opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 3 (STARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Kolar Gold Fields
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: S. Muniswamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 3

## ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## KOLAR GOLD FIELDS

*3. SHRI S. MUNISWAMY: Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has received the final feasibility study report regarding the restarting of the mining activity at Kolar Gold Fields; (b) if so, whether the report suggests that mining activity is not feasible there; (c) whether there is a plan to convert these Gold Mines to museums; (d) if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the Government is aware that similar Gold Mines in South Africa have been converted to museums; (f) if so, whether the Government is also planning to send a team to have a thorough study regarding the same; and (g) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINES, COAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

(SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI) (a) to (g): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

- *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (g)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 3 FOR ANSWER ON 02.02.2022 ASKED BY SHRI S.

MUNISWAMY REGARDING KOLAR GOLD FIELDS. (a)  &  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  Management  Consultant  hired  for  suggesting  way  forward  in respect  of  Bharat  Gold  Mines  Limited  (a  PSU  under  the  M/o  Mines)  whose operations  are  closed  since  01.03.2001,  has  submitted  its  report.    Based  on  the report  of  the  Management  Consultant,  Monitoring  Committee  constituted  by  the Ministry to suggest way forward for BGML, has recommended that the underground mining activities have been abandoned since closure and is flooded with sub-surface ground water.  Hence, the existing underground mines are not accessible. Further, the mines were closed due to unviable and uneconomic mining of gold and the lease is expiring in 2023, it would be prudent not to pursue the mining activities by BGML. On  expiry  of  the  BGML  mining  lease,  Government  of  Karnataka  may  auction  or allocate  the  ore  tailing  dumps  and  the  two  gold  mineralization  blocks  namely  Mc Taggert  and  Oriental  lodes  which  are  located  within  the  BGML  mining  lease  for development  of  the  plants  for  extraction  of  gold  from  dumps  and  exploration  and exploitation of the gold mineralization blocks respectively. (c) & (d): There is no plan in Ministry of Mines to convert BGML mines to museums. (e):  As per available information, Crown Mines, one of the largest and deepest gold mines in Johannesburg in South Africa is converted to Museum. (f) & (g): There is no such plan under consideration.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 230 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Awareness Programmes for Railway Employees
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 230 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## AWARENESS PROGRAMMES FOR RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

## 230.  SHRI KANUMURU RAGHU RAMA KRISHNA RAJU:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to State:

- (a)  the  steps  being  taken  for  observing  Energy  Conservation  Week along  with  conducting  various  awareness  programmes  for  railway employees and the public by displaying posters, distributing pamphlets and organising seminars in this regard; and
- (b) the response received in this regard and the time by when such programmes are likely to be conducted?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  and  (b)  Every  year,  14th  December  is  celebrated  as  Energy Conservation Day over Indian Railways (IR) and Energy Conservation week is celebrated around this date to create awareness for making all  efforts  on  energy  conservation.  Various  events  and  activities  are undertaken for creating awareness among the Railway employees and the general public towards the need for energy conservation. Some of the activities undertaken by Railways are as follows:

- i. Mass  awareness  drives  across  the  Railways  by  distributing pamphlets to all the staff, vendors etc.
- ii. Displaying of banners and posters at major locations like Railway stations,  service  buildings,  workshops  and  other  associated offices of Railways.
- iii. Campaign to create awareness among Railway staffs and their Family members.
- iv. Display  of  energy  efficient  appliances  to  create  awareness through exhibitions.
- v. Display  of  energy  conservation  templates  through  electronic display  at  Railway  stations  to  engage  passengers  and  general public towards energy conservation.
- vi. Seminars  are  organized  for  dissemination  of  information  on energy conservation.
- vii. Quiz  competitions,  painting  and  essay  writing  competitions  etc are  also  organized  to  create  awareness  towards  the  need  of energy conservation.

