16. COMMITTEE SECTION (T&T)

Transcription

1 16. COMMITTEE SECTION (T&T) 16.1 Functions of the Section: The Committee Section (Transport & Tourism) deals with the work pertaining to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and provides all the necessary secretarial assistance in the discharge of its Parliamentary responsibilities. The Committee consisted of thirty one (31) Members of Parliament i.e. ten (10) from Rajya Sabha and twenty one (21) from Lok Sabha. Rules 74 to 92 and 268 to 277 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Council of States, apply to this Committee The following Ministries fall within the purview of the Committee:- (a) MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION (b) MINISTRY OF CULTURE (c) MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (d) MINISTRY OF SHIPPING (e) MINISTRY OF TOURISM The functions assigned to the Committee, as enumerated in Rule 270 supra, are- (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) consideration of Demands for Grants of the related Ministries examination of Bills pertaining to the related Ministries when referred to the Committee by the Chairman or the Speaker; consideration of Annual Reports of the related Ministries; and basic long-term policy documents presented to the Houses, if referred to the Committee by the Chairman or the Speaker, as the case may be, and report thereon Term of the Committee: The previous Committee which was constituted in 31 st August, 2012, continued upto 30 th August, The Committee was re-constituted w.e.f. 31 st August 2013 under the Chairmanship of Shri Sitaram Yechury, M.P. Rajya Sabha for a period of one year with 10 Members from Rajya Sabha and 21 Members from Lok Sabha Consideration of Demands for Grants ( ): The Committee examined the Demands for Grants for the year in respect of the concerned Ministries and presented five Reports to Parliament during the Budget Session In the course of examination of Demands for Grants ( ), the Committee heard the Ministries of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Culture on 2 nd April, 2013, Ministry of Tourism on 9 th April, The oral evidence of Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Civil Aviation was held on the 18 th April, Action Taken Reports - Action Taken Replies on the recommendations/observations contained in the 188 th, 189 th, 191 st, 192 nd, 193 rd, 194 th, 195 th and 200 th Reports were received during the year. Interim/partly replies on the recommendations/observations contained in the 188 th, 190 and 200 th Reports were received during the year and complete Action Taken Replies are awaited. The 199 th Report on the Action taken by the Government on the Recommendations/ Observations of the Committee contained in its 189 th Report on the Development of National Waterways-Potentials and Challenges was presented during the year The Committee adopted the draft reports on Action taken by the Government on the Recommendations/ Observations of the Committee contained in its report nos. 191 st, 192 nd, 193 rd, 194 th and 195 th on Demands for Grants ( ) in its meeting held on 17 th December, However, due to adjournment of Houses of the Parliament, the Committee could not present the Reports to the Parliament Examination of the Bills During the year 2013, the Committee was referred four Bills for examination and report. 138

2 The National Waterway (Lakhipur-Bhanga Stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013 was referred to the Committee on 25 th March, The Committee heard the Ministry of Shipping on 18 th April, 2013 and the Report was presented to the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 26 th June, 2013during the inter-session period. The Committee also presented/laid a copy of the report to the Houses of Parliament on 7 th August, The Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was referred to the Committee on 19 th March, The Committee heard the Ministry of Shipping on 18 th April, 2013 and the Report was presented to the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 26 th June, 2013 during the inter-session period. The Committee presented/laid a copy of the report to the Houses of Parliament on 7 th August, The Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 was referred to the Committee on 20 th August, The Committee heard the Ministry of Shipping/Organisations/Stakeholders on 24 th August, 1 st October and 22 nd October, The Report was presented to the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 20 th November, 2013 during inter session period and the Report was also presented/laid to the Houses of Parliament on 17 th December, The Civil 2013 was referred to Committee on 18 th September, 2013, for examination and report within two months i.e. by 17 th November, Since the Bill contained wider ramifications and the Committee had to interact with a wide range of range of stakeholders on the recommendations of the Committee, the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha has granted an extension of time upto the 17 th January, 2014 for presentation of the report on the aforesaid Bill. The Committee heard the views of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), various Unions/Associations, Stakeholders etc. on the Bill in its meetings held on 24 th September, 9 th and 22 nd October, 21 st November, 2013 and 3 rd January, Consideration of General Subjects: During the year 2013, the Committee selected three subjects for consideration and report. The details are given in the succeeding paragraphs: The Committee held a detailed study on the subject Management of road transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges. The Committee heard the views of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Home Affairs, Urban Development, Delhi Police, National Capital Region Planning Board, Transport Department of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, representatives of State Governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in its meetings held on 3rd and 16th January, 6th and 15th February, The Committee presented/laid the report to the Houses of Parliament on 27 th August, The Committee took up the subject Development of Tourism, National Highways and Water Transport in Kerala and Cochin Shipyard Limited. In this regard the Committee held a study visit to Kochi and a few of tourist destinations in Kerala i.e., Munnar and Thekkady, between 24 th to 31 st May, During the study visit, the Committee heard the views of Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Shipping, National Highways Authority of India, Inland Waterway Authority of India, Cochin Shipyard and Officers of State Government of Kerala, Tour-Travel and Hotelier Associations of the State and others. The Committee also visited the Cochin Shipyard and the Cochin Port. The Committee presented/laid the report to the Houses of Parliament on 27 th August, Another subject considered by the Committee during the year was Privatization of Services at Airports. The Committee heard the views of the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Chairman, Airports Authority of India and Airports Authority Employees Union in its meetings held on 24 th June and 9 th October, 2013 during the inter-session period respectively on the subject. The Report was presented to the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 20 th November, 2013 during the inter-session period and the Report was also presented/laid to the Houses of Parliament on 17 th December,

