opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 213 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Maintenance of New Pit Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Mohanbhai Kalyanji Kundariya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 213 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## MAINTENANCE OF NEW PIT LINES

## *213. SHRI MOHANBHAI KALYANJI KUNDARIYA:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the new pit line at Rajkot is capable of handling primary and secondary maintenances including Rajdhani, Vande Bharat and Gatiman like trains and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is likely to consider the pending requests for extending trains upto Rajkot after these terminate at Ahmedabad and remain idle for more than fifteen hours in the yard;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) if  not, the reasons therefor and the time likely to be taken for its extension?

## 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 RFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 213 BY SHRI MOHANBHAI KALYANJI KUNDARIYA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 15.03.2023 REGARDING MAINTENANCE OF NEW PIT LINES (a)  :  The  new  pit  line  at  Rajkot  is  capable  of  primary  and  secondary maintenance of Rajdhani and Gatiman types of trains. For  Vande  Bharat  trains  all  Zonal  Railways  have  been  advised  to develop/upgrade existing maintenance infrastructure. Up-gradation/Development at Rajkot to maintain Vande Bharat Trains will also be planned as per operational requirement. (b) to (d):  Extension of train services, is an ongoing process on Indian Railways  which  is  dependent  on  operational  feasibility,  commercial justification,  availability  of  resources  etc.  The  recent  completion  of doubling  work  on  the  Ahmedabad-Rajkot  section  has  eased  out  the severe  line  capacity  constraints  of  the  said  section  and  this  would facilitate extension of train services upto Rajkot.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 211 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Extension of Vista dome Tourist Express
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rajdeep Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 211 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## EXTENSION OF VISTA DOME TOURIST EXPRESS

*211. DR. RAJDEEP ROY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Vistadome  Tourist  Express  which  has  been  started  from Guwahati to Badarpur junction has been successful;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether there is great demand for extending the said route till Silchar;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  whether there is any possibility to extend the route from Badarpur to Silchar, if so, the time by which the project is likely to start?

## 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 STARRED QUESTION  NO.  211  BY  DR.  RAJDEEP  ROY  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 15.03.2023 REGARDING EXTENSION OF VISTA DOME TOURIST EXPRESS (a)  &  (b)  The  overall  average  utilization  of  Train  number  15887/15888 Guwahati -Badarpur Tourist Express for the period 13.11.2021 to 02.03.2023 is 70.52% and 86.22% respectively. (c)  to  (e)  Request  for  increasing  the  frequency/extension  of  vistadome service  has  been  received  from  the  Hon'ble  Member  of  Parliament.  The same  has  been  examined.  However,  extension  of  15888/87  GuwahatiBadarpur Express upto Silchar is not feasible, at present, due to operational constraints including inadequate  lie-over of the train at Badarpur.  Besides,  the  increase  in  frequency  of  15888/87  GuwahatiBadarpur Express is also operationally not feasible. Nonetheless, extension/increase in frequency of train services is an on-going process on Indian Railways,  which  inter  alia depends  on  operational  feasibility, commercial viability, and resource availability. ******
Lok Sabha Question No. 206 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Guidelines to the State Governments for Import of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Kaushalendra Kumar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 206 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

Guidelines to the State Governments for Import of Coal

## *206. SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH: SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any guidelines have been issued by the Union Government asking States to import coal on their own for mass production and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the State Governments are likely to face difficulties in importing coal from various countries which may affect the production of electricity; and
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  reasons  for  issuance  of  such guidelines by the Union Government?

## Answer

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

(a)to(c):  A statement is laid on the table of the House.

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  to  (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred Question No. 206 for answer on 15/03/2023 regarding Guidelines to the State Governments for Import of Coal. (a) & (c):  Ministry of Power vide letter dated 09.01.2023 has directed Central, State Gencos and IPPs to take necessary action and immediately plan to import coal through a transparent competitive procurement for blending at the rate of 6%  by  weight  so  as  to  have  coal  stocks  at  their  power  plants  for  smooth operation  till September 2023. (b): As per the current import policy, coal is kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the sources of their choice as per  their  contractual  prices  on  payment  of  applicable  duty.  As  such,  State Gencos  have  been  importing  coal  as  per  their  requirement.  As  informed  by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), no such difficulty has been reported which

- would affect the production of electricity.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 205 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Acute Shortage of Station Masters
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## †*205.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 205

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## ACUTE SHORTAGE OF STATION MASTERS

## KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is acute shortage of Station Masters at railway stations in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  recruitment  of Station Masters and the time by which the vacancies are likely to be filled;
- (d) the number  of vacancies  advertised and the number  of recruitments  made  on  the  said  vacancies  so  far  by  the Railways;
- (e) whether  the  Railways  has  abolished  Group  D  and  equivalent posts; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof including the reasons therefor?

