opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 2475 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Net Zero Carbon Emitter
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2475

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## NET ZERO CARBON EMITTER

## 2475. SHRIMATI RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE: SHRI MANOJ KOTAK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Railways  has  set  a  target  of  becoming  Net  Zero  Carbon Emitter by 2030;
- (b) if so, the details of initiatives taken or planned to reduce its carbon emissions including use of energy efficient technologies;
- (c) whether to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emission in Indian Railways, the  expected  requirement  of  renewable  capacity  would  be  about 30,000 MW; and
- (d) if so, the plan chalked out by the Railways in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) Indian Railway has set a target of becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter  by  2030.  IR  has  taken  a  number  of  initiatives  to  reduce  its carbon emissions which include use of energy efficient technologies like completely switching over to production of three phase electric locomotives with regenerative features, use of head on generation (HOG) technology,  use  of  LED  lights  in  buildings  and  coaches,  star  rated appliances and afforestation. Further, the key strategies that have been

identified for  achieving  the  Net  Zero  Carbon  emission  target  are procurement of power through renewable energy sources; shifting from diesel to electric traction; promotion of energy efficiency; and afforestation.

The projected energy demand of Indian Railways in 2029-30 is expected to  be  about  8,200  Mega  Watt  (MW).  To  achieve  Net  Zero  Carbon Emission,  expected  requirement  of  renewable  capacity  by  2029-30 would be about 30,000 MW. As of February 2023, about 147 MW of solar plants (both on Rooftops and on land) and about 103 MW of Wind power plants have been commissioned. Further, about 2150 MW of renewable capacity has also been tied up.

In  addition,  IR  has  planned  to  progressively  procure  renewable  energy from different power procurement modes for its future energy requirements.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2474 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Upgradation of Railway Stations in Rajasthan
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: P.P. Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2474 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## UPGRADATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS IN RAJASTHAN

2474.  SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has upgraded railway stations in the country into smart stations during the last five years;
- (b) if so the details thereof including Rajasthan;
- (c)  the  details  of  improvements  done  to  railway  stations  in  order  to transform them into smart stations;  and
- (d)  whether  there  are  any  plans  to  convert  railway  stations  in  Pali, Rajasthan into smart station, if so, the details thereof and if not, reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d) OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2474  BY  SHRI  P.P.  CHAUDHARY  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 15.03.2023 REGARDING UPGRADATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS IN RAJASTHAN.

(a) to (d): Modernisation/Upgradation of Railway Stations is a continuous and ongoing exercise.  Three stations viz:  Rani Kamlapati in the State of Madhya  Pradesh,  Gandhinagar  in  the  State  of  Gujarat  and  Sir  M. Visveswaraya  Railway  Station  in  the  State  of  Karnataka  have  been redeveloped/modernized so far.

Based  on  the  experience  gained  from  these  three  stations,  the Amrit  Bharat  Station  scheme  has  been  launched  for  development  of stations  on  Indian  Railways.    This  scheme  envisages  development  of stations on a continuous basis with a long term approach.    It involves preparation  of  Master  Plans  and  their  implementation  in  phases  to improve  the  amenities  at  the  stations  like  improvement  of  station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary,  cleanliness,  free  Wi-Fi,  kiosks  for  local  products  through schemes  like  'One  Station  One  Product',  better  passenger  information systems,  Executive  Lounges,  nominated  spaces  for  business  meetings, landscaping etc.  keeping in view the necessity at each such station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast less tracks, 'Roof Plazas' as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

So  far,  1275  Stations  have  been  identified  for  development  under Amrit Bharat Station scheme out of which 82 stations are in the state of Rajasthan  including  Sojat  Road,  Marwar  Jn.,  Somesar,  Rani,  Falna  & Jawai bandh Railway Stations of Pali District.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2473 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Construction of Overbridges/Underbridges at Railway Crossings
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Arun Kumar Sagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2473 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## CONSTRUCTION OF OVERBRIDGES/UNDERBRIDGES AT RAILWAY CROSSINGS

## †2473. SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the under-construction over- bridges/underbridges in the country as on date along with present status thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  proposals  sent  by  the  State  Governments  for  the construction of overbridges/ underbridges at railway crossings;
- (c) the action taken by the Government thereon;
- (d) the amount of funds allocated for construction of such bridges during the last three years; and
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  timely  completion  of  the  said overbridges/underbridges?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a): As on date,  1601 Nos. Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and 2398 Nos. Road  Under  Bridges  (RUBs)  are  sanctioned  in  the  Country.    These works are in various stages of planning, estimation and execution in consultation with State Govt.

