under  these  guidelines  immediate  relief  is  provided  to  victims  of  12 notified  natural  disasters  (viz;  cyclone,  drought,  earthquake,  fire,  flood, tsunami,   hailstorm,  landslide,   avalanche,   cloudburst,  pest attack, and

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2563 FOR 09.07.2019

frost & cold wave).  In  view  of  the aforesaid guidelines, loss suffered due  to  cyclone  is  considered  a  natural  calamity  for  the  purpose  of providing financial assistance under SDRF/ NDRF. The aforesaid guidelines have PAN (Presence Across National) India implication without any discrimination. Further, under the existing guidelines of SDRF/ NDRF, there is no provision to provide any special assistance/ relief package for the affected State.

Further, State Government may use up to 10 per cent of the annual fund allocation under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural  disasters  that  they  consider  to  be  'disasters'  within  the  local context  in  the  State  and  which  are  not  included  in  the  notified  list  of disasters.

The  guidelines  and  items  &  norms  of  assistance  from  SDRF/  NDRF  are available on the Ministry of Home Affairs website: www.ndmindia.nic.in.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2562 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Raw Material from China
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Umesh G. Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2562 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 th  July, 2019

## Raw Material from China

## 2562.   DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the country is heavily dependent on imports especially from China for many key raw materials (intermediates and active pharma ingredients) of various essential drugs;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the measures that the Government is planning to take to overcome this situation?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. The details of India's imports of Bulk Drugs, Drug Intermediates from China are as under:

| Years   |   Total import (US $ mn) | Imports from China (US$ mn)   |
|---------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                  2738.46 | 1826.34 (66.69%)              |
| 2017-18 |                  2993.25 | 2055.94 (68.68%)              |
| 2018-19 |                  3560.35 | 2405.42 (67.56%)              |

(Source: DGCIS Kolkata)

As per DGCIS Kolkata, during the year 2018-19, the share of China in the total bulk drugs imported into the country was approximately 67 per cent.

The  country  imports  Bulk  Drugs/Active  Pharmaceutical  Ingredients  (APIs)  for producing medicines including certain essential medicines. As India is a signatory to the WTO and TRIPs agreement, as such the import restrictions have been removed. It may be mentioned that most of the imports of the Bulk Drugs/APIs being done in the country are because of economic considerations.

(c)  :  The  Government  is  committed  to  make  India  sufficiently  self-reliant  in  end  to  end indigenous drug manufacturing by making Indian Pharma Industry globally competitive. The policies  formulated  by  Government  from time to time are designed to minimize country's dependence on imports and to give fillip to indigenous manufacturing. In this direction, the Government  vide  its  notification  dated  28 th January,  2016  has  withdrawn  exemption  of customs  duty  of  certain  categories  of  Bulk  Drugs/APIs.  Further,  the  Department  of Pharmaceuticals has prepared an umbrella scheme namely 'Scheme for Development of Pharmaceutical Industry' with the objective to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of  domestic  pharmaceutical  industry  so  as  to  enable  it  to  play  a  lead  role  in  the  global market and to ensure availability, accessibility and affordability of quality pharmaceuticals of  mass  consumption.  The  umbrella  scheme  includes  a  sub-scheme  for  providing assistance to Bulk Drug Industry for Common Facility Centre.

xxxxx
Lok Sabha Question No. 2561 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Ban on Alcohol
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Gopal Chinayya Shetty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. +2561 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.07.2019

## BAN ON ALCOHOL

+2561. SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

## Will the Minister of SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken Or proposes to take any steps to ban alcohol consumption;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) if not; the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)

(a) to (c): no. 8 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the production;, manufacture; possession; transport; purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors is a State subject:

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment being the nodal Ministry for Demand Reduction; implements the "Central  Sector Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse" Drug

The Main objective of the Scheme is to alleviate the consequences of drug and alcohol dependence amongst the individual, the family and society at and to provide for the whole range of community based services for identification, motivation, counselling; de-addiction, after care and rehabilitation for Whole Person Recovery (WPR) of addicts to make a person drug free, crime free and gainfully employed. large

8***
Lok Sabha Question No. 2560 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Drug Price Policy
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Prasun Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2560 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 th  July, 2019

## Drug Price Policy

## 2560.   SHRI PRASUN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any proposal to bring a new price policy to reduce the prices of medicines;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the impediments in the implementation of one company-one drug price policy so as to reduce the prices of medicines?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

- (a)  to  (b):  There  is  no  proposal  before  the  Government  to  bring  a  New  Drug  Price Policy.
- (c): There is no such proposal to implement one company-one drug price policy.

xxxxx
Lok Sabha Question No. 2555 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Digital Modernization of Police Stations
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Bhagwanth Khuba

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2555

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 09 TH  JULY, 2019/ ASHADHA 18, 1941 (SAKA )

