Ministry of Minority Affairs implements various welfare schemes for the socio- economic and educational empowerment of six centrally notified minority communities namely Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs.

During the period from 2015-16 to 2019-20, total fund allocated for Ministry of Minority Affairs was Rs. 21160.84 crore and actual expenditure was Rs. 19,201.45 crore which is approx 90.75% of total fund allocated.

Since 2014-15 to till date, a total number of 4,00,06,080 scholarships have been distributed to the students belonging to economically weaker sections of minority communities, by incurring a total expenditure of Rs.11,690.81 crore. An amount of Rs.9223.68 crore has been spent for providing scholarships to 3,06,19,546 beneficiaries under various scholarship schemes of the Ministry during the period from 2015-16 to 2019-20, out of which about 54% scholarships have  been awarded to minority girlstudents.

This information was given by Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

In a well-worded, well-analysed, well-justified and well-reasoned judgment titled Kangana Ranaut vs Municipal Corporation of Gr. Mumbai & Ors in Writ Petition (L) No. 3011 of 2020, a two Judge Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Justice SJ Kathawalla and Justice RI Chagla remarkably and rightly while restraining the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai from carrying out any further demolition at Kangana Ranaut’s residence in Bandra could not restrain themselves from observing that if the Corporation acted with similar swiftness about the numerous unauthorized constructions in the city, this city would have been a completely different place to live in. Bombay High Court was absolutely shell shocked to see the astronomical speed with which the demolition work was carried out. It also noted that the civic body started the demolition work within 24 hours of giving the notice seeking a reply when the 33 year old actor Kangana Ranaut was not even in the State.

                             In this context, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too jumped in the fray and did not hesitate to come out in full support of Kangana Ranaut who he felt was being selectively witch hunted because of her taking a strong stand against the Shiv Sena led State government in Maharashtra on a host of issues including the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Fadnavis minced no words to condemn BMC’s move to demolish parts of Kangana’s office and raised serious question marks about why the Maharashtra government was not demolishing underworld don Dawood Ibrahim ‘s house located in Mumbai who is absconding ever since the March 12, 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai which left about 257 dead and about 800 injured? Fadnavis further said that the Maharashtra government feels that our fight is not with Corona but with Kangana!  

                    While narrating the key points and brief background of this notable case, the ball is set rolling by first and foremost observing in para 1 that, “The above Writ Petition is not on Board. The Associate of this Court has today at 11.30 a.m., placed before us a Praecipe along with an unaffirmed copy of the Writ Petition on behalf of the Petitioner, stating therein that as a result of a fall-out with certain influential people operating in the Administration and the Government, she has received a Notice dated 7^th September, 2020 under Section 354A of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 (‘the Act’) from the Executive Engineer, H/West Ward of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (‘MCGM’) claiming that he has been satisfied that the Petitioner has unlawfully commenced, undertaken or carried out erection of building/erection of work, as described in the Schedule to the said notice. The said Notice further calls upon the Petitioner to produce documentary evidence proving authorization of the unauthorized work mentioned in the Notice; to stop the erection of the said building/execution of the said work forthwith and to produce permission, if any, obtained from the MCGM, within 24 hours from the service of the Notice. The Notice also provides that if the Petitioner fails to produce within 24 hours, the permission of MCGM to carry out the said works, MCGM shall under Section 354A of the Act, without any further notice, cause the said building or work to be pulled down at the risks and cost of the Petitioner.” 

                    Furthermore, para 2 then says that, “It is further stated in the Praecipe that since 24 hours have elapsed, the Corporation is seeking to demolish the Petitioner’s residence today itself and therefore, the Court should restrain the Corporation from demolishing the premises of the Petitioner, who is currently out of Maharashtra and is expected to be in Mumbai today.”

                            As it turned out, it is then stated in para 3 that, “In view of the urgency and also in view of the fact that the Corporation has filed a caveat in this Court, the matter was directed to be placed at 12.30 p.m. today and the Advocate for the petitioner was asked to give notice to the MCGM.”

                  To put things in perspective, it is then pointed out in para 4 that, “Before we record as to what transpired before us at 12.30 p.m., we feel it necessary to set out a few facts in the matter:

4.1 The Petitioner is in use, occupation and possession of Bungalow No. 5, Chetak Row House, 41, Nargis Dutt Road, Pali Hill, Bandra (W), Mumbai – 400050 (‘the said Premises’).  

4.2 On 8^th September, 2020 at 10.03 a.m., MCGM pasted a Notice dated 7^thSeptember, 2020 on the outer door of the said Premises. The Notice under Section 354A of the Act, was addressed to the Petitioner by the Executive Engineer, H/W Ward, stating that the Executive Engineer is satisfied that the Petitioner has unlawfully commenced/is carrying out the erection of work described in the Schedule to the said Notice at the said Premises.”

                      Briefly stated, para 4.3 then mentions a long list of works observed “beyond approved” BCC Plan bearing No. CE/4349/BSIL/AH/dated 07.03.1979. It also directs petitioner to produce documentary evidence showing authorization of above mentioned works. It also directs petitioner to stop the erection of the said building/execution of the said work forthwith. It also further directs petitioner to produce permission approved by the competent authority in favour of erection of the building or execution of the work within 24 hours from the service of this notice and then warns that if petitioner fails to stop the execution of work forthwith or if stopped and fail to produce permission within 24 hours, then under Section 354(A) and in exercise of powers and function conferred upon me as aforesaid without any further notice cause the said building or work to be removed or pull down at petitioner’s risk and cost. It also pointed out that further note that you and /or any person directing/carrying out such erection/work shall be removed by Police Officer from the place where the building is being erected or work is being executed. It then noted: “And that any material, machinery, equipment, device or articles used in process of erection of building or execution of work will be caused to be removed without any further notice at your risk and cost. Lastly observed that, “Sketch (Not to the Scale).”

                    As a corollary, it is then stated in para 4.4 that, “The sketch shown in the Notice is extremely unclear and the ‘unauthorized’ works cannot at all be seen in this sketch.” This is a very important observation as the Bombay High Court says explicitly that the sketch is extremely unclear and in addition the ‘unauthorized’ works about which so much of brouhaha was made by the BMC cannot at all be seen in this sketch!

                       What then ensues is stated in para 4.5 that, “The Advocate for the Petitioner immediately served a Reply-Letter dated 8^th September, 2020 to the Executive Engineer (B&F) H/W Ward and recorded therein that the allegations made by the MCGM in the said Notice are false and the same shall be forthwith dealt with by the Petitioner, who is expected to arrive in Mumbai on 9^th September, 2020 and requested for a minimum of 7 days to respond and address the concern raised in the said Notice. By the said Reply-Letter, MCGM was called upon not to misuse its dominant position “to cause prejudice to the Petitioner with any hidden agenda coupled with ulterior motives”.”  

                            Going ahead, para 4.6 then discloses that, “On 8^th September, 2020, the MCGM filed its Caveat before this Court under Section 148-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, recording therein that the Petitioner is likely to file a Writ Petition before this Court challenging the Notice dated 7^th September, 2020 issued by the MCGM to the Petitioner, pertaining to the said Premises and “LET NOTHING BE DONE in the above mentioned matter unless prior notice is given to the Corporation”. The MCGM also filed the Vakalatnama of its Advocate along with the said Caveat.”