Enthusiastic response and active participation is observed during the celebration of Energy conservation week organized by the Railways.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 228 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Land Acquisition for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Feroze Varun Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 228 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## LAND ACQUISITION FOR MUMBAI-AHMEDABAD BULLET TRAIN PROJECT

## 228. SHRI

## FEROZE VARUN GANDHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  status  of  land  acquisition  for  the  Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project;
- (b) the  amount  of  private  land  that  has  been  acquired  by  the National High-Speed Rail Corporation;
- (c)     whether the Government  has  completed  the payment  of compensation  to  the  private  landowners  from  whom  land  has already been acquired; and
- (d) the number of cases pending before and disposed of by courts and tribunals against the Government in relation to the project?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  and  (b):  Out  of  1396  Ha  land  requirement  for  the  MumbaiAhmedabad High Speed Rail, about 1193 Ha land has been acquired so far, including 925 Ha of Private land.
- (c)  and  (d):  Yes,  Sir.  Compensation  for  land  acquisition  has  been done as per 'Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (RFCTLARR), 2013'. Amongst the court cases, till date, 75 cases (71 in Gujarat and  4  in  Maharashtra)  pertaining  to  land  acquisition  has  been disposed off by concerned High Courts and 18 cases are currently pending  in  Hon'ble  High  Courts  of  Gujarat  and  Maharashtra  and  4 cases in Hon'ble Supreme Court.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 225 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  FEBRUARY, 2022

## BHARATNET PROJECT

## †225.   SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the  number  of  villages  provided  with  internet  facility  under  BharatNet  project  in Rajasthan and the number of villages thus left;

- (b) the number of such villages where the tribal population is more than fifty percent;
- (c) the time by which the target is likely to be achieved; and
- (d) the details of the quantum of fund to be spent in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) Rajasthan has about 46,343 villages (including 11,341 GPs). These include 5,697 villages having tribal population more than 50 percent and declared as Scheduled Areas. So far, 8,769  GPs  have  been  made  service  ready  under  BharatNet  Project,  as  of  December  2021. Remaining 37,574 villages / GPs have the time-line as August, 2023 for their implementation.

(d) As of December 2021, Bharat Broadband Network Limited (the Executing Agency for BharatNet Project) has disbursed Rs. 995.7 Crore as CAPEX for the Project in Rajasthan. Under Public  Private  Partnership  (PPP)  model  of  implementation  of  BharatNet  in  Rajasthan,  the approved  maximum  viability  gap  funding  is  Rs.2,441  crore  for  providing  connectivity  to  all villages including GPs.

****

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 223 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Disposal of Works
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: Balak Nath, Sumedhanand Saraswati

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 223

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022)

## DISPOSAL OF WORKS

## †223. SHRI BALAK NATH: SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the employees working in Government Departments dispose of the works of the common man within a stipulated time frame and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  common  man  loses  hope  after  the  frequent visits to Government Departments which leads to their lack of trust in the Government; and
- (c) if so, the efforts being made by the Government to fix accountability of an employee?

## 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  (c):      The  Government  of  India  has  taken  several  measures  to  ensure  that  the  work  of citizens  are  disposed  of  in  prescribed  time  frame.  These  include  (a)  implementation  of  the Citizen's  Charters  in  all  Ministries  /  Departments;  (b)  Disposal  of  public  grievances  through Central Public Grievance Redressal System (CPGRAMS); (c) Assessment of e-Service delivery through National e-Services Delivery Assessment; and (d) Assessment through Good Governance Index. Further, continuous review and improvement are made in these systems to make them more  effective.  CPGRAMS  reforms  has  improved  timeline  for  disposal  of  public grievances and accordingly time-frame for disposal of a grievance has been reduced to 45 days from 60 days.

The  Government  has  also  reinforced  several  measures  to  improve  efficiency  in  the decision-making in the  Government.   Those measures include reducing levels in a  channel of submission,  delegation  of  powers  to  lower  formulations,  optimizing  digital  tools  including  e office, digitization of Central Registry Units etc.  The Government has also conducted special campaign from Oct. 2-31, 2021 targeted towards disposal of pending matters. The campaign has significantly reduced the pendency in identified categories.

