Parliament Watch: Human rights violations, 5G Network, police reforms and more [Day 8 roundup]

The eighth day of the 2021 Winter Session of Parliament saw responses on issues ranging from human rights violations, police reforms, blocked social media accounts and more..A question was tabled before the Lok Sabha by DMK MP M Shanmugam on the incidents of human rights violations and the amount of monetary relief disbursed to victims. Responding to the question, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that as per the data received by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), no increase of human rights violations has been noticed. Below is the tabular representation of the State-wise human rights violations recorded in the last three years..The table below indicates the year-wise number of cases registered and amounts recommended for compensating victims of human rights violations:.On a question posed by three Members of Parliament on the number of cases of violation of consumer rights and measures taken to create awareness among consumers to protect their interests, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution showcased a tabular representation of State-wise complaints received by consumer forums during the last three years..On the aspect of awareness being created to protect consumer rights, the statement mentioned, “Department of Consumer Affairs generates consumer awareness through video spots, banners, hoardings, posters etc. on topics ranging from salient features of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Packaged Commodities Rules, Hallmarking, consumer grievance redressal mechanism etc. Awareness and advocacy is done inter-alia through the departmental website, Panchayat Bhavans, Common Service Centers etc. Other Central Government Departments like Ministry of Railways & Department of Posts as also State Governments/UT Administrations are also involved in dissemination of consumer awareness messages.”.Another question was raised by AIADMK MP A Vijayakumar on police reforms being brought by the government at the Centre/state level.Nityanand Rai responded to the question and mentioned that it is primarily the responsibility of the state governments/union territory administrations to implement police reforms. Advisories are also issued by the Centre to bring in requisite reforms.“...the Union Government has set up various Commissions/Committees. The Government constituted a Review Committee headed by Shri R.S. Mooshahary to review the recommendations of the previous Commissions and Committees on Police Reforms. The Committee has shortlisted 49 recommendations which have been sent to State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for taking appropriate action,”, the response statedRai also stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced “incentives for police reforms” in the implementation structure of the scheme of ‘Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police’. “Up to 20% of the total annual allocation of the scheme has been made as incentive component at present,” the statement mentioned..YSR Congress MP Avinash Reddy asked a question on the introduction of 5G network and whether India has a conducive environment for accommodating the same.Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan responded in the affirmative, and stated that the government is taking several measures to create a favourable environment for launching 5G in the country. The statement mentions,“i) Permission has been granted to Telecom Service Providers for conducting 5G Technology trials during May 2021 with a validity period of up to one year,ii) An indigenous 5G Test Bed has been set up at a total cost of Rs. 224 crore to facilitate for experimenting and demonstrating 5G applications/ use cases,iii) A consultation paper has been issued by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on “Auction of spectrum in the frequencies identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)/5G” based on requisition of recommendations by the Government.”Recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spectrum auction for 5G Rollout is being awaited and the 5G network is slated to be introduced gradually as the ecosystem grows from the year 2022 in the country, the response revealed..In response to a question in the Lok Sabha today, it was stated that 9,848 social media accounts and URLs were blocked on the request of the nodal officers of various ministries and states..9,848 social media accounts/URLs blocked in 2020: Response in Parliament.During the proceedings of the Lower House in the Parliament today, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju passed The High Courts and Supreme Court judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 with amendments as suggested by MPs present in the House yesterday.