34 pc coastline eroding, 9.79 lakh Govt posts vacant: 7 key things we learnt from Parliament today
FollowEven as the Opposition continued to disrupt the proceedings of Parliament, claiming that the Narendra Modi government was being stubborn over not holding discussions on the gamut of issues raised by it, there are tidbits of information that the government gave across in response to questions put forth by MPs.
Let's take a look at some crucial data given by the government in both Houses of Parliament
24,134 people faced trial under UAPA in 5 years
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed that a total of 24,134 people faced trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act between 2016 and 2020. Out of these, only 212 were convicted under the anti-terror law, while 386 people were acquitted. Between 2016 and 2020, a total of 5,027 cases were lodged under the UAPA.
Census data not used in database like NRC
Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said information collected from individuals for the census is not publicly revealed or used to prepare any database, including the National Register of Citizens.
The Census was scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. Rai further said that the government's focus is on scientifically designing the census questions to ensure faster processing and early release of data.
Photograph: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
118 civilians killed since August 2019
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed that since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, as many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Rai said that terrorists had killed 128 security personnel and 118 civilians since special status to Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn on August 5, 2019.
9.79 lakh vacant posts in central government departments
Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh informed that against the sanctioned strength of 40.35 lakh in central government departments, around 9.79 lakh posts were lying vacant as of March 1, 2021. Citing data from the report of the pay research unit of the department of expenditure, Singh said as many as 30,55,876 central government civilian employees were in position on the date against the sanctioned strength of 40,35,203 under various ministries/departments of the central government.
E-Commerce firms penalised Rs 78 lakh for violations
Ashwini Kumar, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, told Lok Sabha that 448 notices had been served to E-commerce entities in the last year and nine months for violating the declaration that they will display the name and address of the manufacturer or importer, maximum retail price, country of origin, month and year of manufacture and customer care details among other details on the digital and electronic network used for e-commerce transactions.
He further said that the Legal Metrology Division of the ministry had charged penalty worth Rs 78 lakh from e-commerce companies as compounding fees for violation of declaration.
8740 complaints against cab aggregators in 2.5 years
Ashwini Kumar, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, informed Lok Sabha that between January 1, 2020, and July 13 2022, consumers registered 8740 grievances against major cab aggregator firms. The customer complaints ranged from driver cancellations, service deficiencies and inadequate consumer grievance redressal mechanisms, among others.
He said that notices had been issued to two major online ride-hailing platforms based on various complaints registered by consumers on NCH. The notices raise multiple issues of violation of consumer rights and unfair trade practices by the platforms, he added.
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34% of coastline eroding over past 28 years
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh informed Lok Sabha that in the last 28 years, 34 per cent of the coastline has been under varying degrees of erosion. He said that the 6907.18 km long coastline of the mainland had been analyzed for the period from 1990 to 2018 using remote sensing data and GIS mapping techniques.
In a statement, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services had not estimated the percentage of loss specifically due to coastal erosion but estimated Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the Indian coastline. Maps have been generated using seven coastal parameters -- coastal slope, coastal geomorphology, shoreline change rate, sea-level change rate, coastal elevation, significant wave height and tidal range.
