All that was discussed in the House through the day
The per capita expenditure incurred by the Government of India on health is increasing, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar, told the Rajya Sabha February 8, 2022.
She gave figures for the latest available per capita expenditure incurred by the government on health for the past four years. These are according to the National Health Account Estimates:
Decline in fertility
India’s Crude Birth Rate or the number of live births per thousand population in 2019 was 19.7, as compared to 24.8 in the year 2003. This is according to the Sample Registration System published by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.
India’s Total Fertility Rate, or the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years, has also declined to 2.0 children per woman in 2019-20, from 2.7 children per woman in the year 2005-06.
This is according to the fifth and third rounds of the National Family Health Survey or NFHS, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha.
UP solar parks
The Centre has approved seven solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 3,805 MW for Uttar Pradesh under the Solar Park Scheme, Union Minister Of Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh told the Rajya Sabha. So far, no solar park had been fully developed in Uttar Pradesh, Singh added.
Rooftop solar targets
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable energy is implementing the Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II, minister RK Singh told the Rajya Sabha. It aims to install rooftop solar plants in the residential sector of an aggregated capacity of 4,000 Megawatt (MW), through central financial assistance by this year.
The guidelines for the implementation of the programme were issued August 20, 2019 and capacities were allocated later to the states.
The Centre has allocated around 3,160 MW capacity to the states’ implementing agencies against the target capacity of 4,000 MW, based on the demand received from the states. Around 1,176 MW capacity had been installed as on December 21, 2021, Singh said.
Climate-induced migration
There is no established study for India that attributes climate change as having triggered migration / displacement of people, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, told the Lok Sabha.
Disasters such as seasonal floods in flood-prone states cause temporary displacement of people due to flooding, according to information received from the National Disaster Management Authority, Yadav said.
Such displacement may range from a few weeks to two or three months. After the flood season, displaced people tend to return to their original locations. It is difficult to attribute such displacement to climate change.
In some locations, such as river islands affected by erosion, people are displaced locally due to erosion, Yadav said.
Hapur industrial discharge
There are 25 grossly polluting industries (GPI) located in Hapur district, Uttar Pradesh. They comprise of textile units, sugar mills with captive distillery units, food and beverages units, slaughter houses, pipe manufacturing units and Common Effluent Treatment Plants.
The government has taken several initiatives to control industrial pollution, Minister of State in the Union Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change, Ashwini Kr Choubey, told the Lok Sabha.
These are:
These initiatives are aimed at conducting adequacy assessment, performance assessment of effluent treatment plants as well as monitoring of zero liquid discharge system of sugar / distillery mills.
African cheetahs
The Government of India is in the process of holding consultation meetings with African countries for bringing African cheetahs to the country. A total of 12-14 cheetahs are intended to be brought from South Africa / Namibia / other African countries over a period of five years.
These cheetahs would be fitted with satellite / GSM-GPS-VHF radio-collars before their release in the wild so as to enable remote monitoring, Choubey said.
Reuse of solid waste
The Centre has allocated an amount of Rs 141,678 crore over a period of five years from 2021-2026, under the Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, Choubey said.
The focus will be on source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic, reduction in air pollution by effectively managing waste from construction-and-demolition activities and bio-remediation of all legacy waste dump sites, Choubey said.
A proposal for solid waste management through pyrolysis technology has been received from Andhra Pradesh, Choubey added.
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