It’s that time of the year. On Monday, India’s parliament will meet for the monsoon session. Theory says parliament is where the elected discuss, debate and legislate on issues. In reality, the elected simply represent the party instead of electors—in the 17th Lok Sabha, 11 of 15 sessions were adjourned early. We will know in the coming weeks whether the issues that matter are raised, or the session turns into an amphitheatre for partisan political rhetoric.
Hopefully, the MPs will not only raise the questions, but also question the answers! Here are a few issues that deserve attention and answers.
Operation Sindoor: The issue of national security and terrorism is expected to hold centre stage. The monsoon session is the first since the terror attack in Pahalgam in April. The government is expected to provide answers on intelligence failure, security lapse, if the terrorists were apprehended and, of course, the four day face-off. There is much attention on the ceasefire and whether it was imposed, as claimed repeatedly, by US President Donald J Trump, despite denials by India. The timing of the ceasefire is important but beyond when, how and who brokered it, there is the question of why the US pivoted to intervene. Was it the BrahMos hit on Nur Khan airbase? Is the Pakistani nuclear site and systems at Nur Khan airbase under US control, as claimed by Pakistan experts and, if so, what does this mean for India’s security?
Air India 171 crash: The crash of the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London that claimed 260 lives is the worst in recent aviation history. The how and why of the crash is critical both for Air India and beleaguered Boeing. The Air Accident Investigation Bureau of India, which investigated the cause, released a preliminary report that seemed to park the blame on the pilots by excerpting a cockpit conversation. Why not release the whole conversation, as was done in the case of Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger’s US Airways flight 1549 report? Is it normal to release a preliminary report with an inference about fault—particularly when tradition requires explicit avoidance of blame—and then issue clarifications? Was the report leaked to US media, and by who? What explains the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s directive to airlines to check fuel switches? Over 350 million Indians fly every year and they deserve clarity and accountability.
Inflation optics: Earlier this week, the ministry of statistics released the retail inflation rate for June—2.1 percent—stating in bold letters, “It is the lowest year-on-year inflation after January, 2019.” Beyond the devilish details, it begs the question why it doesn’t feel so! Indeed, the RBI’s Households’ Inflation Expectations Survey reveals that 80 percent of respondents believe inflation will go up and, over 54 percent think it will go up faster. The fact is the cost of services is rising and the slide in the Consumer Price Index is largely due to lower prices of vegetables and pulses; at the same time, prices of oils are up 17.7 percent, fruits up 12.5 percent and personal care products up 14.7 percent. Yes, the headline number is low, but as the Brits say, let’s not praise the day before the evening. Ergo, MPs must ask specifically what the government did to bring down inflation and what they plan to do to keep it lower unless, of course, this was all a serendipity of statistics.
Budget 2025 promises: In February, the government announced an Udhyam credit card—suggested by this column—to ease credit flow to micro enterprises. The Budget speech said, “We will introduce customised credit cards with Rs 5 lakh limit for micro enterprises registered on Udyam portal,” and that 10 lakh cards would be issued in the first year. Three are over 27 million micro enterprises registered on Udhyam. Micro, small and medium enterprises account for 30 percent of GDP, 45 percent of manufacturing, and 48 percent of exports. Can MPs ask how many cards have been issued between April and June?
While MSMEs struggle, state-owned MTNL is racking up defaults—the latest number is Rs 8,585 crore owed to seven state-owned banks. Between them, MTNL and BSNL have accumulated losses of over Rs 72,000 crore. Budget 2025 set a target of Rs 47,000 crore for disinvestment. What is the progress?
Bridges and potholes: Rarely ever has a nation been so aghast and yet riveted by the state of its bridges and highways. Earlier this month, a bridge collapse in Vadodara killed 21 persons. Newly-constructed national highways are washed out and city roads and expressways are pock-marked with potholes. Almost every city sets aside hundreds of crores of rupees to fill potholes every year. The magnitude of the problem has spurred a blitzkrieg of posts and citizen activism. A crowd-sourced tracker called IndianPotholes.com allows users to upload geo-tagged pictures of potholes in real time. To start, MPs must ask for a status report on bridge collapses—what happened to the ministry’s 2016 promise to assess the condition of bridges and assign expiry dates? India needs a white paper on how much money is spent on potholes across the country and a technical committee to identify the causes of poor road construction. The magnitude of structural flaws haunting bridges, airports and roads is a national embarrassment.
The old maxim of development simply states: what is measured can be improved. The aspiration for developed nation status requires India to first address the chinks in the architecture of governance and delivery of basic services.
Read all columns by Shankkar Aiyar
Author of The Gated Republic, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India’s 12 Digit
Revolution, and Accidental India
(shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com)