The Government undertook a week long Nationwide campaign  -  'Prashashan Gaon ki Aur' from December, 20-25, 2021 aiming at resolving public grievances and deliver services to the people at their door steps. During the campaign total 380 Citizen Charters were updated, 621 new services have been added in Citizens Charters, 6.67 lakhs Public Grievances were attended to and 2.89 cr applications under service delivery were disposed of.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 219 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Season Ticket System
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Prathap Simha, Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, B. Y. Raghavendra, Umesh G. Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 219 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## SEASON TICKET SYSTEM

219.  SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

SHRI SHA.BRA.DR.JAI SIDDESHWAR  SHIVACHARYA MAHASWAMIJI:

SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA:

DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether several trains and stoppages which were suspended in Karnataka and Maharashtra pre COVID-19 have been restored;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the details of trains and stoppages in Southern  and  Northern  parts  of  Karnataka  and  in  Solapur district of Maharashtra that have not yet been resumed;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  noticed  that  the  season  ticketing  system, which  was  discontinued  as  part  of  the  Covid  -19  regulations,  is  not  fully operational  in  Southern  and  Northern  Karnataka,  especially  in  the  Mysore, Shimogga, Kolar and Gulbarga districts and in Solapur district of Maharashtra; and
- (d) if so, the action proposed to be taken to re-establish the season ticketing system, suspended trains and stoppages in Karnataka and Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (d)    Indian  Railways  had  discontinued  all regular  passenger  carrying trains  w.e.f    23.03.2020    to  contain  the  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic  and train  services  are  being  operated  in  a  phased  manner.  Further,  Indian Railways do not run train services on state-wise basis as railway network straddles across state boundaries.

At present, over South Western Railway, Season tickets are permitted in all ordinary and Mail/Express trains having unreserved coaches. Season tickets are  also  permitted  in  unreserved  coaches  from  Mangaluru  junction  and Mangaluru  Central  stations  under  Southern  Railway  Jurisdictions.  Further, issue  of  season  tickets  over  different  sections  of  Indian  Railways  is  an ongoing  and  continuous  process  based  on  the  availability  of  unreserved accommodation, Covid protocol of the state Governments etc.

- *****
Lok Sabha Question No. 217 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Niti Ayog’s Report on Backwardness of States
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Kaushalendra Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.217

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## NITI AYOG'S REPORT ON BACKWARDNESS OF STATES

## 217. SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH: SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any plan to provide special status to Bihar State as given to J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and North East to facilitate the Industrial Development in the State as per the Niti Ayog's reports on backwardness of Bihar and few other States which have slipped to last steps in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS & 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) to (c): NITI Aayog has not released any Report on Backwardness of States. However, as per  the  National  Multidimensional  Poverty  Index  (MPI)  Baseline  Report  released  by  NITI Aayog  in  2021,  Bihar  has  the  highest  proportion  of  multi  dimensionally  poor  people,  at 51.91%  of  the  state's  population,  followed  by  Jharkhand  at  42.16%  and  Uttar  Pradesh  at 37.79%.

The special  category  status  was  granted  in  the  past  by  the  National  Development  Council (NDC) to some States based on characteristics necessitating special consideration, such as, hilly  and  difficult  terrain;  low  population  density;  strategic  location  along  borders  with neighboring countries;  economic & infrastructural backwardness; and non-viable nature of State finances.

Subsequently,  the  Fourteenth  Finance  Commission  (FFC)  has  not  made  any  distinction between General Category States and Special Category States in the horizontal distribution of  shareable  taxes  amongst  the  States.  Taking  into  account  the  total  requirements  of  the States and recommendations of Fourteenth Finance Commission, the Union Government has already  increased  the  share  of  taxes  to  the  States  from  32%  to  42%  for  the  period  201520.  The Fifteenth Finance Commission has also retained the increased devolution of funds with net shareable taxes to the States at 41% (1% reduction due to change in status of the erstwhile  State  of  Jammu  &  Kashmir).   The  objective  has  been  to  fill  the  resource  gap  of each State to the extent possible through tax devolution and to provide more untied resources to  the  States.   Further,  Government  of  India  also  announced  a  special  package  of  Rs  1.25 lakh crore for development of Bihar in 2015.