                        Significantly, it is then stated in para 5 that, “The matter was called out at 12.30 p.m. However, for the first ten minutes, none appeared for the MCGM despite notice being served on them by the Petitioner’s Advocate. In the meantime, the Advocate for the Petitioner informed the Court that today morning at around 11.00 a.m., the MCGM moved its entire machinery and in the presence of several police officers, started carrying out the job of demolition by use of heavy machines and by now 40% of the said Premises is already demolished by the MCGM. Thereafter, an in-house Advocate of the MCGM appeared and informed the Court that they do not have a copy of the Writ Petition. The Advocate for the Petitioner informed the Court that a copy of the Writ Petition has been served on the MCGM. This Court inquired from the Advocate for the MCGM whether she at least had a copy of the impugned Notice issued by the Corporation to the Petitioner. The answer given was in the negative. When this Court inquired as to who is instructing her in the matter, she informed the Court that none of the Officers of the MCGM are present with her. Since the Court was of the view that the MCGM is trying to waste the time of the Court and in the meantime complete the demolition of the said Premises, the Advocate for MCGM was orally instructed by the Court to forthwith inform the Municipal Commissioner that the Court has directed the MCGM to forthwith stop the demolition work, in the light of today’s hearing pending before the Court. Since no clear assurance was coming from the Advocate that the Municipal Commissioner was so informed, the Court Associate at our instance tried to call up the Municipal Commissioner, whose cellphone was continuously switched-off. Ten minutes thereafter, the in-house Advocate for the Corporation informed the Court that the directions of this Court were conveyed to the Municipal Commissioner. About 15 minutes thereafter, Shri Sakhare, Senior Advocate, for MCGM appeared before the Court through video conferencing. In response to a query by the Court, he informed the Court that he too is not having a copy of the Writ Petition as well as copy of the impugned Notice and that the offices of the Corporation are not with him since he is appearing from his residence.” 

                 More significantly, the Bench then without mincing any words lampoons in para 6 holding that, “We find the above conduct of the MCGM highly deplorable, more so since the MCGM was well aware that a Writ Petition would be filed by the Petitioner before this Court at any time, and an application seeking urgent orders will be moved by the Petitioner and MCGM had therefore filed a Caveat before this Court. We, therefore, informed Senior Advocate Shri Sakhare that such conduct on the part of the MCGM is totally unacceptable to the Court. However, Shri Sakhare immediately arranged to bring the Assistant Municipal Commissioner as well as the Executive Engineer (B&F) of H/W Ward of MCGM online to answer the queries raised by the Court.”

                               What’s more, it is then disclosed in para 7 that, “In response to the queries put to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner, H/W Ward as well as the Executive Engineer, they have informed the Court as follows:

7.1 That on 5^th September, 2020 i.e. Saturday, the Building Mukadam whilst he was in the H/West Ward, noticed some work going on in the said Premises and also certain debris lying outside the said Premises.

7.2 The Mukadam informed about the same to the Assistant Engineer (B&F) of the MCGM.

7.3 The Assistant Engineer (B&F) of the MCGM, who is the Field Officer, informed about the same to the Designated Officer, (B&F), who is the Executive Engineer of H/W Ward of the Corporation.

7.4 The Executive Engineer along with others visited the said Premises on 7^thSeptember, 2020 at 11.00 a.m. (Monday), where Shri Nikhil Surve, Manager of the premises was also present. After Shri Nikhil Surve took permission from Ms. Rangoli, sister of the Petitioner over the phone, the Executive Engineer and others were given access to the said Premises. The Executive Engineer and others inspected the said Premises and prepared inspection notes, inspection report and also notice under Section 354A, addressed to the Petitioner, on the same day i.e. 7^thSeptember, 2020, and pasted the Notice on the outer door of the said Premises on 8^th September, 2020 (Tuesday) at 10.03 a.m. 

7.5 Exactly after 24 hours, MCGM started the demolition work, which is stopped few minutes back in view of the oral directions of this Court.”

                       Most significantly, it is then clearly and convincingly enunciated in para 8 that, “Section 354A of the Act (which is invoked by the MCGM by issuing the impugned Notice dated 7^th September, 2020), sets out the ‘power of Commissioner to stop erection of building or work commenced or carried on unlawfully.’ From the works set out in the Notice, it is clear beyond any doubt that the works which are ‘unauthorised’ have not come up overnight. However, all of a sudden, the Corporation appears to have overnight woken up from its slumber, issued Notice to the Petitioner, that too when she is out of the State, directing her to respond within 24 hours, and not granting her any further time, despite written request, and proceeding to demolish the said Premises upon completion of 24 hours. Though the manner in which the MCGM has proceeded to commence demolition work of the said Premises, prima facie does not appear to be bonafide and smacks of malafide, we are giving an opportunity to the MCGM to explain its stand/conduct on Affidavit by 3.00 p.m. tomorrow.” 

                      While rapping the MCGM on its knuckles, the Bench then also makes it a point to also say the unpalatable truth in simple, straight and suave language in para 9 that, “We cannot help but mention here that if the MCGM would act with similar swiftness qua the numerous unauthorized constructions in this City, the City would be a completely different place to live in.” 

                                    Finally, we then see that the Division Bench of Bombay High Court clearly, categorically and convincingly holds in para 10 that, “In the circumstances, we pass the following Order:

(i)                         We allow the Petitioner to carry out the necessary amendments to the Petition;

(ii)                      We direct the MCGM to file its affidavit in Reply by 3.00 p.m. tomorrow.

(iii)                   In the meantime, the MCGM is restrained from carrying out any further demolition qua the said Premises mentioned in the impugned Notice.

(iv)                   Stand over to 10^th September, 2020 at 3.00 p.m.

                            No doubt, the MCGM and the Maharashtra State Government must seriously introspect after going through this latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment by a two Judge Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in detail. No elected government nor the MCGM can ever dare to say goodbye to the “due process of law” and equality as enshrined in our Constitution under Article 14 which talks about equality and equal protection of law for all the citizens of India! Kangana Ranaut is a famous Indian actress with an impeccable reputation and the MCGM and the State Government should not have acted with undue haste in demolishing her residence in Bandra in Greater Mumbai. 

                            On the contrary, the illegal houses like that of dreaded gangster Dawood Ibrahim along with others which the Courts have also sanctioned to be demolished must be promptly demolished by BMC and they should too not be given a long rope under any circumstances as most unfortunately we have been seeing till now as was pointed out even by former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and even the Bombay High Court too has pointed this out most emphatically in this leading case also! Petty politics should not be allowed to triumph over our national interests under any circumstances as it gives a bad name to our country and severely damages the reputation of our country beyond repair where the high and the mighty are able to easily mould the law as per their own whims and fancies! There can be no denying or disputing it!  

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh

कार्यक्रम के शुरूआत में मुझे एक दुखद खबर आपके साथ साझा करनी है। बिहार के दिग्‍गज नेता श्रीमान रघुवंश प्रसाद सिंह, वे अब हमारे बीच नहीं रहे हैं। मैं उनको नमन करता हूं। रघुवंश बाबू के जाने से बिहार और देश की राजनीति में शून्‍य पैदा हुआ। जमीन से जुड़ा व्‍यक्तित्‍व, गरीबी को समझने वाला व्‍यक्तित्‍व, पूरा जीवन बिहार के संघर्ष में बिताया। जिस विचारधारा में वो पले- बढ़े, जीवनभर उसको जीने का उन्‍होंने प्रयास किया।

मैं जब भारतीय जनता पार्टी के संगठन के कार्यकर्ता के रूप में कार्य करता था, उस काल में मेरा उनका निकट परिचय रहा। अनेक टीवी डिबेट में काफी वाद-विवाद, संघर्ष करते रहते थे हम लोग। बाद में वो केन्‍द्रीय मंत्रिमंडल में थे यूपी में, मैं गुजरात के मुख्‍यमंत्री के नाते भी उनके साथ लगातार संपर्क में रहता था विकास के कामों को ले करके। अब पिछले तीन-चार दिन से वे चर्चा में भी थे। उनके स्वास्थ्य के लिए मैं भी चिन्‍ता करता था। लगातार जानकारियां लेता रहता था। और मुझे लगता था कि बहुत ही जल्‍द ठीक हो करके वो वापिस बिहार की सेवा में लग जाएंगे, लेकिन उनके भीतर एक मंथन भी चल रहा था।

