opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 4258 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Declaration of Madurai as Historical City
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: S. Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4258

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## DECLARATION OF MADURAI AS HISTORICAL CITY

4258.  SHRI S. VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it has come  to the notice of the government that the Madurai District  of  Tamil  Nadu  has  evidence  based  history  of  Jainism,  Buddhism  and Dravidian Culture excavated at Keeladi similar to Harappan Civilisation;
- (b) if  so,  whether the Government is considering to declare Madurai district of Tamil Nadu as historical city and if not, the reason therefor; and
- (c) whether  more   rail  and  air  connectivity  may  be  given  for  promoting  tourism  at Madurai?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CULTURE & TOURISM

(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

- (a) ASI conducted excavations at Keeladi for three field seasons (2014-15 to 2016-17) and brought to light the following three cultural periods:

Iron Age (pre 300 BCE) Early Historic Period (300 BCE- 300 CE) Post Early Historic Period (Post 300 CE)

The artefacts findings consists of beads of glass, terracotta, semiprecious stones, like carnelian, quartz; ivory ornaments and dice, terracotta figurines, dice, spindle whorls,  disc,  gamesmen  and  terracotta  seal,  various  forms  of  copper  and  iron objects,  bone  points, shell  bangles,  legged quern,  etc. The  ceramic  assemblage includes  black  and  red  ware,  russet  coated  ware,  white  painted  black  and  red ware, red slipped ware, etc.

- (b) At present, there is no such proposal.
- (c) Indian  Railways,  through  IRCTC,  is  running  Bharat  Darshan,  Pilgrimage  Special Tourist Train, Land & Air Packages to Madurai as important tourist destination.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 4257 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Educational Loans
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4257

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 nd    MARCH, 2021, CHAITRA 1, 1943 (SAKA)

## EDUCATIONAL LOANS

## 4257. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number and value of educational loans disbursed by Public Sector Banks since
- 2015; below 1 crore, between 1 crore to 5 crore and above 5 crore;
- (b) the growth rate of educational loans since 2015;
- (c)  the total number of customers who have availed education loans since 2015; and
- (d)  the share of Educational Loans which have been declared as NPAs since 2015?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

- (a): Total number and value of educational loans disbursed by Public Sector Banks since 2015; below 1 crore, between 1 crore to 5 crore and above 5 crore is as under:

|                            | No. of Loans   | Education Loan Disbursed (Amt in Rs Crore)   |
|----------------------------|----------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Below 1 crore              | 13,53,230      | 75,896.62                                    |
| Between 1 crore to 5 crore | 556            | 487.01                                       |
| Above 5 crore              | 0              | 0                                            |
| Total                      | 13,53,786      | 76,383.63                                    |

Source: Public Sector Banks

## (b): Growth rate of educational loans of PSBs since 2015 on y-o-y basis is as under:

| As on    | Outstanding Educational Loans (Amt in Rs in Crore)   | Growth (y-o-y)   |
|----------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
| 31.03.15 | 59,892                                               |                  |
| 31.03.16 | 65,335                                               | 9.1%             |
| 31.03.17 | 69,509                                               | 6.4%             |
| 31.03.18 | 71,005                                               | 2.2%             |
| 31.03.19 | 70,818                                               | -0.3%            |
| 31.03.20 | 72,891                                               | 2.9%             |
| 31.12.20 | 73,977                                               | 1.5%             |

Source: RBI

- (c): 13,53,786 Customers have availed education loans since 2015 from PSBs.

## (d): NPAs of PSBs under Educational Loans since 2015 is as under:

| As on    |   %age of NPA |
|----------|---------------|
| 31.03.15 |           5.3 |
| 31.03.16 |           7.3 |
| 31.03.17 |           7.2 |
| 31.03.18 |           7.9 |
| 31.03.19 |           8.2 |
| 31.03.20 |           7.7 |
| 31.12.20 |           5.8 |

Source: RBI
Lok Sabha Question No. 4256 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: CSR Funds Spent for National Heritage Development
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Basanta Kumar Panda

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4256 BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## CSR FUNDS SPENT FOR NATIONAL HERITAGE DEVELOPMENT

## 4256.   SHRI BASANTA KUMAR PANDA:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  proposed  a  new  initiative  for  companies  for investing  fund  under  their  Corporate  Social  Responsibility  (CSR)  in  national heritage development;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the CSR funds spent for national heritage development specially in Nuapada and Kalahandi districts of Odisha during the financial years 2017 to 2020?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR CULTURE & TOURISM

(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) to (c) Government has initiated schemes like 'Adopt a Heritage' and Funds like National  Culture  Fund  (NCF)    to  encourage  companies to  invest  their  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds in National Heritage Development.

Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 ('Act') indicates the activities which may be included by companies in their CSR policy. 'National Heritage' falls  under item (v) of Schedule VII of the Act which reads as ' Protection of national heritage, art and  culture  including  restoration  of  building  and  sites  of  historical  importance  and works of art; setting up public libraries; promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts;' .