DIGITAL MODERNIZATION OF POLICE STATIONS

2555. SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is upgrading or carrying out Digital modernization of police stations in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  allocated  special  funds  for  developing the technology; and

(d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a) & (b) : The responsibility of equipping the State Police Forces lies with the  State  Governments  by  virtue  of  'Police'  being  a  State  subject. However, Government of India supplements the efforts of State Governments  by  providing  central  assistance  under  the  scheme  of 'Assistance  to  States  for  Modernisation  of  Police'  to  strengthen  police infrastructure. Under this scheme, the States have been provided central assistance for acquisition of latest weaponry, training gadgets, advanced communication and forensic equipment etc. including I.T. systems.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2555 FOR 09.07.2019

Under  the  Crime  and  Criminal  Tracking  Network  and  Systems (CCTNS), the Central Government is interlinking Police Stations throughout  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  digitization  of  crime  and criminal records in Police Stations. The project envisages establishment of a national database by collecting information from Police Stations in an electronic eco-system.

(c) & (d) : An amount of Rs.1680.72 crores has been released to States & UTs till 31 st  March, 2018 for implementation of the CCTNS project.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2552 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Demonstration-cum-Seed Production
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2552 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH  JULY, 2019

## DEMONSTRATION-CUM-SEED PRODUCTION

2552.   SHRI DEVUSINH JESINGBHAI CHAUHAN:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण

मंी

be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of the Demonstration-cum-Seed Production project at Neryamangalam in Kerala;
- (b) whether the Government is considering to strengthen the Centre, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has a proposal to allocate more funds for the Centre, if so, the details thereof; and

- (d) whether the Government is thinking to upgrade this Centre as Coconut Research Centre, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) & (b): The  Demonstration  cum  Seed  Production  (DSP)  Farm,  Neriamangalam, Kerala was established in 1991 in the 20 hectare land. The Farm has been demonstrating scientific  coconut  cultivation  and  producing  quality  coconut  seedlings  suited  for  the  local agro  climatic  region.  The  center  is  carrying  out  allocated  activities  and  is  adequately strengthened by CDB fund every year.

(c): Yes, Sir. CDB has allocated Rs.103.727 Lakh during 2019-20 as compared to the allocation of Rs.77.81 Lakh during 2018-19.

- (d): At present, there is no such proposal.

******
Lok Sabha Question No. 2551 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Shortage of Medicines
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Ramya  Haridas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2551 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 th  July, 2019

## Shortage of Medicines

## 2551. MS. RAMYA HARIDAS:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government's  attention  has  been  drawn  towards  the  rising number of complaints regarding shortage of medicines;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of complaints registered during the  last  three  years  regarding  overpricing,  shortage  of  medicines,  supply refusal of medicines and sale of new medicines without prior price approval; and
- (c) the  steps  proposed  by  the  Government  to  address  the  drug  shortage  and overpricing of medicines?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

- (a): Yes, Sir. As per the available records, the number of complaints regarding the shortage of medicines received during Financial Year 2018-19 is 139.
- (b): Status of number of complaints received during last three years is as follows.
- (c): In  case of  a  complaint regarding shortage of a particular medicine received from a particular person or at particular place, concerned companies are advised to rush the supplies to that the person / area.

|   Sr. No. | Complaint Type                                    |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|         1 | Overpricing                                       |        25 |        48 |        80 |
|         2 | Shortage of medicine                              |        74 |       124 |       139 |
|         3 | Supply refusal of medicine                        |        18 |        18 |        21 |
|         4 | Sale of new medicine without prior price approval |        12 |         0 |         1 |

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is effectively monitoring  the  prices  of  medicines  and  is  taking  action  against  companies  found overcharging the consumers based on the references received from the State Drugs Controllers/individuals,  samples  purchased  from  the  open  market  and  analytical reports from  market-based  data.

*******
Lok Sabha Question No. 2548 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Payment of Wages under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2548

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.07.2019

## PAYMENT OF WAGES UNDER MGNREGS

## 2548.   SHRI  P.R. NATARAJAN:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the mechanism adopted by the Government for the payment of wages to beneficiaries under the Mahatma  Gandhi  National Rural Employment  Guarantee Scheme(MGNREGS) as on date;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  some  difficulties  have  been  faced  by  the beneficiaries owing to either illiteracy, lack of bank/post office branches nearby in rural areas;
- (c) if  so,  the  remedial  action  taken/likely  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  for  revamping banks/post offices in rural areas; and
- (d) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a): Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system has been adopted under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural  Employment  Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for wage payment. The Government has started National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS) in 24 States and 1 UT for direct payment of wages into the account of MGNREGA workers. All the DBT payments of wages under MGNREGS are routed through Public Financial Management System (PFMS).

