GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 42
ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019
Privatisation of Air India and Air India Express
42 Dr. Subramanian Swamy
Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state :-
(a) whether Government has decided to privatise the Air India and Air India Express; and
(b) if so, the steps taken in this process of privatisation so far?
ANSWER
The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)
(a) & (b): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement in reply to part (a) & (b) of Rajya Sabha Starred Question No.42 for 20.11.2019 regarding “Privatisation of Air India and Air India Express” tabled by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, MP.
(a): Yes, Sir.
(b): Earlier, the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Strategic Disinvestment of Air India including its shareholding in Air India Express and AISATS was issued on 28.03.2018. No EoI/bid was received till the last date for receipt of bids i.e. 31.05.2018.
As per the Transaction Adviser, one of the probable reasons for not receiving bids was that Government of India had proposed to retain 24 percent of its stake in Air India.
Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) has now, inter-alia, approved the reinitiation of process of strategic disinvestment of Air India & its Subsidiaries with 100 percent sale of Government of India stake in Air India along with Air India Express and Government stake in AISATS. Discussions are being held with various stakeholders to get their inputs.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 377
ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019
Retirement age of CAPF personnel
377 Smt. Vijila Sathyananth
Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether it is a fact that Government has fixed the retirement age of all Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel at 60 years;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the extension of retirement age of CAPF personnel from 57 to 60 years will affect in any way the new recruitment of personnel in the armed police forces; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)
(a) to (d): Yes Sir.
MHA vide Order dated 19th Aug, 2019 has fixed the age of retirement in CRPF, BSF,ITBP and SSB as 60 years irrespective of rank, in pursuance to the order of Hon’ble Delhi High Court dated 04.02.2019 in WP(C) No.695/2019. The age of retirement in CISF and regular cadre of Paramilitary Component in Assam Rifles, irrespective of rank, was already 60 years prior to the MHA’s Order dated 19th Aug, 2019. Hence it will not have any effect in CISF and Assam Rifles. However, there will be some impact on recruitment of personnel in the years 2020, 2021 & 2022 in respect of CRPF, BSF, ITBP & SSB as the vacancies which would have arisen due to normal retirement would not be arising in the said years.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA QUESTION NO 393 ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019 Proposal to implement NRC in entire country
393 Shri Prabhat Jha Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether National Register of Citizens (NRC) is imperative for national security and there is a provision of NRC in almost all the countries of the world;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is a proposal to implement National Register of Citizens in the entire country post Assam and whether the necessary process and action are being taken in this regard; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)
(a) to (d): On the recommendation of Group of Ministers, constituted to review the national security system, Section 14A prescribing compulsory registration of every citizen of India, was inserted in the Citizenship Act, 1955 w.e.f. 03.12.2004.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated at present in the State of Assam only as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the provisions contained in the Schedule framed under Rule 4A(4) of Citizenship Rules, 2003.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA QUESTION NO 442 ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019
Restoration of commutation of pension under EPS
442 Shri S. Muthukaruppan
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state :-
(a)whether it is a fact that the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has approved a proposal to restore commutation of pension or advance part withdrawal under the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS);
(b)if so, the details thereof; and
(c)whether it is also a fact that the said move will benefit 6.3 lakh pensioners under EPS?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) to (c): The provision of commutation was deleted vide notification G.S.R. 688 (E) dated 26.09.2008. At present, no such proposal has been approved to restore the provision for commutation of pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995.
However, a proposal for restoration of the commuted value of pension after expiry of 15 years for EPS pensioners who had opted for commutation is under consideration.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 478
ANSWERED ON: 20.11.2019
Privatization of Trains
Manoj Kumar Tiwari
S. Venkatesan
M. Selvaraj
Kirit Premjibhai Solanki
Uday Pratap Singh
Harish Dwivedi
Gaurav Gogoi
K. Subbarayan
Andimuthu Raja
Behanan Benny
Will the Minister of
RAILWAYS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government is mulling over to allow other corporates to commence luxury rail within the country like Tejas Express;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government has formed an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) to identify more routes for private train operators across the country and whether 24 potential routes have been identified;
(d) if so, the details thereof, State/UTwise including Tamil Nadu;
(e) the time by which the Government is planning to invite bid from interested and qualified entities;
(f) whether it has been opposed in some of the States and if so, the details thereof along with Government’s stand thereon; and
(g) Whether the fares of train tickets would increase as a result of privatization and if so, whether subsidies would be retained to citizens travelling in these routes from various categories in Railway and if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (g) Ministry of Railways have constituted a Group of Secretaries (GoS) with a term of one year inter-alia to permit private passenger train operators to operate trains with world class technology over Indian Railways Network, with the following broad term of reference:-
i. Approval of the bidding process along with Bid documents and
ii. Monitor the bidding process and to take decisions to ensure the award of projects in a time bound manner.