On the basis of filings made by the Companies in the MCA 21 registry, CSR amount  spent  by  various  companies  in  'Art  and  Culture'  under  item  no.  (v)  of Schedule VII of the Act for the financial years 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 201920 are given below:

| Development Sector              |   FY 2016-17 |   FY 2017-18 |   FY 2018-19 |   FY 2019-20 |
|---------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| Art and Culture (in Rs. Crores) |       305.57 |       284.06 |       189.89 |        48.08 |
| Odisha(in Rs. lakhs)            |       130    |       532    |       908    |       429.81 |

(Data upto 30.09.2020)                                     (Source: National CSR Data Portal)

All data related to CSR (State/UT-wise as well as development sector wise) as filed by companies in MCA 21 registry is available in public domain which can be accessed at www.csr.gov.in.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 4255 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Wilful Defaulters
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Bhola Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-t4255

ANSWERED ON- 22/03/2021

## WILFUL DEFAULTERS

## +4255. SHRI BHOLA SINGH

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

- (a) the number of companies out of those which have been given by the banks in the country till 2014, declared   willful defaulters with the total amount of their loans remaining outstanding in records of SBI; loans along ledger
- (6) the action taken by SBI fof recovery from the said companies so far;
- the outcome of the said action; and
- (d) the details of the companies  which have been  declared willful defaulters by SBI?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a) and (d): As per inputs received from State Bank of India (SBL), SBI has declared 1,538 borrowers including companies, with aggregate outstanding of Rs. 53,806 crore aS on before 31.3.2014. Out of these 1,538 wilful defaulters, 218 have outstanding of more than Rs. 50 crore each, with majority of them pertaining to iron and steel textile, food processing, gems and jewellery, trading, engineering; constructions and infrastructure sectors.

With regard to action taken these wilful defaulters, SBI has informed that as on 31.12.2020, recovery suits were filed in the Debt Recovery Tribunal in 1,537 cases, action under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest 2002 were initiated in 1,537 cases; applications for corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, were filed in 191 cases and FIRs were filed in 210 cases. Further; enabled by these actions, SBI as on 31.12.2020, has recovered an amount of Rs. 3,781 crore from these wilful defaulters. against Act,
Lok Sabha Question No. 4254 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Education Schemes for Rural Areas
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sumedhanand Saraswati

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4254 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## Education Schemes for Rural Areas

## †4254. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the schemes/projects running in the country specially in the rural areas for the proliferation of education specially in Rajasthan and Haryana;
- (b) the details of the action plan formulated for developing infrastructure for the basic education in the rural areas such as Smart Board and online education APP and bringing improvement in the quality of education being implemented by the teachers in rural schools for the year 2020-2021, State-wise;
- (c) the amount of budget allocated by the Government for the purpose; and
- (d) the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to provide online education to the students of all the Government schools?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) to (d): Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12, is running in the country including rural areas and the States of Rajasthan & Haryana since 2018-19 . The vision of the scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education. Under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to all States and UTs for implementation of various interventions like opening of new schools & providing infrastructural facilities, free textbooks and uniforms, setting up and running of residential schools and hostels including Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, provisions for inclusive education of Children with Special Needs (CWSN), transport & escort facility, in-service training of teachers, ICT, vocational education and other activities.

Various efforts have been made for the creation of digital infrastructure for online learning in the form of DIKSHA portal (https://diksha.gov.in/), SWAYAM Portal (swayam.gov.in), SWAYAM Prabha, DD Channel, e-Pathshala (https://epathshala.nic.in/), NROER (National Repository of Open Educational Resources) portal

(https://nroer.gov.in/welcome), radio, community radio and CBSE podcasts etc. The medium of TV, radio can be used by the students who do not have access to digital means.

Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools come under the purview of the respective State and UT Governments. During 2020-21, details of total budgetary allocation made by the Central Government for smart class room, ICT and Teacher's education are as under:

(Rs. in Crore)

|   Sl. No. | Intervention       |   2020-21* |
|-----------|--------------------|------------|
|         1 | Smart Classroom    |     224.49 |
|         2 | ICT                |     763.04 |
|         3 | Teachers Education |     267.91 |

(Source *PRABANDH)

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 4253 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: National Council for Teacher Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: T. R. Paarivendhar

(a) : Yes Sir.

(b) : As per the mandate of New Education Policy 2020, National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in its new role as a Performance and Standard Setting Body (PSSB) will continue to draw the curricula, lay down academic standards and coordinate between teaching, research and extension of their domain/discipline, as member of the General Education Council (GEC) along with other tasks as assigned by Government of India.

(c) and (d): The New Education Policy 2020, proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21 st century education, including Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), built upon India's traditions and value systems. Various policy decisions have been mandated with this in view, of which transformation of NCTE as a PSSB is one of them.

*****

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4253 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND MARCH, 2021

## National Council for Teacher Education

## 4253. DR. T.R.PAARIVENDHAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has any proposal to review the functioning of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE);

- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the objectives to review NCTE; and

(d) whether the review of NCTE will be helpful and useful to the students and teachers community?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')
Lok Sabha Question No. 4250 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Job Fairs in Assam
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND  MARCH, 2021

## JOB FAIRS IN ASSAM

4250. SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

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

- (a) whether the Ministry organises job fairs at district level for youth;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the number of job fairs organised in Assam since 1st January, 2014 till date; and
- (c) the  details  and  number  of  people  benefitted  in  Assam  since  1st  January,  2014, district-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

- (a)  to  (c):  Government  is  implementing  the  National  Career  Service  (NCS)  Project  to provide a variety of employment related services like job search and matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, etc. Under the NCS, project assistance is also provided to States/UTs for organising job fairs.