जिन आदर्शों को ले करके चले थे, जिनके साथ चले थे, उनके साथ चलना अब उनके लिए संभव नहीं रहा था और मन पूरी तरह जद्दोजहद में था। और तीन- चार दिन पहले उन्‍होंने अपनी भावना को चिट्ठी लिखकर प्रकट भी किया था। लेकिन साथ-साथ भीतर अपने क्षेत्र के विकास के लिए भी उतनी चिन्‍ता थी तो उन्‍होंने बिहार के मुख्‍यमंत्री जी को अपनी एक विकास के कामों की सूची भेज दी। बिहार के लोगों की चिन्‍ता, बिहार के विकास की चिन्‍ता उस चिट्ठी में प्रकट होती है।

मैं नितीश जी से जरूर आग्रह करूंगा कि रघुवंश प्रसाद जी ने अपनी आखिरी चिट्ठी में जो भावनाएं प्रकट की हैं, उसको परिपूर्ण करने के लिए आप और हम मिल करके पूरा प्रयास करें क्यूंकि पूरी तरह विकास की ही बातें उन्‍होंने लिखी थीं, उसको जरूर करें। मैं फिर एक बार आज कार्यक्रम के प्रारंभ में ही श्रीमान रघुवंश सिंह प्रसाद जी को आदरपूर्वक श्रद्धांजलि देता हूं, उनको नमन करता हूं।

बिहार के गवर्नर श्री फागू चौहान जी, बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री श्री नीतीश कुमार जी, केंद्रीय मंत्रिमंडल में मेरे सहयोगी श्री धर्मेंद्र प्रधान जी, रविशंकर प्रसाद जी, गिरिराज सिंह जी, आर के सिंह जी, अश्विनी कुमार चौबे जी, नित्यानंद राय जी, बिहार के डिप्टी सीएम सुशील कुमार मोदी जी, अन्य सांसद और विधायक गण और तकनीक के माध्यम से जुड़े मेरे प्यारे भाइयों और बहनों !

अपने सबके प्रणाम करै छीयै, आज के इ आयोजन शहीद अरू शूरवीर के धरती बांका में होय रहल छै। जे – जे योजना के लोकार्पण आज होलो छै , ओकरो लाभ बिहार के संगे- संगे पूर्वी भारत के बड़ हिस्सा के भी मिलतै । आज 900 करोड़ रुपया से बेसी के जे लोकार्पण अरू शिलान्यास कइलो गेल छै, ओकरा में LPG पाईपलाइन छै, दू टा बड़ा बॉटलिंग प्लांट भी छै। इ सब सुविधा लेली, विकास के ई सब प्रोजेक्टस ख़ातिर बिहार वासी लोगन के बहूत बहूत बधाई छै!

साथियों,

कुछ वर्ष पहले जब बिहार के लिए विशेष पैकेज की घोषणा की गई थी, तो उसमें बहुत फोकस राज्य के इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर पर था। मुझे खुशी है कि इसी से जुड़े एक महत्वपूर्ण गैस पाइपलाइन प्रोजेक्ट के दुर्गापुर-बांका सेक्शन का लोकार्पण का मुझे सौभाग्य मिला है। डेढ़ साल पहले इस प्रोजेक्ट का शिलान्यास करने का भी अवसर मुझे ही मिला था। इस सेक्शन की लंबाई करीब-करीब 2 सौ किलोमीटर है। मुझे बताया गया है कि इस रूट पर पाइपलाइन बिछाकर काम पूरा करना बहुत ही चुनौतीपूर्ण था। जिस रास्ते में 10 के करीब बड़ी नदियां हों, कई किलोमीटर के घने जंगल और चट्टानी रास्ते हों, वहां काम करना इतना आसान भी नहीं होता। नई इंजीनियरिंग तकनीक, राज्य सरकार के सक्रिय सहयोग, हमारे इंजीनियरों, श्रमिक साथियों के कठिन श्रम के कारण ये प्रोजेक्ट समय पर पूरा हो पाया है। इसके लिए मैं इस प्रोजेक्ट से जुड़े सभी साथियों को बहुत-बहुत बधाई देता हूं।

साथियों,

बिहार के लिए जो प्रधानमंत्री पैकेज दिया गया था, उसमें पेट्रोलियम और गैस से जुड़े 10 बड़े प्रोजेक्ट थे। इन प्रोजेक्ट्स पर करीब-करीब 21 हजार करोड़ रुपए खर्च किए जाने थे। आज ये सातवां प्रोजेक्ट है जिसमें काम पूरा हो चुका है, जिसे बिहार के लोगों को समर्पित किया जा चुका है।

इससे पहले पटना LPG प्लांट के विस्तार और Storage Capacity बढ़ाने का काम हो, पूर्णिया के LGP प्लांट का विस्तार हो, मुजफ्फरपुर में नया LGP प्लांट हो, ये सारे प्रोजेक्ट पहले ही पूरे किए जा चुके हैं।

जगदीशपुर-हल्दिया पाइपलाइन प्रोजेक्ट का जो हिस्सा बिहार से गुजरता है, उस पर भी काम पिछले साल मार्च में ही समाप्त कर लिया गया है। मोतीहारी अमलेखगंज पाइपलाइन पर भी पाइपलनाइन से जुड़ा काम पूरा कर लिया गया है।

अब देश और बिहार, उस दौर से बाहर निकल रहा है जिसमें एक पीढ़ी काम शुरू होते देखती थी और दूसरी पीढ़ी उसे पूरा होते हुए। नए भारत, नए बिहार की इसी पहचान, इसी कार्यसंस्कृति को हमें और मजबूत करना है। और निश्चित तौर पर इसमें नीतीश जी की भी बहुत बड़ी भूमिका है।

मुझे विश्वास है कि ऐसे ही निरंतर काम करके हम बिहार और पूर्वी भारत को विकास पथ पर ले जा सकते हैं।

साथियों,

हमारे शास्त्रों में कहा गया है कि – सामर्थ्य मूलं स्वातंत्र्यम्, श्रम मूलं वैभवम् ।

यानि सामर्थ्य स्वतंत्रता का स्रोत है और श्रम शक्ति किसी भी राष्ट्र की प्रगति का आधार होती है। बिहार सहित पूर्वी भारत में ना तो सामर्थ्य की कमी है और ना ही प्रकृति ने यहां संसाधनों की कमी रखी है। बावजूद इसके बिहार और पूर्वी भारत विकास के मामले में दशकों तक पीछे ही रहा। इसकी बहुत सारी वजहें राजनीतिक थी, आर्थिक थीं, प्राथमिकताओं की थीं।

इन स्थितियों की वजह से पूर्वी भारत या बिहार के इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर प्रोजेक्ट्स हमेशा अंतहीन देरी का शिकार रहे। एक समय था जब रोड कनेक्टिविटी, रेल कनेक्टिविटी, एयर कनेक्टिविटी, इंटरनेट कनेक्टिविटी, ये सब प्राथमिकताओं में थे ही नहीं।… इतना ही नहीं, अगर रोड बनाने की बात करते तो ये पूछा जाता था, ये तो गाड़ीवालों के लिए बन रहा है, पैदल वालों के लिए क्या है यानी सोच में ही गड़बड़ थी।

ऐसे में गैस बेस्ड इंडस्ट्री और पेट्रो-कनेक्टिविटी की तो बिहार में पुराने ज़माने में कल्पना भी नहीं की जा सकती थी। Landlocked स्टेट होने की वजह से बिहार में पेट्रोलियम और गैस से जुड़े वो साधन-संसाधन उपलब्ध नहीं हो पाते थे जैसे समंदर से सटे राज्यों में होते हैं। इसलिए बिहार में गैस आधारित उद्योगों का विकास एक बड़ी चुनौती थी।

