Parliamentarian – July 2019

JULY 2019 l PARLIAMENTARIAN 9

by 2nd Oct, 2019. Number of Ganga

Towns declared ODF as on 26.01.

is as below:

Under SBM (U), the share of Central

Government as incentives on toilets is

as under:

• Rs.4,000/- per toilet unit – For all
  States
  other than North Eastern States and
  Hilly
  States


• Rs.10,800/- per toilet unit – For all
  North
  Eastern and Hilly States
  •Rs.39,200/- per unit of Community/
  Public Toilet
  •Rs.12,800/- per unit of Urinal
  In addition, continuous monitoring
  of progress in each State/UT and
  Information, Education and
  Communication (IEC) activities are
  undertaken for behavioural change.
  NEGLECTED MINORITIES BUDGET
  QUERY FROM bK hAriPrASAd
  is it a fact that only 0.49 per cent of
  the total 2016-17 budget had been
  earmarked for the development of
  minorities despite the fact that
  religious minorities constitute 21

per cent of total population as per

census 2011? is it that the total

expenditure reported for minorities

by Centre through 15 point

programme and msdP(multi-

Sectoral development Progamme)

has shown a declining trend since

2012-13?

REPLY FROM muKhtAr AbbAS

nAQv i

MINISTER OF MINORITY

AFFAIRS

No. Against the total plan allocation

of Rs 550010 crore of the

Government of India for 2016-17, the

plan allocation of Ministry of

Minority Aff airs was Rs 3800 crore

i.e.0.69%.Th is does not include the

allocation of other Ministries/

Departments of Government of India

on several schemes / projects /

programmes for all the citizens

including minorities, namely,

Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh,

Jain and Parsi.

Th e schemes/ programmes covered

under the Prime Minister’s New 15

Point Programme (PM’s New 15-PP)

for the welfare of minorities are

reviewed in the Ministry of Minority

Aff airs on quarterly basis with the

Nodal Offi cers of the concerned

Ministries/ Departments for eff ective

implementation of schemes. Th e

shortfalls, if any, are pointed out and

the concerned Ministries/

Departments are advised to take

remedial actions to ensure that the

targets are achieved. Details of the

schemes/ initiatives covered under

PM’s New 15-PP, including

expenditure since 2006-07 as

available, can be seen at this

Ministry’s website – http://www.

minorityaff airs.gov.in.

QuesTioN Hour

State

Ut ta ra k ha nd 16 16

Uttar Pradesh 21 21

Bihar 18 18

Jharkhand 02 02

West Bengal 40 31

total 97 88

no of Ganga

declared odF towns

tow n ( n o s .)

and what safeguards would be taken
to ensure that fresh water does not
get wasted in the process of hydraulic
fracturing?

REPLY FROM dhArmendrA
PrAdhAn, MINISTER OF
PETROLEUM AND NATURAL
GAS
Th e Government has amended the
defi nition of ‘Petroleum’ under clause
(k) of Rule 3 of the Petroleum &
Natural Gas Rules, 1959 and notifi ed
the same on 24.07.2018 to enable
issuance of License/Lease for
exploration / extraction / exploitation
of unconventional hydrocarbons.
Generally, methods of extraction of
shale gas or oil are horizontal drilling
and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing.
Any Exploration & Production (E&P)
company, public or private, can
undertake exploration of shale gas/oil
as per the contractual terms and
conditions. All contractors/operators
are under legal obligation to obtain
prior written clearance/approval of
the concerned environmental
authority before carrying out
activities for exploration /
exploitation of oil and gas. Th ey are
required to comply with various
statutes such as the Environmental
(Protection) Act 1986/ Forest
(Conservation) Act, 1980/ Air
(Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1981 and Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 etc.
while undertaking activities for
exploration / exploitation of oil and
gas.

OPEN DEFECATION FREE

QUERY FROM SuShil KumAr
GuPtA
does the Government have any plan
to declare towns along the river
Ganga open defecation Free? What
is the number of towns along the
river which have been declared open
defecation free, so far?

REPLY FROM hArdeeP SinGh
Puri, MOS (IC) MINISTRY OF
HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Th e objectives of Swachh Bharat
Mission - Urban (SBM-U) inter-alia
provides to make all Urban Local
Bodies (ULBs) including 97 Ganga
towns Open Defecation Free (ODF)