3 The Committee also examined the subject "Functioning of National Akademis and other Cultural Institutions : Issues and Challenges. While examining the subject, the Committee heard famous personalities in the field of art and culture and the representatives of Akademis and Institutions on their functioning. The Report was presented to the Hon ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 20 th November, 2013 during inter-session period and the Report was also presented/laid to the Houses of Parliament on 17 th December, Sub-Committees: No Sub-Committee was constituted by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture during the year Tours/Visits: During the year 2013, the Committee undertook one study visit to Kochi, Munnar & Thekkady From 24 th to 31 st May, Meetings and Reports: - The Committee held, in all, 19 meetings during the year 2013 as per the details given below spread over 36 hours 50 minutes, whereas in the year 2012, 18 meetings were held, which spread over 35 hours and 49 minutes. LIST OF MEETINGS DURING THE YEAR 2013 S. Date of Main item of Agenda Evidence taken, If any Time devoted No. Meeting Hrs. Min (i) Consideration and adoption of draft reports on the (a) Functioning (i) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; 1 50 of Commission of Railway Safety; (ii) National Highways (b) Development of National Authority of India (NHAI); Waterways Potential and (iii) Transport Research Wing; Challenges ; and (c) Development of Tourism in Darjeeling and Sikkim. (iv) Government of NCT of Delhi; (v) National Informatics Centre (ii) Oral evidence on the (NIC). Management of road transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges Oral evidence on the Management of road transport in National (i) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; 1 40 Capital Region: Issues and (ii) National Highways Challenges. Authority of India (NHAI); (iii)ministry Of Home Affairs; (iv)transport Department, Government of NCT of Delhi (v) National Informatics Centre (NIC) (vi) Delhi Police Oral evidence on the Management of road transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges Oral evidence on the Management of road transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges. (i) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; (ii) National Capital Region Planning Board; (iii) Government of Uttar Pradesh; (iv) Government of Haryana; and (v) Government of Rajasthan. (i) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; (ii) Ministry of Home Affairs; (iii) Ministry of Urban Development; (iv) National Capital Region Planning Board;