साथियों,

गैस बेस्ड इंडस्ट्री और पेट्रो-कनेक्टिविटी, ये सुनने में बड़े टेक्नीकल से टर्म लगते हैं लेकिन इनका सीधा असर लोगों के जीवन पर पड़ता है, जीवन स्तर पर पड़ता है। गैस बेस्ड इंडस्ट्री और पेट्रो-कनेक्टिविटी रोजगार के भी लाखों नए अवसर बनाती है।

आज जब देश के अनेकों शहरों में CNG पहुंच रही है, PNG पहुंच रही है, तो बिहार के लोगों को, पूर्वी भारत के लोगों को भी ये सुविधाएं उतनी ही आसानी से मिलनी चाहिए। इसी संकल्प के साथ हम आगे बढ़े।

प्रधानमंत्री ऊर्जा गंगा योजना के तहत पूर्वी भारत को पूर्वी समुद्री तट के पारादीप और पश्चिमी समुद्री तट के कांडला से, जोड़ने का भागीरथ प्रयास शुरु हुआ। करीब 3 हज़ार किलोमीटर लंबी इस पाइपलाइन से 7 राज्यों को जोड़ा जा रहा है जिसमें बिहार का भी प्रमुख स्थान है। पारादीप-हल्दिया से आने वाली लाइन अभी बांका तक पूरी हो चुकी है। इसको आगे पटना, मुज़फ्फरपुर तक विस्तार दिया जा रहा है। कांडला से आने वाली पाइपलाइन जो गोरखपुर तक पहुंच चुकी है, उसको भी इससे जोड़ा जा रहा है। जब ये पूरा प्रोजेक्ट तैयार हो जाएगा तो ये विश्व की सबसे लंबी पाइपलाइन परियोजनाओं में से एक हो जाएगी।

साथियों,

इसी गैस पाइपलाइन की वजह से अब बिहार में ही सिलेंडर भरने के बड़े-बड़े प्लांट्स लग पा रहे हैं। बांका और चंपारण में ऐसे ही 2 नए bottling plants का आज लोकार्पण किया गया है। इन दोनों प्लांट्स में हर साल सवा करोड़ से ज्यादा सिलेंडर भरने की क्षमता है। इन प्लांट्स से आपके बिहार के बांका, भागलपुर, जमुई, अररिया, किशनगंज, कटिहार, पूर्वी चंपारण, पश्चिम चंपारण, मुज़फ़्फ़रपुर, सिवान, गोपालगंज और सीतामढ़ी जिलों को सुविधा मिलेगी।

वहीं झारखंड के गोड्डा, देवघर, दुमका, साहिबगंज, पाकुड़ जिलों और उत्तर प्रदेश के कुछ क्षेत्रों की LPG से जुड़ी ज़रूरतों को ये प्लांट पूरा करेंगे। इस गैस पाइपलाइन को बिछाने से लेकर इससे जो नए उद्योगों को ऊर्जा मिल रही है, उससे बिहार में हज़ारों नए रोज़गार बन रहे हैं और आगे भी अनेक रोज़गारों के लिए संभावना बन रही है।

साथियों,

बरौनी का जो खाद कारखाना बंद हो गया था, वो भी इस गैस पाइपलाइन के बनने से अब बहुत जल्द काम करना शुरु कर देगा। गैस कनेक्टिविटी से जहां एक तरफ फर्टिलाइज़र, पावर और स्टील इंडस्ट्री की ऊर्जा बढ़ेगी, वहीं दूसरी तरफ CNG आधारित स्वच्छ यातायात और पाइप से सस्ती गैस और आसानी से लोगों के किचन तक पहुंचेगी।

इसी कड़ी में आज बिहार और झारखंड के अनेक जिलों में पाइप से सस्ती गैस देने की शुरुआत हुई है। ये देश के हर परिवार को साफ-सुथरे ईंधन, धुआं रहित किचन से जोड़ने के आंदोलन को और गति देगा।

साथियों,

उज्जवला योजना की वजह से आज देश के 8 करोड़ गरीब परिवारों के पास भी गैस कनेक्शन मौजूद है। इस योजना से गरीब के जीवन में क्या परिवर्तन आया है, ये कोरोना के दौरान हम सभी ने फिर महसूस किया है। आप कल्पना कीजिए, जब घर में रहना ज़रूरी था, तब अगर इन 8 करोड़ परिवारों के साथियों को, हमारी बहनों को, लकड़ी या दूसरा ईंधन जुटाने के लिए बाहर निकलना पड़ता तो क्या स्थिति होती?

साथियों,

कोरोना के इस दौर में उज्जवला योजना की लाभार्थी बहनों को करोड़ों सिलेंडर मुफ्त में दिए गए हैं। इसका लाभ बिहार की भी लाखों बहनों को हुआ है, लाखों गरीब परिवारों को हुआ है। मैं पेट्रोलियम और गैस से जुड़े विभाग और कंपनियों के साथ-साथ डिलिवरी से जुड़े उन लाखों साथियों को, उनको कोरोना वॉरियर्स की प्रशंसा करता हूं। ये वो साथी हैं, जिन्होंने इस संकट के दौरान भी लोगों के घरों में गैस की कमी नहीं होने दी और आज भी संक्रमण के खतरों के बावजूद सिलेंडर की सप्लाई को बनाए हुए हैं।

साथियों,

एक समय था जब पूरे देश में और बिहार में एलपीजी गैस कनेक्शन होना बड़े संपन्न लोगों की निशानी होता था। एक एक गैस कनेक्शन के लिए लोगों को सिफारिशें लगवानी पड़ती थीं।… MP साहब के घर के बहार कतार लग जाती थी। जिसके घर गैस होती थी, वो माना जाता था कि बहुत बड़े घर-परिवार से है। जो समाज में हाशिए पर थे, पीड़ित थे, वंचित थे, पिछड़े थे, अतिपिछड़े थे, उन्हें कोई पूछता नहीं था। उनके दुख, उनकी तकलीफों को देखकर भी नजरअंदाज कर दिया जाता था।

लेकिन बिहार में अब ये अवधारणा बदल चुकी है। उज्जवला योजना के माध्यम से ही बिहार के करीब-करीब सवा करोड़ गरीब परिवारों को गैस का मुफ्त कनेक्शन दिया गया है। घर में गैस कनेक्शन ने बिहार के करोड़ों गरीबों का जीवन बदल दिया है।अब वो अपनी शक्ति खाना बनाने के लिए लकड़ी के इंतजाम में नहीं, बल्कि खुद को आगे बढ़ाने में लगा रहे हैं।

साथियों,

जब मैं कहता हूँ कि बिहार देश की प्रतिभा का पावरहाउस है, ऊर्जाकेंद्र है तो ये कोई अतिशयोक्ति नहीं होगी। बिहार के युवाओं की, यहाँ की प्रतिभा का प्रभाव सब जगह है। भारत सरकार में भी बिहार के ऐसे कितने ही बेटे-बेटियां हैं जो देश की सेवा कर रहे हैं, दूसरों के जीवन में सकारात्मक बदलाव ला रहे हैं।

आप किसी भी IIT में चले जाइए, वहाँ भी बिहार की चमक दिखेगी। किसी और संस्थान में चले जाइए, आँखों में बड़े-बड़े सपने लिए, देश के लिए कुछ कर गुजरने का जज्बा लिए बिहार के बेटे और बेटियां सब जगह कुछ न कुछ हटकर कर रहे हैं।