(b) & (c): Proposals for construction of Road Over Bridge/Road Under Bridge (ROB/RUB) in lieu of level crossings (LCs) are either conceptualized by Zonal Railways or received from State Government and other Statutory Authorities.  After completing various formalities with State Government/Statutory Authorities, regarding the consent for sharing of cost/making available encumbrance free land on approaches, closure of LCs and joint feasibility study etc., proposals mutually  agreed  for  construction  of  ROBs/RUBs  in  lieu  of  LCs  are further  processed  for  inclusion  in  Budget,  which  is  a  continuous process.  However, 221 Nos. ROBs and 181 Nos. RUBs are sanctioned during the year 2022-23 (upto 03.03.2023) in the Country. (d): Total ` 17885 crore have been allocated during the last three years and current year. (e):  Various  steps  have  been  taken  by  Railways  to  expedite  the progress of work,  Joint survey with concerned state Govt./Road Owing Authority    is  being  done  before  finalizing  the  GAD  to  ensure  smooth executing  of  work  Standardization  of  superstructure  drawings  for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on Railway portion  has  been  done  to  avoid  repeated  design  process.      Regular coordination  meeting  are  being  done  with  the  officials  of  State Govt./Road Owning Authority  to resolve various issues arising during construction.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2472 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Reservation in Group 'C' and 'D' Posts in CIL and NCFL
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Ganesh Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2472

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## Reservation in Group 'C' and 'D' Posts in CIL and NCFL

2472# Shri Ganesh Singh

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

a. whether the percentage of reservation has been fixed for the applicants belonging to the other Backward  classes  in  direct  recruitment  of  Group  'C'  and  'D'  posts  in  Coal  India  Limited, Kolkata, Northern Coal Fields Limited, Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh and Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited, Sambalpur, Odisha; and b. if so, the percentage of reservation fixed in the above institutions, category-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) & (b): The recruitment of non-executives in Group 'C' & 'D' posts is carried out by the respective subsidiaries of CIL.  For Group 'C' & 'D' posts, the subsidiaries, namely,  Northern Coalfields Limited, Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, Sambalpur, Odisha  follow the Reservation policy/ quota as prescribed for the respective regions which is given below:

| Company   | State          |   %of OBC |
|-----------|----------------|-----------|
| MCL       | ODISHA         |        12 |
| NCL       | MADHYA PRADESH |        15 |

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2469 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Central Sector Schemes under S&T
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Mimi Chakraborty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2469 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.3.2023

## CENTRAL SECTOR SCHEMES UNDER S&T

## 2469. MS. MIMI CHAKRABORTY:

Will  the  Minister  of  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ मंğी pleased to state:

be

- (a)        whether it is a fact that the department of Science and Technology is allocated Rs. 5746.41 crore in 2023-24 against Rs. 5941.61 crore in 2022-23 for the Central Sector Schemes including the decrease of Rs. 1156 crore for Space programme;
- (b)       if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (c)       the details of the achievements made during the last five years in biotechnology
- including the research projects and medicinal development?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ तथा पृ Øवी ͪव£ान मंğालय क े राÏय मंğी ( èवतंğ Ĥभार) (डॉ . िजतɅġ ͧसंह)