4 Oral evidence on the Demands for Grants ( ) of (i) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and (ii) Ministry of Culture Oral evidence on the Demands for Grants ( ) of Ministry of Tourism Oral evidence on the Demands for Grants ( ) of Ministry of Shipping and (ii) Ministry of Civil Aviation Consideration and adoption of draft Report on the Demands for Grants ( ) of Ministries of Civil Aviation, Culture, Road Transport & Highways; and Shipping (i) Considered the draft One Hundred and Ninety Sixth Report on The National Waterway (Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013; (v) Government of Delhi; (vi) Delhi Development Authority; and (vii) Delhi Police (i) Ministry of Road Transport 6 05 & Highways; (ii) National Highways Authority of India; (iii) Border Roads Organisation; and (iv) Ministry of Culture; (v) Archeological Survey of India; (vi) National Archives of India; (vii) Anthropological Survey of India; (viii) Sangeet Natak Akademi; (ix) Lalit Kala Akademi; (x) Sahitya Akademi; (xi) National School Of Drama; and (xii) National Library; and NMM&L (i) Ministry of Tourism; 2 10 (ii) India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) (i) Ministry of Shipping; 6 30 (ii) Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI); (iii) DG (Shipping); (iv) DG (Light Houses & Light Ships); (v) Chief Engineer (ALHW), (vi) Major Ports; (vii) Public Sector Undertakings under Ministry of Shipping (viii) Ministry of Civil Aviation; (ix) Director-General of Civil Aviation; (x) Airports Authority of India; (xi) Air India Limited; (xii) Bureau of Civil Aviation Security; (xiii) Airport Economic Regularity Authority; (xiv) Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academi; and (xv) Aero Club of India

5 (ii) Oral evidence on the The Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, Consideration of the draft report on the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill Oral evidence on the PPP mode in Airports Consideration and adoption of following draft reports on :- (i) 198 th Report on Management of Road Transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges ; (ii) 199 th Report on Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/ Observations of the Committee contained in its One Hundred and Eighty Ninth Report on the Development of National Waterways-Potentials and Challenges ; and (iii) 200 th Report on Development of Tourism, National Highways and Water Transport in Kerala and Cochin Shipyard Limited (i) Oral evidence on the Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 ; (ii) Oral evidence on the Civil (i) Consideration and adoption of draft 201 st Report on the Functioning of National Akademis and Other Cultural Institutions- Issues and Challenges ; and (ii) Oral evidence on the the Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, Oral evidence on the Civil (i) Oral evidence on the Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 and on the Privatisation of Services at Airports ; (ii) Oral evidence on the Civil Indian National Ship-Owners Association Ministry of Civil Aviation; Directorate-General of Civil Aviation; Airports Authority of India; Planning Commission (i) Ministry of Shipping; (ii) Ministry of External Affairs; (iii) Ministry of Labour; (iv)ministry of Law and Justice; (v)ministry of Civil Aviation (i) National Union of Seafarers Of India (ii) Indian National Ship- Owners Association (iii) Forward Seamen s Union Of India (iv) Indian National Trade Union Congress (v) Seafarers Confederation of India (vi) Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (i) Airports Authority Of India; (ii) GMR Airports; (iii) Civil Aviation Department Airworthiness Control Officers Association; (iv) International Air Transport Association (IATA); (v) Airports Employees Union (i) Ministry of Shipping (ii) Ministry of Labour (iii) Ministry of External Affairs (iv) Ministry of Agriculture (Department Of Fisheries) (v) Ministry of Law And Authority

6 2013. Justice (Department Of Legal Affairs) (vi) Jet Airways (vii) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (viii) Indian Commercial Pilots Association (i)consider and adopt draft - Reports on the Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 and on the Privatisation of Services at Airports ; - (ii) Oral evidence on the Civil (i) Oral evidence on the Civil (ii) Consideration and adoption of two Hundred Fourth Report on the Action Taken Replies on the Ministry of Civil Aviation; Two Hundred Fifth Report on the Action Taken Replies on the Ministry of Culture; Two Hundred Sixth Report on the Action Taken Replies on the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; Two Hundred Seventh Report on the Action Taken Replies on the Demands for Grants ( ) of Ministry of Shipping; and Two Hundred Eighth Report on the Action Taken Replies on the Demands for Grants ( ) of Ministry of Tourism. (i) Air India; (ii) Indian Pilots Guild; (iii) Rotary Wing Society Of India; (iv) Business Aircraft Operators Association Of India; Total (time) 36 Hours 50 minutes During the year under review, a total of 16 Reports were presented as compared to 15 Reports in the year Sl. No. Report No Title of the Report Date of Adoption by the Committee Functioning of Commission of Railway Safety Development of National Waterways- Potential and Challenges Date of Presentation to the Houses (presented to Hon ble Chairman) and on (presented to Hon ble Chairman) and on

