Over 2,400 years ago, Euripides, the last of ancient Greece's three great tragedians argued: "Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing".
Cut to 2026, the same words feel uncannily apt for the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, now taking a three-week break. Of course Opposition parties, in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, will strive to hold the Union government accountable every day. During Question Hour, five days a week, the Opposition asks questions, the public looks for accountability, while the government ducks - very often giving unsatisfactory answers.
From the hundreds of questions put forth by MPs from the Opposition, here is a compilation of a dozen questions fired to the treasury benches.
1. Mallikarjun Kharge (Indian National Congress) questioned the government on road connectivity in tribal areas. The government's reply revealed that just 23% of the sanctioned road projects under the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN) in areas inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), have been completed.
2. Abhishek Banerjee (All India Trinamool Congress) asked for the number of airports developed under the UDAN scheme that are currently non-operational. The government reply stated that 14 of the 93 airports developed under UDAN are non-operational, including 6 in Uttar Pradesh. These airports had been developed at a cost of over Rs. 800 crore.
3. K.C. Venugopal (Indian National Congress) enquired about the utilisation of funds under the PM Internship Scheme. The government admitted that the scheme had utilised only 0.5% of the funds allocated in Budget Estimate 2025-26, and less than 35% of the candidates accepted offers in Round I of the scheme.
4. Neeraj Maurya & Lalji Verma (Samajwadi Party) asked questions on the number of National Highway (NH) projects that have not been completed within the stipulated time since 2014. The government answered that there are 653 under construction National Highway projects, started since April 2014, that have spilled beyond their original completion schedule, without attaining any of the various stages of project completion.
5. Dr. S. Jagathratchakan (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) raised a question on the onboarding of ministries and departments on the SHe-Box portal. The government stated that only 40% of the government departments and offices onboarded on the SHe-Box portal have updated their Internal Committee details till date.
6. June Maliah's (All India Trinamool Congress) question on the Prime Minister's international travel revealed a 500% increase in expenditure on the Prime Minister's foreign trips between 2014 and 2025.
7. Rajeev Rai (Samajwadi Party) enquired about the functioning of schemes for the tribal welfare. The government's answer stated that 31% of the Eklavya Model Residential Schools sanctioned are not yet functional across the country.
8. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Indian National Congress) sought information on the number of film certification decisions challenged before Revising Committees and High Courts. The government response revealed that while the number of films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had increased by 10% between 2021-22 and 2025-26 (till date), the number of such certification decisions being challenged before Revising Committees and the High Courts had increased by over 120% and 400% respectively.
9. Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal) enquired about the percentage of farmers benefitting from Minimum Support Price (MSP) backed procurement. The government admitted that only about 15% of paddy farmers and 9.6% of wheat farmers sold their output to procurement agencies.
10. Dr. John Brittas (Communist Party of India-Marxist) asked a question on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow in the banking sector. The government stated that FDI equity inflow in the banking sector had decreased by 87% between 2022-23 and 2024-25.
11. Anil Yeshwant Desai (Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) enquired about the deportation of Indians, especially students from abroad. The government answered that 453 Indian students have been deported by foreign immigration authorities between 2021 and 2025.
12. Your columnist raised a question on the number of candidates enrolled and certified under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 (PMKVY 4.0). The government's reply stated that over 2 out of 5 candidates enrolled under the PMKVY 4.0 were not certified.
When Parliament is in session, the Opposition is trying all it can to hold the government accountable. What is the government doing?
Research credit: Anjana Anchayil, Prabhakar Kumar
(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