- (a)  & (b)  The Department of Science and Technology has been allocated BE of Rs. 7932.25 crore as against Rs.6002.20 crore in FY 2022-23. This allocation in BE 202324 includes Rs.2000 crore for the National Research Foundation. An allocation of Rs. 12543.91 crore has been made in BE 2023-24 for Department of Space as against Rs 13700 which was BE for the FY 2022-23.
- (c)  The  details  of  the  major  achievements  made  during  the  last  five  years  in Biotechnology includes:
- i. Development  of  different  vaccines  for  COVID-19  and  Human  Papilloma  Virus (qHPV) for 'Swasth Bharat'.
- ii. Genomic Sequencing for Tracking Pathogens including that of COVID-19.
- iii. Therapeutic Interventions with first gene therapy Phase-I clinical trial in India for Hemophilia A.
- iv. Promotion of Biotech Startups ecosystem through Public-Private Partnership
- v. Bringing Regulatory Reforms in the biotechnology domains
- vi. Development of national Resources/Facilities for microbes, life sciences data, DNA fingerprinting, etc.
- vii. Contributions  to  Agriculture  and  Allied  Areas  including  several  Improved Varieties of Food Crops (Maize, Rice, Wheat, Soybean) and Ornamental Plants
- (Rose).
- viii. Capacity Building and Infrastructure development in Biotechnology areas.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2467 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Bidders for Manufacture of Vande Bharat Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rajendra Dhedya  Gavit

-2-

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2467 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## BIDDERS FOR MANUFACTURE OF VANDE BHARAT TRAINS

2467.

SHRI RAJENDRA DHEDYA GAVIT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Indian Railways has invited bids for the manufacturing of 200 Vande Bharat Express trains and its maintenance for 35 years from eligible bidders;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  response  from  the  eligible bidders in this regard; and
- (c) the timeline fixed for the selection of the bidders after analyzing the bids submitted?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) &  (b)  Yes,  Sir.  A  tender  has  been  opened  on  30.11.2022  for manufacture of 200 Vande Bharat trains at an estimated cost of Rs.26,000  Crore  in  Railway  production  units  at  Integral  Coach Factory (ICF)/Chennai and Marathwada Rail Coach Factory (MRCF)/Latur.    Five  bidders  have  participated  in  the  tender, namely,
- (1) M/s Alstom Transport India Limited, Bangalore,

--2/-

-2-

- (2) M/s BHEL in consortium with M/s Titagarh Wagons Ltd., Anandpur, Kolkata, (3) M/s  BEML Ltd  -Bangalore  in  Consortium  with  M/s  Siemens  Ltd., Mumbai, (4) M/s  JSC  Metrowagonmash,  Mytisch,  Russia  in  consortium  with M/s  Rail  Vikas  Nigam  Ltd.,  New  Delhi  and  M/s  Joint  Stock Company Locomotive Electronic Systems (LES), Russia, and (5) M/s Medha Servo Drives Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad in consortium with M/s Stadler Bussnang AG and Traktionssysteme Austria GmbH. (c) The validity of offers is up to 28.05.2023.

*****

--2/-
Lok Sabha Question No. 2465 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Manufactured Sand
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Tapir Gao

## 2465.   Shri Tapir Gao:

## Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state: -

- (a) the  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  in  promoting  sustainability  through  the technique of producing Manufactured Sand;
- (b) whether  the  technique  would  help  in  curbing  illegal  mining  of  the  sand  from  the riverbeds and riverbanks, if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Manufactured Sand would be helpful in reducing the adverse effect of overmining of sand on river morphology, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF COAL, MINES AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a)  to  (c): Sand has been defined as a minor mineral under Section 3(e) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) and as per Section 15 of the MMDR Act, 1957, the State Governments have been empowered for making rules for regulating the grant of quarry leases, mining leases or other mineral concessions in respect of minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith.

Ministry  of  Mines  has  prepared  a  'Sand  Mining  Framework'  in  consultation  with Mining  Departments  of  the  States  incorporating  best  practices  amongst  States  with  the objectives of sustainability, availability, affordability and transparency in sand mining. The 'Sand  Mining  Framework'  has  been  circulated  to  all  the  State  Governments  for  necessary action. The Sand Mining Framework mentions that Manufactured Sand (M-Sand) is the most common alternate of river sand. It also suggests that there is a need to promote M-Sand units on pan-India basis and to create awareness for M-Sand usage given the overall environmental and illegal mining concerns associated with river sand mining.