In this backdrop, there is no proposal to grant special category status to any State, including Bihar.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 216 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Space Debris
Ministry: SPACE
Asked by: Pinaki Misra

## 216.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF SPACE LOK SABHA

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2022

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 216 SPACE DEBRIS

- SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the ISRO has identified the number and details of space debris  created  by  anti-satellite  weapon  test  conducted  by Russia on November 15, 2021;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  tests  conducted  by  Russia  has  posed  risks  to civilian  space  programmes  or  space  situational  awareness  for satellites of India and led to change of their time or path; and
- (d) if  so,  the  details  about  those  risks  and  change  of  the  already fixed plan/path including the timeline?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) Yes Sir. Currently, ISRO uses information from the public domain for  data,  specifically  SpaceTrack  website  of  USSPACECOM,  to

identify the number and details of space debris  created by antisatellite weapon test conducted by Russia.

- (b) The Russian anti-satellite test created 1251 pieces of trackable debris at an altitude of 450-500 km as reported by SpaceTrack. As of today there are 1142 catalogued objects still in orbit whereas the remaining 109 have decayed.
- (c) & (d)

Anti-satellite  weapon  tests  and  fragmentation  events  in  space, pose threat to satellites. As of now there are no threats identified due  to  the  Russian  fragments  to  India  space  assets  and  no collision  avoidance  maneuvers  were  planned  to  avoid  collisions threats from these fragments.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 213 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Enhancement of Amenities
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ramesh Chandra Majhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.213 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## ENHANCEMENT OF AMENITIES

213. SHRI. RAMESH CHANDRA MAJHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  modernise  and  enhance amenities at various railway stations in Odisha including Bhubaneswar and Puri, a prominent railway station that is the hub for pilgrims/devotees of Lord Jagannath and Lord Lingaraj;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the allocations, if any, made by the Government in this regard; and

(c) whether the Government has received any request or proposal from the Government of Odisha in this regard and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## 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.213 BY SHRI. RAMESH CHANDRA MAJHI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 02.02.2022 REGARDING ENHANCEMENT OF AMENITIES

(a)   Presently, Railway stations are upgraded/modernized under Adarsh Station Scheme based on identified need of providing better enhanced passenger amenities at railway stations. Under Adarsh Station Scheme, 1253 stations have been identified for development over Indian Railways, out of which 1212 stations have been developed so far and the remaining 41 stations are planned for development in Financial Year 2022-23.  In  all  46  Stations  were  identified  for  upgradation  under  the Adarsh  Station  Scheme  in  the  state  of  Odisha.  All  these  46  stations have been developed under the Scheme.

(b)  An  umbrella  work  for  'Major  Upgradation  of  Railway  Stations  on Indian Railways' with a total cost of ` 12,000 crore has been included in the supplementary Budget 2021-22. This work includes the development of Puri Railway Station.

(c) Ministry of Railways had received a proposal from the Government of Odisha  for  redevelopment  of  Bhubaneswar  Railway  Station  for  jointly developing  with  the  Government  of  Odisha.  This  work  has  been entrusted to Rail Land Development Authority.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 212 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Five Year Plan
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 212

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## FIVE YEAR PLAN

## 212. SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that since 2017 after the 12th five year plan, Niti Ayog has stopped framing  of  five  year  broadway  plan  for  transparent  and  objective  mechanism  of development of the Government;
- (b) if so, whether the Government has received the 12th five year report (2012-2017) from the then planning commission therein and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  reason  to  stop  the  framework  and  the  present  outline  programme  for  overall development of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS & 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) 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 12th Plan.

.

- (b) &  (c)   Yes  Sir.  The  exercise  of  appraisal  of  12th  five  year  plan  (2012-17)  was undertaken following a decision taken in the first meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog on 8 th February, 2015. This appraisal assessed the performance during the first four years of the plan (2012-13 to 2015-16) and spelt out policy-or-implementationrelated changes aimed at furthering the development agenda of the nation. Further, in the backdrop  of  an  increasingly  open  and  liberalized  economy,  it  was  felt  that  a  fresh approach to the development process with a long term vision for the country is required. In this context, NITI Aayog has released a Strategy for New India @75 document with policy recommendations in 41 key areas with drivers of growth, infrastructure, inclusion and governance.  In addition, a three year Action Plan for the years 2017-18 to 2019-20 was also released by NITI Aayog.

*****