From Pendency Of Dues To Air Pollution: Issues Raised On 1st Day In Lok Sabha

Matters related to pendency of dues to West Bengal, renaming of the Bombay High Court and air pollution were among the issues raised by Lok Sabha members on Wednesday.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised the issue of India's poor performance in combating air pollution and said it is because of the insufficient capacity building of municipal cooperations and district sub-division administrations under the National Clean Air Programme.

He claimed that most of the cities mandated to submit their city action plans have only replicated each other's initiatives.

"Some local governments have either under-spent or diverted majority of funds towards projects not at all related to national clean air programme," he said, adding that a comprehensive monitoring mechanism must be developed by the Union government to prevent such activities of the local governments.

Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Ray urged the government to pay the pending funds related to a job scheme to West Bengal which he claimed amounted to around Rs 7,300 crore.

He also said the total amount pending to the state involving other schemes was Rs 1 lakh crore.

"It is very unfortunate that neither funds nor response have been received from the ministry," Mr Ray said.

BJP MP Gopal Shetty demanded that the Bombay High Court be changed to Maharashtra High Court.

"The name Maharashtra has a special significance in the state," he said, noting that since there is no city called 'Bombay' anymore, the HC cannot be called so.

BJP MP Khagen Murmu urged the government to expedite construction of Malda airport, while party colleague Sandhya Ray urged the government to open a Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind.

BJP MP Rajesh Verma urged the Union railway minister to introduce a Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train between Sitapur and Lucknow to facilitate movement of passengers in the region.

Another BJP MP Diya Kumari said in 2015, the Archaeological Survey of India identified sites of religious and historical importance for implementation of disabled-friendly initiatives but at Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranthambore Fort, these initiatives are yet to take off.

She urged the ASI to make these sites more inclusive.

The members raised the issues under rule 377.

Under Rule 377 of the Rules of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, members are allowed to raise matters which are not Points of Order or which have not been raised during the same session under any other Rule.

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