The details of the job fairs organised through NCS in collaboration with State Govt. of Assam are as under:-

| Sl. No.   | Year    |   No. of Job Fairs |   No. of candidates given final offer letter |
|-----------|---------|--------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | 2017-18 |                 23 |                                         1010 |
| 2.        | 2018-19 |                 56 |                                          804 |
| 3.        | 2019-20 |                 35 |                                          442 |
| 4.        | 2020-21 |                 12 |                                           30 |
| Total     | Total   |                126 |                                         2286 |

Besides  above,  as  per  information  received  from  Assam,  Skill  Employment  and Entrepreneurship Department (SEED), the State Government has organised 8 job fairs during 2017-2019 and 2038 candidates have been given final offer letter through these job fairs.
Lok Sabha Question No. 4249 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Medium of language
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Harish Dwivedi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## Medium of language

## †4249. SHRI HARISH DWIVEDI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether English Language is the medium of teaching of most of the courses of higher education due to which rural students are deprived of higher education;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the details of the higher education courses which are available in Hindi and other language mediums?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) to (c) All Universities enjoy academic autonomy and therefore teaching of subjects and their languages come in their jurisdiction. However, the University Grants Commission (UGC) emphasizes for imparting education in Hindi and other languages to all its grants-in aid Universities in the country and some of the Universities have already started imparting education at undergraduate level in Hindi and other languages in some of the subjects. Similarly, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has also introduced 'TAKNIKI PATHYAPUSTAK PURASKAR YOJANA' with a view to provide state of art knowledge of Engineering and Technology in Hindi language. The scheme encourages to write standard technical textbooks in Hindi to facilitate classroom instructions in Hindi Language in Hindi Speaking States. No students from rural background are deprived of higher and technical education because of medium of learning. Institutes provide special coaching to those students who report any such difficulty and give special attention to students to facilitate learning. Many State Universities have regional Indian Languages as medium for many under graduate and postgraduate courses.
Lok Sabha Question No. 4247 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Foreign Educational Institutions
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Lallu Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4247 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## Foreign Educational Institutions

 4247. SHRI LALLU SINGH Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to allow entry of foreign educational institutions in the higher education sector; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government has prepared any policy in this regard; and (d) if so, the details of the criteria fixed in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) to (d): National Educational Policy (NEP), 2020 has envisioned that selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India and a legislative framework facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India. Task of preparation of the said framework has already been included in the implementation plan of NEP, 2020, which is under finalization.

- *****
Lok Sabha Question No. 4246 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Compound Interest on Moratorium Amount
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Umesh G. Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4246

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  MARCH 2021/ CHAITRA 1, 1943 (SAKA) Compound Interest on Moratorium Amount

4246. DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has received any complaint regarding charging interest on interest or compound interest on moratorium amount by certain finance companies including Magma Housing Finance Company; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a)  and  (b): As  per  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  circulars  on  COVID-19  Regulatory Package, interest continues to accrue on the outstanding portion of the term loans during the  moratorium  period  in  case  of  term  loans,  and  in  case  of  working  capital  facilities, lending institutions were permitted to defer the recovery of interest during the moratorium period. In view of the unprecedented and extreme COVID-19 situation, the Government announced ex-gratia relief by way of payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest, on the outstanding as on 29.2.2020, of eligible borrowers in the specified loan accounts, for the moratorium period, i.e. from 1.3.2020 to 31.8.2020.

***
Lok Sabha Question No. 4245 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-22
Subject: Beautification of Devasthan of Tribal Areas of Maharashtra
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Ashok Mahadeorao Nete

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4245

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2021

## BEAUTIFICATION OF DEVASTHAN OF TRIBAL AREAS OF MAHARASHTRA

- +4245. SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE:

Will the Minister of Culture be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken or proposes to take steps for beautification  of  Devasthan  located  in  tribal  areas  across  the  country, particularly in Maharashtra;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government proposes to provide essential basic amenities to the devotees  and  to  beautify  the  main  and  ancient  cave  and  temple  of  Lingo Jango, deity of tribes, located in Kachargad in Salekasa Taluka of Gondiya district under the Parliamentary constituency of Gadchiroli-Chimur in Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENTCHARGE) FOR CULTURE & TOURISM

(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

- (a) Conservation and preservation of centrally protected monuments/sites is a continuous process taken up as  per need and requirement, case to case basis considering availability of funds and resources.
- (b) Does not arise.
- (c) The ancient cave and temple of Lingo Jango,    deity of tribes,  located  in Kachargad in Salekasa Taluka of Gondiya district   under the Parliamentary constituency  of  Gadchiroli-Chimur  in  Maharashtra  are  not  under  the  care and protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.

*****