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  205  BY  KUNWAR  DANISH  ALI  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  15.03.2023  REGARDING  ACUTE SHORTAGE OF STATION MASTERS

(a) & (b) :  The Sanctioned Strength (SS), On Roll (OR) and Vacancy (VAC) position of Station Masters in Indian Railways as on 01.02.2023 is as under:

| Station      |    SS |    OR |   VAC |
|--------------|-------|-------|-------|
| Master Cadre | 41884 | 36531 |  5353 |

Note:  Sanctioned  posts  in  all  categories  are  more  than  actual operational  requirements  as  they  include  an  element  of  Leave Reserve and Rest Giver which varies from 30% to 12.5% in safety categories.

(c)  &  (d)  :  Occurrence  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  is  a  continuous process and the same is filled by placement of indents by Railways with recruitment agencies as per operational requirements. During the process, vacancies may arise and these are filled subsequently. 6865  vacancies  of  Station  Masters  were  notified  vide  Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) No. 01/2019 - Non Technical Popular Categories  (NTPC)  and  panels  for  the  same  have  already  been furnished to indenting Railways.

(e) :

No, Sir.

(f) :

Does not arise.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 203 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Export of Spices
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Rattan Lal Kataria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*203 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 th  MARCH,2023

## EXPORT OF SPICES

## † * 203.   SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India is the largest exporter of spices in the world;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;

- (c) whether the export of Indian spices has increased by over fifteen times during the last three years; and

- (d) if so, whether the value of such export has reached Rs. 69,529 crore in 2020-21?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ( Jh ih;w'k xks;y )

## THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION  NO.  203  FOR  ANSWER  ON  15 th   MARCH,2023  REGARDING  'EXPORT  OF SPICES'

- (a) & (b): In 2021-22, Indian spice exports stood at ₹30,576.44 crore in value terms and 15,31,154 tons in volume terms making India the largest exporter of spices in the world.
- (c): The  export  of  Indian  spices  increased  from  ₹19,505.81  crores  in  2018-19  to  ₹30,576.44  crore  in 2021-22. This represents a growth of 57% in value terms over the three-year period.

(d): In 2020-21, the export value of Indian spices was ₹30,973.32 crore.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2528 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Shortage of Staff
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: Jyotsna Charandas Mahant

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2528

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023)

## SHORTAGE OF STAFF

## †2528. SHRIMATI JYOTSNA CHARANDAS MAHANT:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is an acute shortage of staff in various offices of the Union Government due to non-filling of vacant posts;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) whether the functioning of various Government departments is being adversely affected due to the said shortage and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  initiative  to  fill  all  the  vacant  posts  in  the  said offices in a time bound manner;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (f):   Filling up of vacant posts is a continuous process and Vacancies in various Ministries/ Departments  of  the  Central  Government,  their  attached/  subordinate  offices  arise  due  to retirement,  promotion,  resignation,  death  etc.  All  Ministries/  Departments  of  the  Central Government are ensuring action in a mission mode for filling up of vacant posts in a time bound manner.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2523 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: 5G Network
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ramesh Bidhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2523 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 TH  MARCH, 2023

## 5G NETWORK

## 2523. SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps for improving and streamlining the 5G network in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the other measures taken for weak network, unwanted calls, messages and call drops?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) For improving and streamlining the 5G network in the country, the Government has taken following policy initiatives.

- i. Additional spectrum has been made available.
- ii. Spectrum sharing, trading, leasing and surrender have been permitted as per extant Notice Inviting Application (NIA) terms & conditions and guidelines issued from time to time.
- iii. Procedure for Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation ( SACFA) siting clearance for Low Power BTS/ small cells ,i.e, Micro, Pico and Femto cells on existing street furniture/infrastructure has been simplified.
- iv. To  facilitate  faster  and  easier  deployment  of  telecom  infrastructure,  Government  has amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules (RoW), 2016 on 17th August 2022. These amendments pave the way for deployment of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on existing street infrastructure and also rationalize the fees and charges paid by the Telecom Licensees for the RoW permissions.
- v. GatiShakti Sanchar portal has been launched to facilitate and expedite RoW permissions, by providing  a  single  interface  between  all  stakeholders  including  Central  and  State/UT Government(s), Local bodies and Service Providers.

(c) To curb unsolicited commercial communication (UCC), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India  (TRAI)  issued  Telecom  Commercial  Communication  Customers  Preference  Regulation (TCCCPR) in 2018. TCCCPR, 2018 provides for registration of senders (Principal Entities ('PEs') like businesses, Government entities etc.) and telemarketers with the Access Providers. Registration process helps the businesses to assert their identity and build trust of the clients, helps in traceability of senders and diminishes the ability of unknown entities reaching their customers with calls and messages that are fraudulent or otherwise of dubious nature.

