The Week in Parliament
CPI(M) Parliamentary Office
THE second part of Parliament's Budget Session began on March 10, with both Houses witnessing disruptions over the government's attempt to impose Hindi language.
The Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the Railway (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Speaking on this, V Sivadasan said that for enacting legislation for a particular sector, a thorough study is very important. What is the present condition of the Indian Railways? Basically, the Railway Ministry itself has derailed. Then, how will we overcome this situation? It is a very serious matter that 2,50,000 posts are lying vacant. They are not taking action for proper recruitment. In loco running staff category, 16,373 posts are lying vacant. Loco pilots are struggling because of the burden of work. They are working for 14 to 20 hours. Security issues are there but the government is not concerned about the safety and security of passengers. From 2014 to 2023, 638 train accidents happened in which 781 lives were lost. They are speaking about kavach, but the ordinary passengers are not getting the benefit of this device. On the one hand, the government is increasing ticket prices in the name of Tatkal or premium Tatkal and on the other hand it is reducing passenger facilities. The government is putting up big cutouts of the prime minister, but it is not ready to make toilets for passengers! This is the situation in Indian Railways. They introduced so-called hi-speed trains like Vande Bharat, but what is the real situation? In an answer to my question in this House, the government has said that the average speed of Indian trains has been reduced in the last two years. There is also an issue of waste management. The Railways produces huge waste but it has not provided any facility for waste management. I request the railway minister to take necessary action with regard to waste management. Decentralisation in Indian Railways is very necessary. Now, I come to the last issue, which is very serious in nature. In the name of daily wage workers and contract workers, they are denying reservations. So, the SC, ST, adivasis and dalits are not getting the benefit of reservation in Indian Railways. I request the minister and the government to allow the reservation system in the railways.
Participating in a discussion on the working of the ministry of education in the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas said Kerala has shown the way to this country in the field of education. The government should not be fussy about language. It should be liberal. This country has rich diversity. The moment Delhi dictates terms to a state, there ends the diversity. Anyone who speaks from the treasury benches harks back to the Emergency. During the Emergency, there was 42nd Amendment to the Constitution through which education was taken out of the State List. If the current government is genuine and honest, I would request it to give back education to states. The very party which ridicules the Congress on the Emergency actually benefits out of the Emergency now. The education minister is trying for a complete takeover of higher education. The UGC guidelines came. He knows what the implications of the guidelines are. There are 1,074 universities in this country. Hardly 54 of them are central universities. If he speaks about federalism, he should immediately withdraw the guidelines which the UGC has issued. I appreciate that every language is our language. Hindi is our language. But the moment you start a pattern of uniformity like one leader, one political party, one religion, one language, etc., there ends this country. This country belongs to all. The scheme of this government is very interesting. They start a centrally sponsored project. They will contribute some amount. They want states also to contribute. Do you know what they do? They want to brand the entire scheme. They contribute something for the housing scheme where three-fourths would be spent by the states. But they want to brand it as their scheme. Just look at the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
An amount of Rs 849 crore due to Kerala has been withheld. Do you know why? It is because we are not implementing PM SHRI scheme. PM SHRI was never part of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. Even for PM SHRI, the state has to fund 40 per cent. Also, what is suitable to Bihar or Odisha may not be suitable to Kerala. My point is very simple. The minister has to stop this business of centralisation of everything in Delhi. Stop it and respect state governments.
OTHER ISSUES
In the Rajya Sabha, A A Rahim made a demand for safeguarding employees’ rights and promoting a sustainable work culture. This is the need of the hour. I would like to talk about work-life balance. This is a major concern in this country. As we know, the nature of the Indian job market has rapidly changed due to neo-liberal policies. The government has failed to ensure permanent employment. Privatisation, contracting and outsourcing of jobs have been creating new challenges. I would like to flag some important and alarming data in this august House. As per the International Labour Organization (ILO) report titled ‘Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World’, a staggering 51 per cent of India’s workforce logs more than 49 hours weekly, placing the country among the top countries with the longest working hours. Also, India is among the top nations with the highest number of deaths caused by overtime at work. A joint study by the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation highlights that excessive working hours increase the risk of death by stroke by 35 per cent and the risk of heart diseases by 17 per cent. In the light of this alarming data, I would like to mention the name of Anna Sebastian, a young Keralite from Ernakulam who was working at multinational company, Ernst and Young. She lost her life due to work-related stress. She is not the only victim. A report compiled by an organisation called ‘1to1Help’, which is an employee assistance programme provider, states that 90 per cent of corporate employees under the age of 25 struggle with anxiety. The government has to consider about the ‘right to disconnect’. It is a right of employees. I urge upon the government to introduce legislation for ensuring the ‘right to disconnect’. The ILO report also cited a survey conducted by the Global Job Matching and Hiring Platform, which found that 88 per cent of Indian employees are regularly contacted by their employers outside of work hours.
In the Lok Sabha, Amra Ram raised the issue of severe water shortage in Rajasthan. Even after 75 years of independence, 80 per cent of the state's population, whether rural or urban, are in dire need of pure drinking water. There is fluoride containment in water, due to which people have to buy water to drink. There can be nothing more regrettable than this. Rajasthan shares an international border of more than a thousand kilometres with Pakistan, but it faces problems of transportation, education and healthcare facilities. The state also might be the most laggard under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The state government is yet to provide its 50 per cent share of funding for the Rs 7,900-crore drinking water project in Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu and Neem Ka Thana. Rajasthan has not received its share of Yamuna water in these 75 years. Even today, 0.7 million acre feet of water in Pong Dam, which is Rajasthan's share, has not been received by it. Since the people of Rajasthan crave for every drop of water, I would request the government to accord special category state status to it.
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