As of now, the GoS has held three meetings and as such, Modalities regarding routes, fare structure, subsidies, etc. have not been finalized. There have been a few representations from the two recognized Railway Staff Federations along with their affiliated Trade Unions and other Trade Unions in Zonal Railways about privatization of passenger trains.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 490
ANSWERED ON: 20.11.2019
Merger of BSNL and MTNL
Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal
Shobha Karandlaje
Ajay (Teni) Misra
Queen Oja
Sunil Kumar Pintu
Khagen Murmu
Will the Minister of
COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has given in-principle approval to the merger of State run Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) MTNL and BSNL and if so, the details thereof and the time by which these two TSPs are likely to be merged;
(b) whether the Government has any action plan to strengthen/revive/bailout the aforesaid TSPs and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) the extent to which the condition of these TSPs is likely to be improved by the aforesaid action plan;
(d) whether BSNL has been reporting losses continuously since 2009-10 and has been declared incipient sick and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(e) whether the Government has formulated any scheme to equip mobile towers of the said TSPs with 4G services and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(f) the steps taken by the Government to leverage the spectrum allotment to make BSNL and MTNL competitive in the telecom market; and
(g) whether both TSPs will offer voluntary retirement to their employees aged fifty years and above through attractive VRS options and if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23-10-2019 approved the revival plan for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) which inter-alia includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL. The process of merger is likely to be completed in 18-24 months.
(b) & (c) A Cabinet Note for the revival of BSNL and MTNL was prepared by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and submitted for the consideration of the Cabinet. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23-10-2019 approved the revival plan for BSNL and MTNL.
The revival plan inter-alia includes measures to reduce the staff cost through a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), administrative allotment of spectrum to BSNL and MTNL for providing 4G services, monetisation of assets of BSNL and MTNL, debt restructuring by raising of sovereign guarantee bonds and in-principle merger of BSNL and MTNL. With the implementation of the revival plan, it is expected that both PSUs will turnaround in future.
(d) BSNL is incurring losses since 2009-10. Based on the financial performance of BSNL, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) classified BSNL as “Incipient sick” in September 2017. Stiff competition in mobile segment, high employee cost and absence of 4G services (except in few places for BSNL) in the data-centric telecom market is adversely affecting the competitive strength of BSNL.
(e) & (f) The Cabinet has approved administrative allocation of spectrum to BSNL and MTNL for providing 4G services through capital infusion by the Government.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 529
ANSWERED ON: 20.11.2019
Privatisation of Ordnance Factories
S. Jagathrakshakan
Will the Minister of
DEFENCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has taken decision to privatise Ordnance Factories in the country including OCM, HVF, Engine Factory at Avadi, Gun Factory, etc. at Tiruchi;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has thought of the future of thousands of workers working in those factories, who are protesting for more than a month;
(d) if so, the details thereof and whether the Government is reconsidering its policy of privatizing those sensitive factories in view of military strategy; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)
IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
(a) to (e): At present, there is no proposal to privatize ordnance factories.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 651
ANSWERED ON: 20.11.2019
Retrenchment of BSNL and MTNL Employees
Prataprao Govindrao Patil Chikhalikar
Will the Minister of
COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government proposes to merge the two public sector Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), BSNL and MTNL and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(b) whether the Government proposes to retrench employees of these two TSPs and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
(c) whether the Government is aware that the number of BSNL subscribers is very less in comparison to other private sector TSPs and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
ANSWER MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23.10.2019 approved the revival plan of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) which inter-alia, includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL and measures to reduce the staff cost by offering Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to the employees of age 50 years and above of BSNL and MTNL.
(c) BSNL has informed that as on 31.08.2019, market share of BSNL in landline and mobile services is 49.67% and 9.98% respectively. BSNL has further informed that the reason for less connections in comparison to other private Telecom Service Providers is due to not having separate spectrum for 4G services. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23.10.2019 approved administrative allotment of spectrum to BSNL for providing 4G services through capital infusion by the Government.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 204
ANSWERED ON 19.11.2019
Investment of Pension Funds in share market
204 Shri Ritabrata Banerjee
Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state :-
(a) whether Government is planning to invest the Pension Funds in the share market; and
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
The Minister of State (Finance)
(a) & (b) Section 14 (2) (b) of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 (PFRDA Act), empowers PFRDA to formulate investment guidelines for National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which the Act applies. The pension funds under the NPS are invested in various asset classes including Government Securities, Corporate Debt instruments, and Equities as per the investment guidelines issued by PFRDA in this regard.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under Ministry of Labour has informed that the Central Board of Trustees’, Employees Provident Fund in its 207th meeting held on 31.03.2015 decided to invest in Exchange Traded Funds in the category of Equity and related investments (Category (iv) of Investment Pattern notified on 23.04.2015) so as to generate higher returns for EPF members.