Further,  in  order  to  obtain  direct  feedback  from  subscribers  on  call  drop,  Department  of Telecommunications  (DoT)  has  launched  an  Interactive  Voice  Response  System  (IVRS)  in December 2016. About 1.78 lakh individual cases of call drops have been resolved and around 8,254 BTSs have been installed by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) specifically to resolve the call drop issues received through IVRS.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2521 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Development of New Railway Tracks
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Khagen Murmu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2521 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## DEVELOPMENT OF NEW RAILWAY TRACKS

## 2521. SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways has plans to take any measures to improve the mobility outcomes of the trains;
- (b)
- (c)
- if so, the details thereof;
- if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Railways has plans to further invest in developing new railway tracks;
- (e)
- (f)
- if so, the details thereof; and
- if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (c) Sectional speed over 8404 route kms on Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonal routes  has  been  raised  to  130  kilometer  per  hour(kmph). Further,  works  for  raising  of  sectional  speed  to  160  kmph  on  existing
- New  Delhi-  Mumbai  (including  Vadodara-Ahmedabad)  and  New  DelhiHowrah (including Kanpur-Lucknow) routes have been taken up.
- (d)  and  (f)  As  on  01.04.2022,  across  Indian  Railways,  452  Railway Infrastructure  Projects  (183  New  Line,  42  Gauge  Conversion  and  227 Doubling)  of  total  length  49323  Km,  costing  approximately ₹ 7.33  lakh crore  are  in  different  stages  of  planning/sanction/execution,  out  of

which, 11518 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approximately ₹ 2.35 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2022. During 2014-22, across Indian Railway, 20628 km sections (3970 km New Line,  5507  km  Gauge  Conversion  and  11151  km  Doubling)  has  been commissioned at an average of 2579 km/year which is 70% more than the average commissioning during 2009-14(1520 km/year) *****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2520 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Recruitment of Women in Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sangeeta Azad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2520 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## RECRUITMENT OF WOMEN IN RAILWAYS

## 2520. SHRIMATI SANGEETA AZAD

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of different domains in the Indian Railways;
- (b) the  total  number  of  domains  specifically  for  women  in  the Indian Railways;
- (c) the total number of women vs. men recruited in each domain in the last five years;
- (d) whether the Railways is planning to expand more domains for women;
- (e) if so, the details thereof;
- (f) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (g) whether the Railways is planning to organize more job drives to  recruit  women  in  the  different  domains  of  the  Indian Railways;
- (h) if so, the details thereof; and
- (i) if not, the reasons therefor?

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (i)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2520 BY SHRIMATI SANGEETA AZAD TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  15.03.2023  REGARDING RECRUITMENT OF WOMEN IN RAILWAYS

(a)& (b) : There is no demarcation of domains in Indian Railways. All kind of posts are open for both men and women.

(c) : The details of number  of women vs. men recruited in last five years on Indian Railways are as under :

| Year    | Women   | Men    |
|---------|---------|--------|
| 2018-19 | 786     | 5707   |
| 2019-20 | 8957    | 128570 |
| 2020-21 | 779     | 4779   |
| 2021-22 | 276     | 4336   |
| 2022-23 | 1611*   | 20889* |

(d) to (i) : All posts notified for recruitment on Railways are open to both  men  &  women.    To  encourage  employment  of  women  in Railways,  application  fee  collected  from  female  candidates  is refunded to those who appear in the written examination.  Further, upper  age  limit  in  case  of  widows,  divorced  women  and  women judicially separated from their husbands who are not remarried, is relaxed up to the age of 35 years.  In addition, relaxation is provided in  qualifying  standards  for  the  Physical  Efficiency  Test  (wherever conducted) in case of female candidates.  Further, there is provision of 10% horizontal reservation for women in Group C recruitment to Railway Protection Force (RPF).

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 2519 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Economic Social and SD Plan
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2519

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2023

## ECONOMIC SOCIAL AND SD PLAN

## 2519.   SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that after the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) the Government has not prepared any draft economic, social and sustainable development (SD) plan since 2017 onwards;
- (b) the details of the vision document of the NITI Aayog for the period 2017-22 and for 2022-27 therein; and
- (c) the details of the action plan and the plan proposals of EAC-PM towards economic development of the country for the period 2022-27?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) & (b): The Government of India has replaced Planning Commission with NITI Aayog with  effect  from  January  1,  2015  in  order  to  evolve  a  shared  vision  of  national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in the light  of  national  objectives.    NITI  Aayog  has  been  providing  directional  and  policy inputs  to  Central  Ministries/Departments  and  State  Governments  across  the  range  of sectors such as agriculture, science & technology, education, healthcare, water resources, urbanization, energy, transport and so on.  With setting up of NITI Aayog, the process of five-year plans has been discontinued after the 12 th five-year Plan (2012-17).

Over  the  past  eight  years,  NITI  Aayog  has  offered  specialized  support  -  strategic, functional,  and  technical  -  to  the  Government,  at  both,  the  central  and  state  levels,  on issues crucial to achieving the national development goals. NITI Aayog unveiled a threeyear Action Agenda in August, 2017 for the years 2017-18 to 2019-20. NITI Aayog has also released a Strategy for New India @75 document in December 2018, with policy

recommendations in 41 key areas. No other separate vision document has been released by NITI Aayog.

- (c) No such action plan and plan proposals have been proposed by the Economic Advisory Council  to  the  Prime  Minister  towards  economic  development  of  the  country  for  the period 2022-27.

*****