बिहार की कला, यहाँ का संगीत, यहाँ का स्वादिष्ट खाना, इसकी तारीफ तो पूरे देश में होती ही है। आप किसी दूसरे राज्य में भी चले जाइए, बिहार की ताकत, बिहार के श्रम की छाप आपको हर राज्य के विकास में दिखेगी। बिहार का सहयोग सबके साथ है।

यही तो बिहार है, यही तो बिहार की अद्भुत क्षमता है। इसलिए, ये हमारा भी कर्तव्य है, और मैं तो कहूँगा कि कहीं न कहीं हमारे ऊपर बिहार का कर्ज है, कि हम बिहार की सेवा करें। हम बिहार में ऐसा सुशासन रखें, जो बिहार का अधिकार है।

साथियों,

पिछले 15 सालों में बिहार ने ये दिखाया भी है कि अगर सही सरकार हो, सही फैसले लिए जाएं, स्पष्ट नीति हो, तो विकास होता है और हर एक तक पहुंचता भी है। हम बिहार के हर एक सेक्टर के विकास को आगे बढ़ा रहे हैं, हर एक सेक्टर की समस्याओं के समाधान का प्रयास कर रहे हैं, ताकि बिहार विकास की नई उड़ान भरे। उतनी ऊंची उड़ान भरे जितना ऊंचा बिहार का सामर्थ्य है।

साथियों,

बिहार में कुछ लोग कभी ये कहते थे कि बिहार के नौजवानों को पढ़-लिखकर क्या करेंगे, उन्हें तो खेत में ही काम करना है। ऐसी सोच ने बिहार के प्रतिभाशाली युवाओं के साथ बहुत अन्नाय किया। इसी सोच की वजह से बिहार में बड़े शिक्षण संस्थानों को खोलने के लिए ज्यादा काम ही नहीं किया गया। नतीजा ये हुआ कि बिहार के नौजवान बाहर जाकर पढ़ाई करने के लिए, नौकरी करने के लिए मजबूर हो गए।

साथियों,

खेत में काम करना, खेती किसानी बहुत परिश्रम और गौरव का काम है, लेकिन युवाओं को दूसरे मौके न देना, न ऐसी व्यवस्थाएं बनाना, ये भी तो सही नहीं था। आज बिहार में शिक्षा के बड़े-बड़े केंद्र खुल रहे हैं। अब एग्रीकल्चर कॉलेज, मेडिकल कॉलेज, इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेजों की संख्या बढ़ रही है। अब राज्य में IIT, IIM, IIIT, बिहार के नौजवानों के सपनों को ऊंची उड़ान देने में मदद कर रहे हैं।

नीतीश जी के शासन के दौरान ही बिहार में दो केंद्रीय विश्वविद्यालय, एक IIT, एक IIM, एक निफ्ट, एक नेशनल लॉ इंस्टीट्यूट जैसे अनेकों बड़े संस्थान खुले हैं। नीतीश जी के प्रयासों के चलते आज बिहार में पॉलीटेक्निक संस्थानों की संख्या भी पहले के मुकाबले तीन गुना से ज्यादा हो गई है।

स्टार्ट अप इंडिया, मुद्रा योजना, ऐसी योजनाओं ने बिहार के नौजवानों को स्वरोजगार के लिए जरूरी राशि मुहैया कराई है। सरकार का प्रयास ये भी है कि जिला स्तर पर कौशल केंद्रों के माध्यम से बिहार के नौजवानों को स्किल बढ़ाने की ट्रेनिंग दी जा सके।

साथियों,

बिहार में बिजली की क्या स्थिति थी, ये भी जगजाहिर है। गांवों में दो-तीन घंटे बिजली आ गई तो भी बहुत माना जाता था। शहर में रहने वाले लोगों को भी 8-10 घंटे से ज्यादा बिजली नहीं मिलती थी। आज बिहार के गांवों में, शहरों में बिजली की उपलब्धता पहले के मुकाबले कहीं ज्यादा हुई है।

साथियों,

पावर, पेट्रोलियम और गैस से जुड़े सेक्टर में जो आधुनिक इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर का निर्माण हो रहा है, जो रिफॉर्म्स लाए जा रहे हैं, वो लोगों का जीवन आसान बनाने के साथ-साथ उद्योगों और अर्थव्यवस्था को भी गति दे रहे हैं। कोरोना के इस कालखंड में अब एक बार फिर पेट्रोलियम से जुड़े इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर के कार्यों ने गति पकड़ ली है।

रिफाइनरी प्रोजेक्ट्स हों, Exploration या Production से जुड़े प्रोजेक्ट हों, pipelines हों, City Gas Distribution projects हों, ऐसे अनेकों प्रोजेक्ट्स या तो फिर से चालू हो चुके हैं या फिर नए शुरु किए गए हैं। इनकी संख्या कम नहीं है। ये 8 हजार से ज्यादा प्रोजेक्ट्स हैं, जिन पर आने वाले दिनों में 6 लाख करोड़ रुपए खर्च किए जाएंगे। आप अंदाजा लगा सकते हैं कि देश में, बिहार में गैस आधारित अर्थव्यवस्था के लिए कितने बड़े पैमाने पर काम चल रहा है।

इतना ही नहीं, इन प्रोजेक्ट्स में जितने लोग पहले काम कर रहे थे, वो वापस तो लौटे ही हैं, इनकी वजह से रोजगार के नए अवसरों की भी संभावनाएं बनी हैं। साथियों, इतनी बड़ी वैश्विक महामारी देश के प्रत्येक व्यक्ति के लिए परेशानियां लेकर आई है। लेकिन इन परेशानियों के बाद भी देश रुका नहीं है, बिहार रुका नहीं है, थमा नहीं है।

100 लाख करोड़ रुपए से ज्यादा के नेशनल इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर पाइपलाइन प्रोजेक्ट से भी आर्थिक गतिविधियों को बढ़ाने में मदद मिलने वाली है। बिहार को, पूर्वी भारत को विकास का, आत्मविश्वास का अहम केंद्र बनाने के लिए हम सभी को तेजी से काम करते रहना है। इसी विश्वास के साथ सैकड़ों करोड़ की सुविधाओं के लिए फिर से पूरे बिहार को बहुत-बहुत बधाई। खासकर के, माताओं और बहनों का जीवन आसान होने वाला है इसलिए उनको अनेक अनेक बधाई देता हूँ ।

याद रखिएगा, कोरोना संक्रमण अभी भी हमारे बीच में मौजूद है। और इसलिए मैं बार बार कहता हूँ – जब तक दवाई नहीं, तब तक ढिलाई नहीं ! फिर से सुन लीजिये जब तक दवाई नहीं, तब तक ढिलाई नहीं।

इसलिए, दो गज़ की दूरी, साबुन से हाथ की नियमित सफाई, यहां वहां थूकने से मनाही और चेहरे पर मास्क, इन जरूरी बातों का हमें खुद भी पालन करना है और दूसरों को भी याद दिलाते रहना है।

आप सतर्क रहेंगे तो बिहार स्वस्थ रहेगा, देश स्वस्थ रहेगा। मैं फिर एक बार आप सबको इन अनेक भेंट-सौगातों के साथ बिहार की विकास यात्रा में नई ऊर्जा के इस अवसर पर आपको बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं  । 

बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद !

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation three key projects related to the Petroleum sector in Bihar today via video conferencing. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two LPG Bottling Plants. They have been commissioned by IndianOil and HPCL, PSUs under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the special package announced for Bihar a few years ago, focused much on the state’s infrastructure. He said the special package given for Bihar had 10 big projects related to petroleum and gas worth Rs 21 thousand crore. Among these today it is the seventh project which is being dedicated to the people of Bihar. He also listed the other six projects which had been completed in Bihar earlier. He expressed happiness that he is inaugurating the Durgapur-Banka section (about 200 km) of an important gas pipeline project for which he laid the foundation stone about one and a half years ago. He lauded the hard work of the engineers and laborers and active support of the state government for completing this project on time, in spite of the challenging terrain. He lauded the Chief Minister of Bihar for playing a big role in making Bihar come out of the work culture in which one generation used to start the work and the other generation completed it. He said this new work culture needs to be strengthened and it can take Bihar and East India on the development path.

