opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 534 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Mining Activities in Forest Areas
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Hanuman Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 534

ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## MINING ACTIVITIES IN FOREST AREAS

†534. SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

whether the Government of Rajasthan has made any correspondence with the Union Government  regarding  the  commencement  of  mining  activities  in  protected  forest areas in various districts of Rajasthan and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

As  per  the  provisions  of  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980  any  non-forest activities  including  mining  on  any  forest  land,  require  the  prior  approval  of  Central Government. The proposals for diversion of forest land are required to be submitted online  on  the  PARIVESH  portal  of  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate Change.

As  per  the  information  provided  by  State  Government  of  Rajasthan,  the  State Government has made correspondence with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate  Change  regarding  commencement  of  mining  activities  in  protected  forest areas  in  Paharpur  Forest  Block  A  and  B  (Bandh-Baretha)  in  tehsil  Roopwas  of Bharatpur district for total 646.56 Ha. forest area. Stage I & II clearance for 398.0085 Ha. (Block-A) for diversion has been issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change vide order dated 11.06.2021 and 11.03.2022 respectively. Proposal for 248.5515 Ha area (Block-B) for diversion has been submitted by Government of Rajasthan through PARIVESH portal on 03.11.2021.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 529 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Achievements of RPF
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal, Queen Oja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 529 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## ACHIEVEMENTS OF RPF

- † 529. DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL: SHRIMATI QUEEN OJA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian Railway has authorised the Railways Protection Force (RPF) to arrest/ search/ seize etc;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  achievements  made  after  granting  this authority; and
- (c) the  number  of  cases  registered  by  RPF  in  matters  related  to Narcotics Trade during the last three years?

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

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

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  529  BY  DR.  BHARATIBEN  DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL AND SHRIMATI QUEEN OJA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2022 REGARDING ACHIEVEMENTS OF RPF

(a)  to  (c):  Railway  Protection  Force  has  been  empowered  to  Arrest, Search  and  Seize  under  Railway  Property  (Unlawful  Possession)  Act, 1966, The Railways Act, 1989 (as amended in 2003), The RPF Act, 1957 and The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement  and  Regulation  of  Trade  and  Commerce,  Production, Supply  and  Distribution)  Act,  2003.  Under  the  power  conferred  through these Acts, RPF conducts arrests and seizures and prosecutes offenders with an aim to control crime against passengers and railway property.

Further,  the  Government  of  India  through  its  notification  no.1403  dated 11.04.2019  published  in  Extraordinary  Gazette  of  India  S.O.  1582(E),  in exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  by  sub-section  (1)  of  section  42  and section  67  of  the  Narcotics  Drugs  and  Psychotropic  Substances  (NDPS) Act, 1985 (61 of 1985), the Central Government empowered the officers of the Railway Protection Force, of the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector and above,  to  exercise  the  powers  and  perform  the  duties  specified  under section  42  within  the  areas  of  their  respective  jurisdiction  and  also authorised the said officers to exercise the powers conferred upon them under section 67 of the NDPS Act.

The Narcotic drugs Seized and Suspects arrested by RPF under NDPS Act are handed over to the agencies empowered to register & investigate it i.e.  GRP/local  police/Narcotics  Control  Bureau  (NCB)/State  Excise  etc. During  the  last  three  years  i.e.  2019  to  2021,  1262  cases  have  been detected by RPF with arrest of 1108 persons and recovery of Narcotics worth ₹ 40.58 crores (approx.).

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 526 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Procurement of Ragi in Karnataka
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Prajwal Revanna

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.526 To BE ANSWERED ON JULY, 2022

## PROCUREMENT OF RAGI IN KARNATAKA

## 526. SHRI PRAJWAL REVANNA:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that Ragi farmers in Karnataka are hit hard by procurement policy and farmers are selling their produce around less than the MSP since Government is delaying procurement
- and its limit and if SO, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the Government has directed the State Governments to procure only 2.1 Iakh tonnes and it includes maximum procurement of only 20 quintals from each farmer and if SO, the details and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the details of quantum of ragi production, procurement and distribution under PDS in the State of Karnataka during the last five years?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)&(b): During KMS 2021-22, two separate procurement plans have been received from State Govt. of Karnataka for 2.10 LMT and 3.14 LMT Ragi: For these plans permissions have been granted expeditiously by the Government of India under the guidelines for procurement, allocation, distribution and disposal dated-7.12.2021.

Hence, State Government of Karnataka has been granted permission for procurement of total quantity of 5.24 LMT of Ragi from farmers at MSP during the KMS 2021-22. As regards 20 quintals procurement from farmers, Government of India has not set any limit:

- (c): The details of production, procurement and distribution under PDS of Ragi in State Government of Karnataka during the last five years are at Annexure-[.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART OF THE UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 526 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 20.07.2022 IN THE LOK SABHA.

