Several MPs have alleged that the government either gives evasive and vague responses to critical questions or dumps them altogether, stonewalling the parliamentary practice of receiving information on schemes and projects.
On August 11, Samajwadi Party member in the Lok Sabha, Rajeev Rai, wanted to know about the utilisation of funds by Banaras Hindu University (BHU) under the ministry of education’s Institution of Eminence (IoE) scheme, which provides up to ₹1,000 crore to every such public-funded university for development.
Rai asked whether BHU had utilised IoE funds to hire consultants for non-academic work, and if so, the details thereof. He wanted to know whether such expenditure was in violation of norms.
In a written reply, minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar clubbed all four parts of the questions and merely spoke on broad terms about the scheme without offering any specific information to any of the queries.
“Under World Class Institutions Scheme, also known as Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme, funds have been provided for academic work and creation of infrastructure facilities. IoEs should have student amenities comparable with that of globally reputed institutions and reasonably large owned campuses with adequate space for expansion...,” the minister said.
Rai told The Telegraph that the government only gave vague responses to around half the questions asked in Parliament.
“As part of the parliamentary standing committee on education, we visited BHU, which falls under the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha seat. We got several complaints about misuse of IoE funds. If funds are misused, the purpose of the scheme to help BHU achieve global excellence cannot be achieved. That is why I asked about IoE funds utilisation by BHU. The answer did not touch any of the points asked,” Rai said.
CPI member in the Rajya Sabha, Sandosh Kumar P, said the Parliament section dealing with questions rejects queries that are seen to be “uncomfortable” for the government. In the monsoon session, Kumar had asked how the government defines the RSS as an organisation and its activities.
“The question on the RSS was meant for the culture ministry. But it was rejected by the Parliament section. Another phenomenon is that in oral replies, the ministers compete with each other to praise the Prime Minister and in the process skip any direct response,” Kumar said.
CPM Rajya Sabha member John Brittas said he had asked how many civilians had been killed in Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor. The question was not accepted.
“Questions are being rejected by Parliament and the concerned ministry on flimsy grounds. Wherever they answer, they try not to share the data sought by members,” Brittas said.
On December 13, 2024, Brittas wanted to know “the details of the revenue earned by the railways on account of flexi fare, tatkal, premium tatkal and cancellation of tickets during the last five years till 31.03.2024 and for the first two quarters of 2024-25”.
In a written reply, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “Revenue earned by Railways on account of flexi fare, tatkal and premium tatkal during 2018-19 to 2022-23 is approximately 5% of total revenue earned from passenger services....”
Brittas said: “Micro-level data is important to understand the running of any scheme or organisation. The government does not want to share it.”