The Prime Minister quoted from the scriptures “सामर्थ्य मूलं स्वातंत्र्यम्, श्रम मूलं वैभवम् ।” meaning strength is the source of freedom and power of labour is the basis of development of any nation. He said there is neither a shortage of power of labour in eastern India, including Bihar, nor this place lacked natural resources and despite this, Bihar and East India remained behind in terms of development for decades and suffered endless delays due to political, economic reasons and other priorities. He said since road connectivity, rail connectivity, air connectivity, internet connectivity were not a priority earlier, gas based industry and petro-connectivity could not be imagined in Bihar. He said development of gas based industries was a major challenge in Bihar due to it being a landlocked state and thus lacking resources related to petroleum and gas which are otherwise available in the states adjacent to the sea.

The Prime Minister said Gas-based industry and petro-connectivity have a direct impact on people’s lives, on their standard of living and also create millions of new employment opportunities. He said today, when CNG & PNG are reaching many cities in Bihar and Eastern India, people here should get these facilities easily. He said the Bhagiratha effort to connect eastern India with Paradip on the eastern seaboard and Kandla on the western seaboard began under the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana and seven states will be connected through this pipeline, which is about 3000 km long, of which Bihar also has an prominent role. The line from Paradip – Haldia will now be further extended to Patna, Muzaffarpur and the pipeline coming from Kandla which has reached Gorakhpur will also be connected to it. He said when the entire project is ready, it will become one of the longest pipeline projects in the world.

The Prime Minister said due to these gas pipelines, big bottling plants are being installed in Bihar. Of which two new Bottling Plants have been launched today in Banka and Champaran. Both these plants have a capacity to fill more than 125 million cylinders every year. These plants will meet the LPG requirements of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur districts and some areas of Uttar Pradesh in Jharkhand. He said Bihar is creating thousands of new jobs from the laying of this gas pipeline to the new industries based on the energy from the pipeline.

The Prime Minister said the fertilizer factory of Barauni, which was closed in the past, will also start working soon after the construction of this gas pipeline. He said today eight crore poor families of the country have gas connections because of the Ujjwala scheme. This has changed the lives of the poor during the period of corona as it was necessary for them to stay at home and they need not go out to collect wood or other fuel.

The Prime Minister said in this period of Corona, millions of cylinders have been provided free of cost to the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme which has benefited millions of poor families. He lauded the efforts of the petroleum and gas departments and companies, as well as the millions of delivery partners, as they did not let people run out of gas, even during the time of Corona, despite the dangers of infection. He said there was a time when LPG gas connections in Bihar were a sign of affluent people. People had to make recommendations for each gas connection. But now this has changed in Bihar due to the Ujjwala scheme, about 1.25 crore poor families of Bihar have been given free gas connection. The gas connection at home has changed the lives of crores of poor in Bihar.

The Prime Minister praised the youth of Bihar and said Bihar is the powerhouse of the country’s talent. He said the strength of Bihar and the imprint of Bihar’s labor will be seen in the development of every state. He said in the last 15 years, Bihar has also shown with a right government, right decisions and a clear policy, development happens and reaches every one. There was a thinking, education was not necessary as the youth of Bihar have to work in the fields. Due to this thinking, not much work was done to open large educational institutions in Bihar. The result was that the youth of Bihar were forced to go out to study, to work. Working in the field, farming is very hard work and pride, but do not give other opportunities to the youth, nor make such arrangements, it was not right.

The Prime Minister said today big centers of education are opening in Bihar. Now the number of agricultural colleges, medical colleges, engineering colleges is increasing. Now IIT, IIM and IIIT in the state are helping to make the dreams of the youth of Bihar soar. He lauded the efforts of the Chief Minister of Bihar in tripling the number of polytechnic institutions and opening of two large universities, one IIT, one IIM, one NIFT and one National Law Institute in Bihar.

The Prime Minister said Start up India, Mudra Yojana and many such schemes have provided the necessary amount of self-employment to the youth of Bihar. He said today the availability of electricity in cities and villages of Bihar is more than ever. The modern infrastructure is being built in the power, petroleum and gas sectors, the reforms are being brought in, are making the lives of people easier as well as giving impetus to industries and the economy. He said in this period of Corona, once again the petroleum-related infrastructure works like refinery projects, projects related to Exploration or Production, pipelines, City Gas Distribution projects, many such projects have gained momentum. He said there are more than 8 thousand projects, on which 6 lakh crore rupees will be spent in the coming days.

The Prime Minister said migrant labourers have returned back and new employment opportunities have also been created. Even during such a huge global epidemic the country has not stopped especially Bihar has not stopped. He added the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project worth more than Rs 100 lakh crore is also going to help in increasing economic activity. He urged everyone to to keep working fast to make Bihar, Eastern India an important center of development.

• 

The Monsson session 2020 of Parliament will begin from Monday, on September 14, 2020. The fourth session of  17^th Lok Sabha and 252^nd  Session of Rajya Sabha is scheduledto be held on Monday, 14th September, 2020 and subject to exigencies of Government Business, may conclude on Thursday, 1^st October, 2020.

The Session will provide a total of 18 sittings spread over a period of 18 days (all the days including Saturdays and Sundays of the ensuing session will be working days) and a total of 47* items have been identified for being taken up during the Monsoon Session, 2020. (*Includes 45 Bills and 02 financial items).

The total eleven Bills replacing  the ordinance namely: (i)The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020. (ii) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Prices Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.(iii) The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020. (iv) The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020. (v) The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.(vi) The Insolvency & Bankruptcy (Second) Amendment Bill, 2020 ( vii) The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020. (viii) The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 (ix)The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (x) The Salary and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (xi) The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 are required to be passed during the ensuing Monsoon Session.

Further, some important pending legislations in the Houses required to be considered and passed during the Session are (i) The Pesticides Management Bill, 2020. (ii) The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCIM) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha.(iii)The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2019as passed by Rajya Sabha.(iv)The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha.(v) The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha. (vi) The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (vii) The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha.(viii)The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha.(ix)The Rashtriya Raksha  University Bill, 2020(x) The National Forensic Science University Bill, 2020. (xi) The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha (xii)The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment), Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha.(xiii)The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha.(xiv)The Major Port Authorities  Bill 2020 (xv) The Code On Social Security and Welfare, 2019 (xvi) The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2019 (xvii) The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019

Some other new bills likely to be introduced, considered and passed  during this session are: (i) The Bilateral Netting of Financial Contracts Bill, 2020 (ii) The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (iii) The Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (iv) The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020 (v) The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020.(vi) The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (vii) The Foreign Contribution (Regulation)Amendment Bill, 2020(viii) The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (ix) The Prohibition of Employment as manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (x) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2020.(xi) The Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (xii) The Jammu and Kashmir Official Language, Bill, 2020.

There are few bills for withdrawal during the session namely: (i) The Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018 (ii) The Mines (Amendment) Bill, 2011 (iii) The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2011(iv)The Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013(v)The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Amendment Bill, 2013.  

This will be the first Parliament session being held amid the  Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore all safety measures have been taken to conduct the session as per guidelines issued for Covid-19.

There will be a four-hour session for each House each day (9 am to 1 pm for Rajya Sabha and 3 pm to 7 pm for Lok Sabha. But on the first day only i.e. on 14th September of the Lok Sabha will meet in the morning session. The session will see other  measures like  seating MPs in a staggered way in chambers of both Houses, as well as galleries to maintain physical distancing norms, introduction of mobile app for registering of MPs’ attendance and seats separated with poly-carbon sheets in the House.

