4. COMMITTEE SECTION- III (Committee on Govt. Assurances)

Transcription

1 4. COMMITTEE SECTION- III (Committee on Govt. Assurances) 4.1 Main Functions:- This Section provides support and assistance to the Committee on Government Assurances in ensuring accountability of the Executive to the Parliament in respect of assurances given on the floor of the Rajya Sabha. The Section in co-ordination with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs culls out assurances given on the floor of the Rajya Sabha; processes requests for extension of time for fulfilment of assurances, received from various Ministries; prepares memoranda containing request for dropping of assurances for consideration of the Committee; scrutinises Implementation Statements furnished by Ministries/Departments to ensure that the issues involved in the assurances are fulfilled fully and satisfactorily; drafts reports on various subjects of vital importance as per the directions of the Committee; reviews the progress of implementation of the pending assurances so as to expedite fulfilment thereof; issues notices for the meetings of the Committee; liaises with various organisations to facilitate on-thespot-study tours by the Committee in connection with the pending assurances; prepares study notes on the visits of the Committee and minutes of the meetings of the Committee; maintains data on pending assurances, prepares Quarterly Statements of pending assurances and assurances under examination by the Committee. 4.2 Culling of Assurances:- During the period under report 820 assurances were culled out from the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha and the Ministries/Departments concerned were asked to fulfil them expeditiously. As on , 1425 assurances were pending. Ministry-wise details are given in (Annexure 4.1). 4.3 Meetings of the Committee and Dropping of Assurances:- During the year under Report, the Committee held 9 sittings as given below:- S. Date of Main Agenda (Dropping/Considerations, Time No. Meeting etc.) Devoted The Committee considered requests for dropping of 1hr.05 min. Assurances received from various Ministries do- 0hr.40 mins do- 0hr.40 mins The Committee considered and adopted the 53 rd 0hr.25 mins. Report of the Committee The Committee heard the Secretary in the Ministry 1hr.35min. of Human Resource Development (Department of Secondary and Higher Education) in connection with the fulfillment of assurances pertaining to Department of Secondary and Higher Education in general and assurances related to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in particular. The Committee considered and adopted the 54 th Report of the Committee The Meeting was adjourned after making an obituary reference to the passing away of Shri Madhavrao Scindia, Member, Lok Sabha. The Committee considered requests for dropping of assurances received from various Ministries 0hr.35 mins. 0hr.05 mins. 1 hr.00 mins.

2 The Committee heard (i) the Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in connection with the fulfillment of long pending assurances pertaining to that Ministry and (ii) the Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation in connection with the fulfillment of pending assurances. 3 hrs.10 mins. The Committee considered 56 requests for dropping of assurances received from various Ministries/Departments and taking into account the genuine difficulties of the Ministries in fulfilling them, accepted 29 requests. In 3 cases, the Committee took oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministries to review the progress of implementation of some pending assurances and to examine the entire gamut of the issues involved therein. A statement showing examination of assurances during the year is placed at (Annexure-4.2). In 4 cases, personal hearing of representatives of Ministries/State Government are pending due to paucity of time (Annexure 4.3) 4.4 Implementation of Assurances:- The Section scrutinised 738 Implementation Statements laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha during the period under review. Assurances which were not found to have been fully or satisfactorily fulfilled or where replies did not contain precise information asked for in the question, were appropriately referred to the concerned Ministries/Departments. 4.5 Preparation of the Reports:- During the period under review, two Reports were prepared for consideration and adoption by the Committee. The details are given below:- Report No. Subject Presented on 53rd Review of progress of implementation of 26 th April, assurances 54 th -do- 29 th August, 4.6 Tour/Visits of the Committee:- The Committee undertook 3 study tours outside Delhi and made 6 local visits to the Organisations headquartered in Delhi to acquire first hand information regarding progress of implementation of some pending assurances. The details are given below:- Place Name of the Organisation Subject Chennai and a) Chennai Petroleum Hyderabad Starred Question No334 From 7.1. to b) Neyveli Lignite dated regarding Uniform VRS for PSU c) Madras Fertilizers employees and USQ.3046 d) Chennai Port Trust dated regarding e) Indian Bank effect of privatization of f) Indian Overseas Bank PSUs on SC/ST employees, g) National Mineral USQ.143 dated Development Corporation regarding amendment to (NMDC) policy on VRS and USQ. h) Mishra Dhatu Nigam No.421 dated i) State Bank of Hyderabad regarding loans provided j) Andhra Bank for higher education by nationalized Banks.. Local Visits at Delhi a) Pawan Hans Helicopters