## Details of production, procurement and distribution under PDS of Ragi in State Government of Karnataka during the last five years

| Year    | Production of Ragi (in LMT)   |   Procurement of Ragi (in LMT) | Distribution of Ragi (in LMT)   |
|---------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 2017-18 |                               |                        0       | 0                               |
| 2018-19 | 06.7752                       |                        0.9439  | 0.94233428                      |
| 2019-20 | 11.6406                       |                        1.93243 | 1.93243068                      |
| 2020-21 | 13.6983                       |                        4.75315 | 4.75238194                      |
| 2021-22 | 10.7936                       |                        4.04784 | 2.73945449*                     |

#***
Lok Sabha Question No. 524 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: IT Inudstry
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Y. S. Avinash Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  524

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.07.2022

## IT INDUSTRY

## 524.    SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Indian  Information  Technology  (IT)  industry  is  expected  to  grow  15.5  per cent to reach $227 billion in revenue in Financial Year-2022 while adding about 4.5 lakh jobs during the year; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the present status thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

- (a)  and  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  As  per  National  Association  of  Software  and  Services  Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian Information Technology (IT) industry revenue is estimated to grow 15.5% in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 from $196 billion in FY 2020-21 to $227 billion including  export  revenue  of  $177  billion.  The  Indian  IT  Industry  is  estimated  to  directly employ nearly 51 lakhs people with an addition of 445,000 people during FY 2021-22.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 523 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Digital Payments in Rural Areas
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Mitesh Rameshbhai (Bakabhai) Patel, Shardaben Anilbhai Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.523

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN RURAL AREAS

## 523.   SHRI MITESH RAMESHBHAI PATEL(BAKABHAI) SHRIMATI SHARDABEN ANILBHAI PATEL

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has started any awareness campaign regarding digital payments in rural areas; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and (b): A number of measures have been taken to improve awareness regarding digital payments across the country, including in rural areas. Under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan, launched by the Government to promote digital literacy in rural India, over 3.89 crore persons have been trained and certified in the use of various modes of digital payments,  after  successfully  performing  at  least  five  digital  payment  transactions.  In addition,  National  Payments  Corporation  of  India  also  organises  training  programmes  in association  with  banks  and  various  government  institutions  for  spreading  awareness  of digital payments in rural areas.

Further, the Reserve Bank of India has instructed banks to organise camps regarding digital payments,  twice  a  month  through  their  Financial  Literacy  Centres  (1,495  centres,  as  of December 2021)  and  monthly  through  rural  branches.  Moreover,  awareness  about  digital payments is also spread by Centres for Financial Literacy (1,112 centres, as of July 2022) set up  at  the  block  level.  RBI's  'DigiSathi'  (www.digisaathi.info;  helplines  14431  and 18008913333)  to  assist  in  the  use  of  digital  payment  products  and  services  by  providing relevant information to the users.

******
Lok Sabha Question No. 520 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Mini textile Park
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Sanjay Bhatia

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 520 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## MINI TEXTILE PARK

## 520. SHRI SANJAY BHATIA:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state :

(a) whether the industrial areas of Panipat are not provided basic amenities inspite of the fact that this area produces export oriented handloom products;

(b) if so, the reasons therefor; and

(c) the details of the assistance to be provided in setting up of Mini Textile Park in collaboration with the Haryana Government in order to develop global infrastructure in the Parliamentary constituency of Panipat, Haryana?

## उत्तर ANSWER )

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर्

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SMT. DARSHANA JARDOSH)

(a) & (b): The Government of India is implementing National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) and Raw Material Supply Scheme for development and promotion of handloom sector and welfare  of  handloom  weavers  across  the  country  including  Panipat  Haryana.  Under  these  scheme, financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers for raw material, common infrastructure  development,  marketing  of  handloom  product  in  domestic/overseas  market,  Weavers Mudra Loan etc.

Ministry of Textile is implementing Samarth (Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector), a demand-driven, placement-oriented skilling programme to incentivize the efforts of textile industry in creating jobs in the organized textile sector and also to promote skilling/ skill up-gradation needs in the traditional sectors (Handlooms, Handicrafts, Silk & Jute) across India including Panipat.

(c): With a view to increase investments, generate employment opportunities and boosting exports in textile sector, the Government had notified the Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) to provide subsidy for setting up textile parks with world-class state-of-the-art infrastructure in textile hubs across the country. Under the scheme financial assistance is provided to a group of entrepreneurs to establish state-of-the-art  infrastructure  facilities  in  a  cluster  for  setting  up  their  textile  units,  conforming  to international environmental and social standards and thereby mobilize private investment in the textile sector and generate fresh employment opportunities.  Under SITP, a project viz. Aalishan Textile Park was approved in Panipat, Haryana.
Lok Sabha Question No. 519 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Digital Literacy in Rural Areas
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vivek Narayan Shejwalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 519

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.07.2022

## DIGITAL LITERACY IN RURAL AREAS

## 519.  SHRI VIVEK NARAYAN SHEJWALKAR:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the action plan of the Government for increasing digital literacy in rural areas along with the status of the schemes being implemented by the Government at present;
- (b)  the  name  of  the  scheme  being  implemented  in  Madhya  Pradesh  for  increasing  digital literacy along with the status thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any survey to assess whether aptitude for digital literacy is also increasing in rural areas?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

- (a): To enhance digital adoption, MeitYis focusing on providing digital literacy to the citizens across the country especially in the rural areas. In line with this, the Pradhan MantriGramin Digital SakshartaAbhiyan (PMGDISHA) was approved by Union Cabinet in February 2017 to  usher  in  digital  literacy  in  rural  India  with  a  target  to  cover  6  crore  rural  households  (1 person per household) across the country.