(b) to (d): Banks  have  engaged  last  mile  functionaries  for  ensuring  payment  of  wages  of MGNREGA workers and basic banking facility through hand-held devices. The Department of Posts  is  also  providing  Subscriber  Identification  Module  (SIM)  based  hand-held  devices  to Branch post offices to offer online postal & financial services in the rural areas. The Ministry has provided relaxation in DBT payment of MGNREGA wages in some rural areas where bank/post office network is not adequate & internet connectivity is poor.  As per the information shared by the Department of Financial Services, total number of functioning rural branches of Commercial Banks  and  number  of  Business  Correspondents  (BCs)  deployed  by  them   to  provide  banking services in rural areas are as under:

| Year                 | Rural Branches   | Rural-branchless mode/BCs   |
|----------------------|------------------|-----------------------------|
| As on March 31, 2016 | 48,228           | 5.31 lakh                   |
| As on March 31, 2017 | 49,847           | 5.43 lakh                   |
| As on March 31, 2018 | 50,859           | 5.15 lakh                   |
| As on March 31, 2019 | 51,653           | Not available               |

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2546 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Illicit Arms Trade
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2546

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 09 TH  JULY, 2019/ ASHADHA 18, 1941 (SAKA )

ILLICIT ARMS TRADE

†2546.       SHRIMATI RANJAN BEN DHANANJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether illicit arms trade is flourishing very fast in various parts of the country;

(b)  if  so,  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  take  any  concrete  and effective step to curb the said trade;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a) To (d):   As  per  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India, 'Police' and 'Public order' are State subjects; accordingly enforcement of the provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 is mainly the responsibility of the State  Governments/UT  Administrations.  There  are  effective  regulatory provisions under sections 19 to 25 of the Arms Act, 1959   which empower the law enforcement agencies to take requisite action to curb illicit trade of  firearms  and  take  action  against  the  offenders.  Government  have issued  a  detailed  advisory  on  1.03.2019,  to  all  State  Governments/UT Administrations for taking effective enforcement measures to check illicit arms and other violations of the Arms Act.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Loss to Pineapple Cultivators
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2544 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH   JULY, 2019

## LOSS TO PINEAPPLE CULTIVATORS

## 2544.  SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the farmers in West Tripura have been facing severe losses this year due to lack of buyers for their popular queen variety pineapples which are famous for their taste, if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) whether the Government has taken any step for extending support to the distressed farmers?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a): No such information has been received in this department.

Directorate of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, Government of Tripura has informed that on account of promotional activities on Tripura Pineapple, there is a thirty fold increase in  the  overall  flow  of  pineapple  fruit  outside  State.  Out  of  an  estimated  417  MT  flow  of pineapple fruit outside State, around 300 MT is Queen Pineapple alone. Also, the wholesale price as well as retail price of the Queen Pineapple at local market has increased by around 25% as compared to the price of last year.

- (b): MIDH, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is being implemented for holistic growth of the horticulture  sector  covering  fruits  (including  Pineapple),  vegetables,  root  and  tuber  crops, mushrooms,  spices,  flowers,  aromatic  plants,  coconut,  cashew  and  cocoa.  All  States (including Tripura) and UTs are covered under MIDH.

Apart  from  the  above,  following  steps  are  being  taken  for  promotion/popularizing queen variety in the region:

-  Declaration of Tripura Queen Pineapple as State Fruit.
-  Conducting buyer seller meet and pineapple festivals across the Country.
-  Creating awareness among the local hoteliers to serve different pineapple dishes to the guests.
-  Branding Tripura Pineapple through developing a logo by NID, Ahmedabad.

******
Lok Sabha Question No. 2543 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Cyber Coordination Centre
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: M.K. Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2543

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 09 TH  JULY, 2019/ ASHADHA 18, 1941 (SAKA )

CYBER COORDINATION CENTRE

2543.         DR. M.K. VISHNU PRASAD:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  website  of  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  was  launched recently as one-stop solution for cyber crime or cyber security;

(b)  the  overall  objectives and functions of the Cyber Coordination Centre and the extent to which it is effective in dealing with cyber related issues; and

(c)  whether  apps  have  been  developed  to  provide  various  police  related services and safety advisories to all sections of society through websites and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a) Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) portal was launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on December 22, 2018 at DGPs/ IGPs Conference as a  one-stop  platform  for  sharing  all  cyber  related  matters  amongst  Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), government organizations and other stakeholders.

(b) Primary  objective  of  the  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  is  to  provide  a platform  to  the  Law  Enforcement  Agencies  and   other  stakeholders  to

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2543 FOR 09.07.2019

collaborate and  coordinate  their  efforts  to  resolve  cyber crime, and  for other  cyber  related  issues  like  sharing  case  studies/  research  findings, experience sharing, formulation of research problems, finding solutions to complex  cyber  issues,  etc.  Cyber  Coordination  Centre  is  an  effective platform to deal with cyber issues.

(c) Ministry of Home Affairs issues advisories on cyber related issues to States/UTs from time to time. Further, safety advisories/ messages are also issued by Ministry of Home Affairs through twitter handle @CyberDost, FM radio and SMSes.

*****