Further, as per the Sand Mining Framework, basic objectives of promoting of M-Sand are:-

- (i) To prevent damage to eco system by rationalizing the use of river sand in a conserved manner without causing damage to environment.
- (ii) To promote the use of M-Sand as an alternative to River Sand, given the increasing demand of sand for domestic consumption as well as the scarcity of river sand.
- (iii) To meet out the deficit in demand and supply scenario of sand in the States.
- (iv) To  encourage  the  MSME  sector  in  setting  up  of  M-Sand  units  across  all  districts, generate employment and effective utilization of resources.

*******

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2465 TO BE ANSWERED ON- 15.03.2023

## Manufactured Sand
Lok Sabha Question No. 2464 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Special Trains for Festival Seasons
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: M. P. Abdussamad Samadani

2464.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2464

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## SPECIAL TRAINS FOR FESTIVAL SEASONS

DR. M.P. ABDUSSAMAD SAMADANI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning to conduct a detailed traffic study before allotting special trains for festival seasons, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has noticed that the Northern part of Kerala was completely ignored when special trains were allotted in the last festival seasons, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the suffering of passengers due to this discrimination, if so, the details in this regard;

(d) whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  increase  number  of passenger trains by utilising the capacity of track; and

(e) if so, the details in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2464  BY  DR.  M.P.  ABDUSSAMAD SAMADANI  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  15.03.2023 REGARDING SPECIAL TRAINS FOR FESTIVAL SEASONS. (a) :  With  a  view  to  cater  to  additional  demand  for  passenger booking  during  peak/rush  periods/days,  monitoring  of  waiting  list position  of  trains  and  also  sale  of  tickets  on  different  sectors  is done on regular basis which is a continuous and ongoing exercise. (b) to  (e)  :  Indian  Railways  (IR)  do  not  run  train  services  including Special  services  on  State-wise  basis  as  the  Railway  network straddles across the State boundaries. However, to cater, inter-alia, to the needs of passengers of stations located in the Northern part of  Kerala,  127  trips  of  services  have  been  operated  during  the period from 13.06.2022 to 08.03.2023.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2459 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Problem of Call Drop
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Satyadev Pachauri, Nishikant  Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2459 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 TH  MARCH, 2023

## PROBLEM OF CALL DROP

## 2459.   SHRI MANOJ TIWARI: SHRI SATYADEV PACHAURI: DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the problem of call drop has became a common feature across the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to address the said problem; and
- (c) whether the Government proposes to cancel the licenses of the telecom companies in case of their failure in resolving the said problem and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) The  call  drop  in  a  mobile  network  can  happen  due  to  many  reasons  including characteristics  of  radio  propagation  for  wireless  communication,  non-availability  of  sites  due  to acquisition problems etc. The occurrence of call drops is found to be common in mobile networks across the world with varying degree of occurrences. Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in India are required to ensure that the call drop rate in their mobile networks remains within the benchmarks laid down by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

TRAI has been monitoring the performance of TSPs for the License Service Area (LSA) as a whole, through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs) submitted by them against the benchmarks for  various  Quality  of  Service  parameters  laid  down  by  TRAI.  TRAI  publishes  the results of Quality-of-Service Reports including Call Drop parameters, on TRAI website, forcing the service providers to improve its service. TRAI carries out the Audit and Assessment of TSP's Quality of  Service.  Also, TRAI imposes financial disincentives for non-compliance with the benchmark, after considering the explanation submitted by Service Providers in this regard.

TRAI has issued 'The Standards of Quality of Service of Basic Telephone Service (Wireline) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2017' effective from 1st October 2017.

Moreover, in order to obtain direct feedback from subscribers on call drop, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) wherein around 6.40 crore subscribers have been individually contacted since December 2016. Out of these, 77.54 lakh subscribers have participated in the survey. The feedback is shared with the TSPs for taking corrective actions in a time bound manner. As a result, about 1.78 lakh individual cases of call drops  have  been  resolved  so  far  and  around  8,254  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs)  have  been installed by the TSPs specifically to resolve the call drop issues received through IVRS.

(c) There is no such proposal under consideration.

*****