EDITORIAL 2: When every question counts
Context
In Parliament, Question Hour is among the few tools still available to hold the current government accountable.
Tools of accountability
- For the government ,there is no running away from answering 21 hours of questions in each House this session.
- A total of 42 hours. Question Hour, for 60 minutes a day, puts Union ministers in the hot seat.
- They are obliged to reply, either orally on the floor of the House (starred questions), or in writing (unstarred questions).
- On average, nine questions are answered orally on the floor of Parliament every day, and over 400 questions receive written replies daily.
- With notices for discussions on important subjects not being accepted for the past one-and-a-half years,
The Question Hour
- Over the last 70 years, MPs have successfully used the parliamentary device of ‘Question Hour’ to shine a light on government functioning.
- Their questions have exposed financial irregularities and brought data and information regarding government functioning to the public domain.
- Here are 12 questions asked in the Budget Session of Parliament, 2025. Each answer from the government tells a story.
- Atal Pension Yojana: over 1.11 crore accounts have been closed since the scheme’s inception. From 1 October 2022, the scheme’s rules were revised and income tax payers were made ineligible to be enrolled in the scheme.
- PM Internship scheme: Question revealed that in Phase I of the scheme, only 28,141 applicants had accepted internships out of the 1.27 lakh opportunities published. A meagre 22 per cent.
- UDAN scheme: the government stated that 619 routes were operationalised under UDAN, of which 48 per cent are non-operational now. 114 routes had been discontinued before the completion of three years.
- Samagra Shiksha scheme: The question on the integrated scheme for school education showed that Rs 2,152 crore was allocated for Tamil Nadu, Rs 1,746 crore allocated for West Bengal, and Rs 329 crore for Kerala. No funds were released to any of the three states.
- Vacancies in Kendriya Vidyalayas: In response to question, the Union government replied that as of December 2024, there were 8,977 vacancies in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, of which 7,414 (83 per cent) were for teaching posts.
- Manual scavengers: 430 deaths occurred due to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks between 2019 and April 2025 despite of Manual scavenging been banned in India since 2013.
- Cyberattacks: The government gave a composite figure which showed that between 2020 and 2024, there have been over 75.86 lakh cybersecurity incidents. A 76 per cent increase in 2024 compared to 2020.
- Digital frauds: The government answered that from 2022 to 2023, the number of digital payment frauds had increased by 334 per cent.
- PM Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): The PM-KUSUM scheme was launched to provide energy and water security to farmers. Question revealed that out of the 10,000 megawatts (MW) sanctioned for renewable energy-based power plants, 431 MW has been installed; that is, only 4.3 per cent.
- Loan write-offs: The answer stated that between 2014 and 2023, loans worth more than Rs 16 lakh crore were written off, out of which 57 per cent were of large industries and services.
- Malnutrition: The answer stated that two out of five children up to five years of age who are enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on the poshan tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development are stunted in India.
- Indebtedness of farmers: In response, government data revealed that the average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household was Rs 74,000. The highest levels of debt were in Andhra Pradesh (Rs 2.46 lakh), followed by Kerala (Rs 2.42 lakh), Punjab (Rs 2.03 lakh), Haryana (Rs 1.83 lakh), and Telangana (Rs 1.52 lakh).
Conclusion
Since the government is accountable to the parliament, the parliamentary proceedings meant to hold the government accountable should not be suspended or curtailed as it will go against the essence of the Constitution.