Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Land title to tribals and other forest dwellers, 21/12/2015. The State/ UT wise details of forest area are given in Annexure-I. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the Nodal Ministry for implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 also known as Forest Rights Act,2006. As per the information provided by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a total of 4,405,395 claims have been filed and 1,708,973 titles have been distributed as on 31st October, 2015.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission, 21/12/2015. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) {SBM-G} has been launched on 2nd October, 2014 with a goal of attaining Swachh Bharat by 2nd October, 2019 by accelerating sanitation coverage in the rural areas. Since the launch of SBM(G), there has been a spurt in the progress made under the programme. Against the expected outcome of 50 lakh for individual latrines for the year 2014-15, 58,54,987 latrines were constructed. During 2015-16, 60.88 lakh toilets have already been constructed as on 17.12.2015.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Drinking Water and Sanitation projects , 21/12/2015. Under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), drinking water schemes / projects prepared by the States do not come to the Central Government for approval. States have State Level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) which approves the rural drinking water supply projects to be taken up in the State. However, some States including Madhya Pradesh had submitted various proposals for funding from external lending agencies for examination and recommendation to Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Compilation of damage due to man-elephant conflict , 21/12/2015. The data on damage, to crops and properties as well as human deaths due to human elephant conflicts, is compiled regularly by Central and State Governments. State-wise information on crop, property damages and human casualties due to man-elephant conflicts, during last three years, is at Annexure I(A) and Annexure I(B).

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Failure of crops due to unseasonal rains and monsoon failure, 18/12/2015. According to India Meteorological Department, during South-West Monsoon, 2015 (1 June to 30 September), the country as a whole received 760.6 mm rainfall as opposed to the normal rainfall of 887.5 mm, which 14% deficient. Details of meteorological sub-division-wise rainfall is Annexure-I. As per the information provided by the Government of States/UTs for the year 2015 the number of suicides due to agrarian reason is at Annexure-II.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Compensation for loss of crops, 18/12/2015. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is concerned with coordination of relief measures necessitated by drought, hailstorm, pest attack, cold wave/frost. The details of financial assistance approved State-wise by the Government of India from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the last three years are at Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases, 18/12/2015. According to Sample Registration System (SRS) based Abridged life table brought out by Registrar General and Census Commission, India the expectation of life at birth for men and women has increased from 62.3 years and 64.6 years during 1999-03 (Mid-year 2001) to 65.8 years and 69.3 years respectively during 2009-13 (Mid-year 2011). State-wise estimates are available only for bigger States. The State wise details for bigger States, gender-wise, are enclosed at Annexure – I & II.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Cases of tuberculosis, 18/12/2015. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB report 2015, in the year 2014, 2.2 million cases were estimated in India which is higher than any other country. However, this high number is because of our large population even though the incidence, prevalence and mortality due to TB in India has been consistently declining over the last 15 years and India has also achieved the Millennium Development Goal and has halved the TB prevalence and mortality as compared to 1990 levels.

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Adverse effects of climate change on agriculture, 18/12/2015. The impact of climate change is also expected in economic viability and production of livestock systems through poor availability of quality feed and fodder, decreased reproductive performance and decline in milk production. Further, ICAR- CRIDA has also mapped 572 districts of the country for their vulnerability to extreme events due to climate change. The vulnerability was assessed high to very high in 230 districts, medium in 114 districts and low to very low in 228 districts.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Nirmal Gram Status to Villages, 17/12/2015. Number of Gram panchayats awarded Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) during each of the last three years is at Annexure-1. Under the new Swach Bharat Mission (Gramin) launched on 2nd October, 2014, Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) has been closed. State/UT-wise, number of Gram Panchayats identified for making Open Defecation Free during 2015-16 as per Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) prepared by the States/UTs is at Annexure-2.