Today, I am saying about Marathon. Countries like Ethiopia which are poorer than India are getting gold medals. In India, a poor boy in the hill everyday goes five kilometres to fetch water and firewood for his family. He also does a record more than for survival. So, if this boy is tapped properly, he can become a future gold medallist for the country. At last, I would like to say that whatever the Government has done during its tensure, they have tried their best, but the coalition, which they had, was a motley coalition. I presume that they could have given us a better Government. They should have followed how Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA Government, which opened up the rural areas. During that period, it was the rural sector which got the maximum attention compared to other areas. An innovative scheme known as Provision of Urban Amenities in the Rural Areas has only got a budget of about Rs. 2 Crore in the last Finance Minister's budget provisions. Allocation to this scheme should be enhanced and the rural areas should be our targeted thrust areas because 60 per cent of the population live in the rural areas. Sir, the bill, as it has emerged from the joint select committee, has certainly been one which is much more acceptable to the workers than it was when it was originally moved in this house. Sir, as far as the general principle and the objective of the bill are concerned, it is very laudable, not only because of the fact that the workers in a welfare state are entitled to leisure and are entitled to know exactly the terms and conditions under which they have to work but also because of the fact that as far as the transport workers are concerned their leisure and the strain on their nerves and muscles is not only a mater.