The Zero Hour will be there and the un-starred questionswill be laid on the table.

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda  said, by 2023 India will be self-reliant in the production of fertilizers as  under “Atma Nirbhar  Bharat” programme new fertilizer manufacturing units are being setup  with  an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the country to reduce dependency on import.

Shri Gowda was addressing  a webinar on “Self-Reliant India and Sustainable Agriculture ”organized by IFFCO for the farmers of Karnataka. He said, “As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat vision to promote indigenous industries, we are converting all fertilizer companies to gas based technology. Recently we have revived four urea plants (Ramagundam, Sindhri, Barouni and Gorkhpur) in India. By 2023 we should become self –sufficient in the production of Fertilizers.”

Union Minister informed that Government  is encouraging the production of organic and Nano fertilizers in the country as they are 25 to 30 per cent cheaper and give 18 to 35 per cent higher yield and keep the soil in good health. He lauded the IFFCO’s Nano experiment and called it a game changer. He informed that Nano fertilizers distributed freely to 12,000 farmers and agriculture universities across the country have given positive feedback.

Shri Gowda asked farmers to use Urea judiciously as excessive use of Urea may spoil the soil health. He advised  farmers to use fertilizers according to their soil health cards.

He praised the efforts of IFFCO, during the COVID pandemic period for not only keeping regular supply of fertilizers but also organising campaigns by distributing masks, sanitizers and hand gloves to mitigate the spread of COVID  . He also thanked other fertilizers companies and Railway department for playing important role in timely supply of fertilizer during the COVID pandemic period.

More than 1500 farmers from Karnataka took part in the Webinar through zoom. Managing Director IFFCO, Dr. U S Awasthi, Marketing Director Yogendra Kumar, IFFCO Karnataka marketing manager Dr. Narayanaswamy , agriculture scientists from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and other eminent dignitaries also  participated in the Webinar..

• 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today interacted and answered questions posed by his social media followers on the Sunday Samvad platform. These questions covered a multitude of queries concerning not only the current situation of COVID but also the government’s approach to it, the likely changes one expects to see in the post COVID world and the steps taken by government in its facilitation.

The Minister informed that while no date has been fixed for the vaccine launch, it may be ready by the first quarter of 2021. Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the Government is taking full precautions in conducting the human trials of the vaccine and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 under the Chairmanship of Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize majority of the population. “Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines etc., are also been discussed intensely”, he stated. He assured the vaccine will be first made available to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity.

Further, he said that the Government is considering emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccination especially in the case of senior citizens & people working in high-risk settings. “This shall be done after a consensus has been reached”, he said.

To allay fears regarding the safety aspect of the vaccines, he said he will be happy to take the first dosage of vaccine if some people have a trust deficit.

Elaborating on the vaccine candidates and their development in India, he said that Department of Bio Technology (DBT) as well as Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been pro-active in responding to the emerging situation to support advancement of vaccine candidates. India is actively partnering with Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and trials at different phases are ongoing with respect to several vaccines in Indian laboratories (private or public) and hospitals.

The Minister also noted that a safe and effective vaccine will help in establishing immunity to COVID-19 at much faster pace as compared to the natural infection. It is hoped that a consensus will emerge in next few months over the desired level of protective herd immunity in any community, he stated.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan highlighted how the pandemic became a turning point for Indian manufacturing. From the time when there were “no indigenous manufacturers of PPEs with requisite standards, now there are nearly 110 indigenous manufacturers of PPE with requisite standards. The country is in a position to not only meet its own demands but also export to help out fellow nations”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said. Similar ‘Make in India’ initiatives were launched and promoted for enhancing indigenous manufacturing of diagnostic kits, ventilators, drugs like Remdesivir etc., and reducing reliance on foreign countries. This was made possible through the ‘Whole of Government’ approach under the leadership of Prime Minister. A multipronged strategy of promoting indigenous manufacturers and ensuring market availability was adopted with the partnership of various Ministries. He added that the Government took a number of initiatives to promote domestic manufacturing of critical APIs in India and thereby decrease India’s dependence on imports of such APIs.

In order to make the healthcare cost reasonable and affordable for the common man, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the Government has directed all States and UTs to fix a reasonable price for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals. Free coverage up to ₹ 5 lakhs for COVID patients for those who are eligible under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY package was announced. He added that the Central Government has also asked States/UTs to proactively engage with the private sector health providers and consider pooling in public and private healthcare facilities, as this will help in providing prompt, good quality and reasonable health care to Covid-19 patients. He has himself appealed to the private hospitals to refrain from over charging COVID patients, he stated.

The Minister highlighted that measures have been to ensure accessibility and affordability of all drugs and other therapeutics to all citizens, irrespective of their paying capacities. The Government has taken cognizance of reports of alleged black marketing of drugs like Remdesivir and has asked Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to take suitable action against the same along with their State Counterparts.

Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the Government is seized of the evolving nature of the infection and emerging evidence of the systemic health complications in those who have been infected. AIIMS and other research institutions have been asked to undertake research to study the long-term impact of COVID. ICMR is establishing a National Clinical Registry on COVID that will provide insights into clinical course of COVID-19 disease, its spectrum and outcome of patients. Expert group consultations are already going on to review the emerging evidence and generate our own data on organ system specific (respiratory system, renal system, cardiovascular and gastro-intestinal) sequelae of COVID, he stated.

The Union Health Minister stated that “NDHM is one of the most ambitious missions of the Government of India and is set to catapult India as a global leader in the field of digital health. However, there are vested interests that do not want India to succeed and are spearheading a disinformation campaign against NDHM.” Allaying fears, he clarified that it is an utter lie that those who do not become part of this system shall not be allowed to access the hospitals. “Those persons or institutions who are not a part of this system shall continue to enjoy access to the healthcare system in exactly the same manner as they are doing now. Participation in the digital health ecosystem shall be totally optional and shall never be made mandatory for individuals”.

• 

The Union Health Ministry held a virtual meeting today where Union Health Secretary, Secretary DPIIT and Secretary Pharmaceuticals participated. State Health Secretaries and Industries Secretaries of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also participated in the meeting. The aim of the meeting was to ensure adequate Oxygen availability in all healthcare facilities in these States & unrestricted intra as well as inter State movement of oxygen.

In the end, all the participants were addressed by the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, and Railways Shri PiyushGoyal.

The States were specifically advised to :-

1. Ensure facility wise/hospital wise oxygen inventory management and advance planning for timely replenishment so that there are no stockout.

2. Ensure that no restriction is imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between States/UTs.

3. Provision of “Green Corridor” for Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) Tankers within the cities.

4. Hospitals and institutions have long term tender/ contract agreement for supply of Oxygen with oxygen manufacturers, which need to be honoured. Hence, States must not impose restrictions on free movement of Oxygen.

5. Ensure timely payment of the due bills to the manufacturers and supplier to maintain uninterrupted supply of oxygen.

6. Improve power supply infrastructure and ensure uninterrupted supply to Oxygen Manufacturing Units.

7. Ensure proper disinfection of Oxygen cylinders as per protocols while sending cylinders to fillers of Oxygen.

8. Effective coordination with steel plants for Oxygen procurement since steel plants provide approx. 550 MT/day oxygen in addition to oxygen manufacturers who provide 6400 MT/day.

• 

Shri R.K. Singh , the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New and Renewable Energy and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, today said that the government is aiming to push electricity for cooking in a big way as it will provide the poor strata of the society a cheaper option for their day to day requirement, move the nation towards self-reliance and make it independent from imports.