3 17.5. and Starred Question No234dated regarding restructuring of Pawan Hans Helicopters, USQ.5599 dated regarding restructuring of NHPC, NTPC and PGC.,SQ.299 dated regarding changes in Railway Administration, SQ.163 dated pertaining to Ministry of Labour regarding wages to women workers(employment provided to women by PSUs between ),USQ.4519 dated regarding strategy for tapping rural market of SAIL products and USQ.2330 dated regarding concentration of SAIL on bulk buyers. Starred Question No. 334 dated regarding Uniform VRS for PSU employees, USQ dated 5.3. regarding amounts spent on VRS/VSS in PSEs., USQ dated regarding productivity consumption and export of items dealt by commodity Boards, SQ.125 dated regarding NPAs of Nationalised Banks, USQ.2464 dated regarding appointment of SCs/STs in the high level posts in Major Ports, USQ.228 dated regarding Joint Venture projects in oil sector and SQ.327 dated regarding promotion of LPG as auto fuel. Bangalore-Mangalore- Mumbai From to b) National Termal Power Corporation c) Container Corporation of India d) Steel Authority of India a) Kudremukh Iron Ore Company b) ITI c) HMT d) Hindustan Aeronautical e) Spices Trading f) Coffee Board g) Vijaya Bank h) Canara Bank i) State Bank of Mysore j) New Mangalore Port Trust k) Corporation Bank l) Syndicate Bank m) Indian Oil Corporation n) Bharat Petroleum o) Hindustan Petroleum

4 Chennai-Portblair- Kolkata From to Local visits at Delhi a) Indian Overseas Bank b) Indian Bank c) Chennai Petroleum d) Chennai Port Trust e) Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest & Plant Development Corporation f) Indian Navy g) I.B.P. h) Allahabad Bank i) UCO Bank j) United Bank of India k) Jessop & Co. l) Burn Standard Co. m) Andrew Yule Co. n) Tea Board o) Coal India a) Punjab and Sind Bank b) Punjab National Bank Starred Question No. 125 dated regarding NPA s of Nationalised banks, USQ.896 dated regarding action plan for weak banks, SQ.85 dated regarding cost of production of the cylinder, USQ.2099 dated regarding volume of traffic handled by major ports, USQ.539 dated regarding attacks on forest staff, SQ.383 dated regarding wireless sets for forest officials, USQ.2648 dated regarding Naval Base in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, USQ.3446 dated regarding valuation of IBP assets, USQ.1013 dated 5.3. regarding amount spent on VRS/VSS in PSE s, SQ.103 dated regarding losses suffered by heavy industrial units in Public Sector, USQ.1898 dated regarding purchase preferences for PSE s, USQ.3011 dated regarding productivity consumption and export items dealt by Commodity Boards, USQ.976 dated regarding rampant corruption in Central Coal Fields And USQ.317 dated regarding survival/revival plans of ECL. SQ.125 dated regarding NPA s of Nationalised Banks. 4.7 Inspection:- The inspection of the Section was conducted on 18th October, by Shri P. P. K. Ramacharyulu, Deputy Secretary. Comments/suggestions are awaited. 4.8 Goals and Analysis:- The comprehensive Assurance software has proved of immense help in keeping records as well as monitoring the progress of

5 implementation of pending assurances. Since a definite time frame cannot be set for expeditious fulfillment of all pending assurances because of factors like policy decisions, on going investigations etc., a review has been undertaken to target those assurances which are pending for want of information and also find out default in seeking timely extension of time for fulfillment of assurances. The Committee heard Secretaries of several Ministries having large number of assurances pending for a long time. The meeting had the desired effect which reflected in seeking of timely extension and furnishing of Implementation Reports by Ministries such as Human Resource Development and Petroleum & NaturalGas. 4.9 Computerisation:- The Section has successfully completed the target of data entry in respect of all the assurances. Presently, three computers are installed in the Section. All the three computers have Internet connectivity Budget Allocation:- The section was sanctioned a budget grant of Rs. 22,000/- for meeting the expenditure in respect of refreshments etc. for Committee meetings for the financial year Training to staff:- All the Dealing Assistants went through training on Office Procedure and Service Conditions organized by Training Unit in the Secretariat.