7 Development of Tourism in Darjeeling and Sikkim Ministry of Civil Aviation Ministry of Culture Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Ministry of Shipping Ministry of Tourism The National Waterway (Lakhipur- Bhanga Stretch of the Barak River) Bill, (presented to Hon ble Chairman). on The Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, Management of road transport in National Capital Region: Issues and Challenges Action taken by the Government on the Recommendations/ Observations of the Committee contained in its One Hundred and Eighty Ninth Report on the Development of National Waterways- Potentials and Challenges Development of Tourism, National Highways and Water Transport in Kerala and Cochin Shipyard Limited Functioning of National Akademis and other Cultural Institutions : Issues and Challenges The Merchant Shipping (Second Amendment) Bill, Privatization of Services at Airports (presented to Hon ble Chairman). on 7 th August, (presented to Hon ble Chairman) on (presented to Hon ble Chairman) on (presented to Hon ble Chairman). on (presented to Hon ble Chairman). on Status of Computerisation: There are six computers and three printers in the Section. All the work of the Section relating to drafting of reports, notices, minutes and other communications is being done on these computers. The staff of the Section is trained to work on these computers. All these Computers have been linked with Local Area Network (LAN) and Internet facilities. This Section is making optimum use of the computer facilities provided to the Section. The Section is regularly feeding and updating the data in the Committee Software and Rajya Sabha Website. The notice of the Committee meetings, reports, background notes etc. are being sent through to 144

8 the Members of the Committee. The Section also sent SMS about the meetings of the Committee to the Members. DMIS software is being used for diarizing and tracking of the receipts Budget Allocation/Expenditure: An amount of Rs.2,00,000/- was sanctioned for refreshment/lunch for the financial year , out of which Rs.26,432/- was incurred from 1 st April to 31 st December, An amount o Rs.77,214/- was also incurred from 1 st January to 31 st March, 2013 for the financial year An amount of Rs.16,00,000/- was sanctioned for Study tour Budget (Members-Domestic Travel Expenses) and out of that Rs.14,95,024/- remains available. An amount of Rs.4,00,000/- was sanctioned for Study tour Budget (Members-Office Expenses) and out of that, Rs.3,80,370/- remains available. An amount of Rs.6,00,000/- was sanctioned for Study tour Budget (Staff-Domestic Travel Expenses) and out of that, Rs.5,31,490/- remains available. An amount of Rs.3,07,584/- was reimbursed during the financial year to the Kolkata Port Trust on account of Board, Lodging, Conference Hall and transport charges at Kolkata from 15 th to 17 th September, 2010 during the study visit of the Committee : As per the guidelines relating to settlement of tour expenditure, the Committee settled Bills of Rs.1,93,116/- during the financial year upto Inspection Report: The Annual Inspection of the Section was conducted on the 15 th March, The observations/suggestions made by the inspecting officer were duly followed in the section Training of the Staff: Smt. A.S. Chakravani, Assistant Director and Shri Prem Prakash Dhyani, Sr. Clerk have participated in Training Programme on Office Procedure from 21 st to 25 th October, Shri T. Kennedy Jesudossan, Committee Officer (in-situ) has participated in training programme on Financial Management from 9 th to 13 th September, Miscellaneous work: In addition to the work referred to above, the Section also dealt with other miscellaneous work such as liaisoning with the concerned Sections i.e. Interpreters, Reporters, Parliament Security Service, Electrical and Sound Departments, Air-conditioner, Horticulture of CPWD and Ministries concerned during the meetings of the Committee. Settlement of the refreshment bills on account of expenditure incurred during the Committee s meetings and tour related Bills were also undertaken by the Section. The Committee Section also informs the meeting dates and venue telephonically as well as through and SMS to the Members. Other miscellaneous correspondences received in the Section were suitably disposed off. Newspaper clippings pertaining to the Committee were sent to officers and selected clipping were sent to related Ministries for comments. The section also makes available the information on the RTI applications pertaining to the section and ensures timely submission of replies. Circulation of the printed reports from 174 th to 180 th, 193 rd, 194 th, 196 th and 197 th was done during Goals and Achievements: The main goal of the Section was to provide timely Secretarial assistance in an efficient and effective way to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and it provided all its support for achieving the goal. The Committee section also got first prize on the work done in the Hindi from the Rajbhasha Prabhag during