“Electricity is the future of India and most of its infrastructure will be powered by electricity. The Government has envisaged Power Foundation to be formed at the Ministry’s level and objectives include cooking to completely run on electricity, which will allow our economy to be self-reliant and give us independence from imports. This government is for the poor and this move will help the poor strata of the society by giving them access to cheaper medium of cooking,” Shri Singh said. 

The power minister rolled out the vision for the government while inaugurating a Service Building at NPGCL, Nabinagar, a Shopping Complex developed by NTPC for the people of Barh and the Main Plant Canteen inside NTPC Barauni for convenience of NTPC employees and associates from New Delhi. The minister added that the delivery of various other pro poor measures like PM Awas Yojna and Har Ghar Bijlee, were accelerated during the lockdown by PM Shri Narendra Modi.

Shri Singh also praised the various initiatives of NTPC that show the power producer’s unflinching commitment to the nation and its economic growth.

“In the past years, work done by NTPC has been acknowledged across the country. NTPC Family is recognised for its professionalism and efficiency and have set an example for not just the state of Bihar but also for the country. Questions have always been raised on the performance of PSUs, but looking at the performance of NTPC and other Power PSUs, it is clear that they are even better than the private players and have consistently made progress and profit. I thank NTPC for being a partner in the progress for the state of Bihar as well as other states towards nation building.”

Shri R.K. Singh further said, “The expansion of NTPC will continue and it will keep setting benchmarks in professionalism, efficiency and being an ideal employer, professionalism and efficiency.”

He lauded the work done by NTPC for ensuring round the clock power supply during the lockdown. He added that fixed charges for DISCOMs were deferred and a rebate on cost was also given to states by India’s largest power producer during the lockdown period. He pointed out that that it is because of NTPC’s professional conduct and commitment to the nation that the ‘cream of the country’ from the IITs and the NITs want to work for such an ideal company.

Speaking during the inauguration function, Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC said, “Under the guidance of Shri R K Singh, NTPC is taking every possible step to shift towards electricity based cooking and we are confident of replicating it across the nation.” He further said, “During the lockdown phase, NTPC ensured that not just the employees, but even the contract labourers were paid on time through the professionally managed system of the company along with food, shelter and medical facilities. We also ensured that the country received uninterrupted power supply during the lockdown phase.” He also added that, “NTPC has 3800 MW of project under construction in Bihar and will keep on contributing to the progress of the state.”

The construction of new facilities and infrastructure is aimed at providing necessary services to the workers and associates of NTPC and improve the living standard for the people around plant area in the state of Bihar.

The inauguration ceremony was graced by senior officials from Ministry of Power, Bihar Administration, Directors and Officials of NTPC, Eastern Region Headquarters, Barh, Nabinagar and Barauni.

During the inauguration ceremony, films on Service Building at NPGCL Nabinagar, Shopping Complex in Barh and Main Plant Canteen at NTPC Barauni was shown to stakeholders present on the occasion.

With a total installed capacity of 62.9 GW, NTPC Group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations. The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, of which 5GW comprises of renewable energy.

• 

Miss Digantika Bose studies in Class XII at Memari V M Institution Unit II, Burdwan. But in her tender age she is very much influenced by the principle of Thomas Alva Edison that ‘To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk’. And as the proverb goes, Necessity is the mother of invention, Digantika has felt the utter helpless- ness of common people in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic to survive and has come up with Air Providing and Virus Destroying Mask which has received the acclaim from Science and Technology Ministry, Government of India. Likewise, the IIT Kharagpur has deviced e-classroom low bandwidth software Deekshak for educational institutions, by which a teacher could concentrate on the screen with the teaching materials while being able to view queries on a live chat box where each student can send in their queries. Students also have access to a doubt box where they can click to “raise their hands” and wait for the teacher to address it, as is done in a physical classroom. Teachers can also share documents with the students through the platform and even update notes on the documents in real-time. All these were discussed today in a webinar organised jointly by the Press Information Bureau and Regional Outreach Bureau, Chuchura as a part of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The panellists included Professor V K Tewari, Director, IIT kharagpur, Professor (Dr) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur, Shri V S Ramachandran, Director, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Dr Biswarup neogi, Associate Professor and Head, ECE Department, JIS College of Engineering, Kalyani and last but not the least, Miss Digantika Bose.

Professor Tewari also delineated the institution’s invention of a novel portable rapid diagnostic device to detect Covid-19 infection at an affordable cost for the marginal people of this country.

According to Professor Dr Hirani, CSIR-CMERI Durgapur has not only come up with low-cost but high efficiency three-layered facemask, but also road sanitising tractor, mechanical ventilator, soap, sanitizer and dispenser, hospital assistive robot, solar-based IntelliMAST, 360 degree car flusher and dry fogging shoe disinfector, but of late it has developed mechanised sewage cleaning system for mechanical scavenging instead of the manual one to maintain the optimum high standards as well as to help contain the contamination chain through waste water.

Shri Ramachandran presented their technological interventions and contributions relating to the online ticketing and entry system, alcohol-free and Ayurvedic entry tunnel, touchfree operation of exhibits, UV based product sanitizer, virtual tour and classes, image processing for crowd control, human motion-based sanitizer dispenser and the like.

Miss Bose, apart from face mask-cum virus destroyer, showcased her innovations like homemade transparent faceshields, distance arrester for police, ear pressure reduction tool due to the use of masks and many others.

Dr Neogi, made his presentation relating to dew of his innovations developed by his team to deal with the pandemic like Corona evading gloves capable of automatic sanitization with alcohol, currency and coin disinfector, raincoat turned PPE kit and his idea on waste to mask.

The Additional Director General (M & C), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Miss Jane Namchu was also present in the webinar. The webinar was moderated by Smt Srijata Saha Sahoo, Media & Communication Officer, Press Information Bureau, Kolkata and Shri Sandipan Dasgupta, Field Publicity Officer, Field Outreach Bureau, Chuchura.

• 

Shri R. K. Singh, the Union Minister of State(I/C) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, laid foundation stone for construction of LILO of Kishenganj-Darbhanga 400kV Transmission Line at Saharsa in Bihar through a virtual event. The  execution agency for the ₹ 100 crore worth project is POWERGRID Ltd., a central PSU under Ministry of Power.

While praising the Powergrid for its efforts Shri Singh said that the Maharatna has played important role in connecting every state and region with national grid, especially in Bihar. The inter-regional transmission systems have helped Bihar in accessingpower supply from other states at cheaper rates. He further said that on completion of the Kishenganj-Darbhanga 400kV Transmission Lineproject, Power scenario of the Saharsa district including Supaul, Khagaria and Begusarai districts shall improve. Low voltage problem of North Bihar will be considerably solved and above districts shall be benefited by reliable Power.

According to the National Weather Forecasting Centre/Regional Meteorological Centre, New Delhi of the India Meteorological Department (IMD):

• A low pressure area lies over westcentral Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh coast. Likely to move west-northwestwards towards central India across Telangana during next 2-3days.
• The monsoon trough lies south of its normalposition.
• An off-shore trough lies off south Gujarat coast to north Karnatakacoast.

• Under the influence of the above low pressure area, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over Coastal Andhra Pradesh during past 24 hours. Chief amount of rainfall (in cm, 10cm and above) recorded at 0830 hrs of today; Tanuku-18; Tiruvuru-16; Amalapuram-14;Chintalapudi-10

              Due to above favourable meteorologicalconditions:

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with Isolated heavy to very heavy falls are very likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh &Yanam and Telangana on 13 & 14 September; over Rayalaseema on 13 September, over Vidarbha on 15 September and over Marathwada on 16 September.

Isolated extremely heavy falls is also very likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh on 13 September and over Telanganaon 14 September, 2020 (Detail Color code based Warning and likely impact are given in pages 2- 4)