All that was discussed in the House through the day
In the financial year 2022-23, the names of more than 50 million workers have been deleted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Giriraj Singh, Union minister for rural development, told Lok Sabha.
While 14,951,247 MGNREGA job cards were deleted in 2021-2022, the number stood at 51,891,168 in 2022-2023. There has been a staggering 247 per cent increase in deletions than in 2021–2022.
The budgetary allocation for the Department of Health Research for the last year had a provision of Rs 323 crore for COVID-19 emergency response, a component under PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MFHW), told the Rajya Sabha.
There is a reduction in the Budget for 2023-2024 as there is no such provision for COVID-19.
The total budgetary allocation for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 under PM-ABHIM is Rs 1670 crore, Pawar added.
The budgetary allocation for National Health Mission in 2023-24 is 29,085.26 crore compared to Rs. 28,859.73 crore for the financial year 2022-23. Hence, there is no reduction of budgetary allocation, Pawar added.
The per capita out-of-pocket expenditure on health for 2019-2020 was Rs 2,289, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, the minister of state in MHFW, told the Rajya Sabha.
Kerala has an increased prevalence of cancer, more than the national average, but the distribution is almost equal in all regions, Baghel told the Rajya Sabha.
However, there is no increase in any particular type of cancer in any region, according to the cancer registry available at the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
A population-based study conducted in the state did not reveal any abnormal increase in cancers in the region, the minister added.
Nearly 9,675 patients have been enrolled in the National Registry for Rare and Other Inherited Disorders (NRROID) since November 2019, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha.
For the financial year 2023-24, funds worth Rs 92.84 crore have been allocated for the treatment of rare disease patients under the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), 2021, the minister added.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is aware of the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in the country, Parshottam Rupala, minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, told the Lok Sabha.
The department is taking all necessary steps to support states / Union Territories to control and contain the disease, which includes financial and technical support, Rupala added.
The disease is presently under control, with 6,584 active cases. More than 115.7 million animals have been vaccinated so far. The numbers of cattle deaths since July 2022 so far are over 0.2 million.
The department does not have any scheme to compensate farmers for the loss of animals due to LSD. As per information received, the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka have compensated farmers / livestock owners for the loss of their cattle, Rupala said.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries does not maintain the country’s manufacturing data on electric vehicles (EV), including public transport buses. However, as per the road transport and highway ministry’s e-vahan portal, a total of 1,466,264 electric vehicles have been registered in the country during the last three years (2020-2022), Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for heavy industries, told the Lok Sabha.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is implementing a central sector Scheme in all States / UTs for vaccinating livestock against foot and mouth disease. Over 241.8 million cattle and buffaloes were vaccinated during the last round. In the current round, more than 48.9 million cattle and buffaloes have been vaccinated across the country, Rupala told the Lok Sabha.
All thermal power plants must comply with the emission norms notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and directions given by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from time to time. For compliance with sulphur dioxide emission norms, thermal power plants are installing flue gas desulphurisation equipment, RK Singh, minister of power and new & renewable energy, told the Rajya Sabha.
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