So far, a total of around 6.15 crore candidates have been enrolled and 5.24 crore have been trained,  out  of  which  3.89  crore  candidates  have  been  certified  under  the  PMGDISHA Scheme.

- (b): The PMGDISHA scheme is beingimplementedacross the rural Indiaincluding the state of Madhya Pradesh.  Against  the  indicative  target  of  37.84  lakh,so  far,  45.42  lakh  candidates have been trained, out of which, 33.51 lakh candidates have been duly certified in Madhya Pradesh under the scheme.
- (c): Government  has  carried  out,  three  impact  assessment  studies  for  PMGDISHA scheme. The last impact assessment study of the scheme was carried out by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in FY 2020-21. IIPA, after the comprehensive and methodological evaluation of scheme, concluded in the report that PMGDISHA as a digital literacy  programme  plays  an  indispensable  part  in  not  only  bridging  the  digital  gap  in  the country but also transforming it into a knowledge economy and society.

There seems to be a good demand for acquiring digital literacy in the rural areas as can be seen by the number of enrolments to the tune of more than 6.15 crore under the PMGDISHA scheme

******
Lok Sabha Question No. 516 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Defence Communications
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 516 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2022

## DEFENCE COMMUNICATIONS

## 516. SHRI NATARAJAN P.R.:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of buget provision made and utilised to rollout telecom infrastructure for defence communications network to imporve access to the people in rural and remote areas;
- (b) whether prices of the Optic Fibre Cables have increased manifold, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  details  of  the  action  taken  to  maintain  fair  pricing  mechanism  on  the  telecom procurements?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Network for  Spectrum(NFS) project  is  being  executed  for  providing  dedicated  Optical Fibre (OF) Cable based network for releasing of spectrum by Defence Forces. Under this project, complete  Telecom  Network  (OF  Cable,  Transmission  Equipments,  Microwave,  Satellite, Encryptors, End Point Equipments) is being implemented covering all Defence establishments for exclusive use of Defence forces.  Based on the requirement of the project, budget of Rs.24,664 Cr has been provisioned and out of this budget Rs.19,185.55 Cr has been utilised till date.

For improving communication in rural and remote areas, BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. As on 04.07.2022, a total number of 1,77,550 GPs are made Service Ready in the country.  Now, the scope of BharatNet project has been extended upto villages beyond GPs in the country.  The timeline of the BharatNet project is 2025.  Total disbursed funds under BharatNet Project as on 31.03.2022 is Rs.29475.093 Cr.

- (b) As per the rates discovered in the latest tender invited by BSNL during the current year 2022, the rates of 24F un-armoured and 24F/48F armoured cables, have been found to be higher as compared to corresponding rates discovered in an earlier tender, invited by BSNL in the year 2020.

The rates of main raw material used in manufacturing of these cables and other production costs have increased during the period, which has led to increase in rates quoted for the tender of cables.

(c) Tender conditions in DoT and its PSUs are kept non-restrictive.  Tendering procedure using transparent e-tender process, followed by e-reverse auction, are conducted for achieving fair & competitive prices.

****

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Lok Sabha Question No. 515 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: State of Education
Ministry: STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
Asked by: Badruddin Ajmal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 515

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## STATE OF EDUCATION

515. SHRI M. BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  any  survey  has  been  conducted  to  analyse  the  state  of education  in  the  country  as  compared  to  other  under  progress countries;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not whether there is any such plan in the pipeline of this Ministry;
- (c)  whether  any  data  is  available  on  the  amount  India  spends  on education from its GDP and the amount that is required to be invested in this sector;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the details of its impact?

## 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) and (b):  National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation  in  its  75 th   round  (July  2017-  June  2018), conducted  a  survey  on  Household  Social  Consumption:  Education. From  this  survey  the  estimates  of  various  indicators  relating  to

participation  of  the  persons  of  age  3  to  35  years  in  the  education system, expenditure incurred on education of the household, etc. are obtained.  Besides, for persons of age 5 years and above, information was collected on ability  to  operate  computer,  ability  to  use  internet and use of internet during last 30 days.  On the basis of data collected in  75 th   round,  a  report  (No.585)  "Household  Social  Consumption  on Education  in  India"  has  been  released  and  the  same  is  available  in Ministry's Website. (c)  and  (d):  As  per  the  report  'Analysis  of  Budgeted  Expenditure  on Education  2017-18  to  2019-20'  of  Ministry  of  Education,  India's  total expenditure  on  education  as  percentage  of  GDP  in  2019-20  was 4.39%. As per New Education Policy 2020, in order to attain the goal of education with excellence and the corresponding multitude of benefits to this Nation and its economy, this Policy unequivocally endorses and envisions a substantial increase in public investment in education by both the Central government and all State Governments. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP.

- *****