“Ask no questions, and you will be told no lies,” an old proverb.
Last week, your columnist chose 12 questions from among the 4500 questions asked in the first half of the Budget Session. 2,750 questions in the Lok Sabha, 1,760 questions in the Rajya Sabha, were balloted to be asked during Question Hour. The column got an overwhelming response, especially from students. So here are 12 more questions that MPs popped to the Union government.
1. Mukul Wasnik (Indian National Congress) raised a question on the allocation towards health research in the country since 2021. The government's reply stated that the annual allocation of the Department of Health Research has been around 0.02% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2021 to 2025.
2. Vijay Hansdak (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) asked for the proportion of candidates from marginalised communities offered internships under the PM Internship Scheme. The government's answer revealed that across both rounds of the PM Internship Scheme, less than 1% of the selected interns were persons with disabilities, 14% belonged to the Scheduled Castes, and just 5% were from the Scheduled Tribes.
3. Abhishek Banerjee (All India Trinamool Congress) raised a question on the faculty strength in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across the country. The government's response was that two out of five faculty posts are vacant across all AIIMS.
4. ET Mohammed Basheer (Indian Union Muslim League) questioned the government on the outstanding agricultural debt. The government replied that the average amount of outstanding loans per agricultural household across the country is more than Rs 74,000.
5. Renuka Chowdhury (Indian National Congress) sought details on the extent of forest land diverted for non-forestry purposes. The government admitted that around one lakh hectares of forest land had been approved for non-forestry purposes in the last five years by the Union government.
6. Raja Ram Singh (Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation) raised a question on the shelter homes currently functional across the country. The government's reply disclosed that no Shakti Sadans (an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home for women in distressful situations) were functional in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep Islands.
7. Saket Gokhale (All India Trinamool Congress) enquired about the number of cybercrime complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the financial loss incurred. The government's answer revealed that the number of financial fraud complaints and amount defrauded has increased by 814% and 3983% respectively from 2021 to 2025.
8. Anand Bhadauria (Samajwadi Party) asked questions on the fund utilisation under various schemes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The government's answer revealed that more than 65% of the funds allocated under the Atal Jal scheme, and over 75% under the Jal Jeevan Mission remained unutilised in RE 2025 as compared to BE 2025.
9. Karti P Chidambaram (Indian National Congress) asked a question on the cases pending on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) SAMADHAAN Portal. The government admitted that just 12% of the 1.5 lakh cases filed by MSMEs for the resolution of pending payments between FY 2022-23 till February 2026 on the SAMADHAAN Portal have been disposed of.
10. Matheswaran V S (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) enquired about the number of complaints received by the Supreme Court against sitting judges. The government responded that over two complaints per day were received in the Office of the Chief Justice of India against sitting judges in the last 10 years.
11. Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) questioned the government on the number of road accident fatalities on National Highways in the country. The government's reply stated that 170 deaths per day had occurred in the last three years on National Highways.
12. Your columnist asked a question on the vacancies in the National Dam Safety Authority. The government's answer admitted that seven out of 10 sanctioned posts in the National Dam Safety Authority are vacant.
On 9 March, the second half of the Budget Session will resume. Question Hour will be held every day in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Following the Rules of Procedure, members of Parliament will again raise a few thousand questions. These have to be answered by Union Ministers, orally, on the floor of the House, or in writing.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth”, a famous Buddhist saying.
(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
