I still remember that muggy morning in Delhi fourteen years ago. For the first time ever in my life, I was meeting a person holding a high constitutional office. The then Vice President of India, Mr Hamid Ansari. It was my first day in Parliament. After being sworn in, he called some of us rookies for an informal chat over coffee. The conversation flowed. Noticing that it had been well over 15 minutes, he asked us to come home soon to continue our chat. We went over a few days later. Exciting. A person holding the second-highest constitutional office in India, finding the time to meet MPs who were ‘newbies’.

Hamid Ansari had a long and distinguished career as a diplomat. Chief of Protocol to Government of India, High Commissioner to Australia, Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Then the thirteenth Vice President of India. What is lesser-known of this Kolkata-born, is that he was a middle-order wicket-keeper batsman who won a college cap. In fact, as the Ambassador to Iran, he introduced cricket to the staff of the Indian Embassy, and it is said that he popularised the sport in that country.

As the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Mr Ansari introduced many innovations in the Council of States. When Parliament was in session, he used to host a coffee meeting everyday from 10.30 to 10.55 am. This informal catch-up with floor leaders and chief whips of parties helped the Opposition and the Treasury Benches to try and reach a consensus on the order of play for the day. As Chairman, Mr Ansari had one rule cast in stone: no bill to be passed in the din. This ensured that the government of the day could not bulldoze legislation,

Mr Ansari must get full credit for changing the timings of Question Hour and Zero Hour. For over six decades, Question Hour started at 11 am, followed by Zero Hour at 12 noon. The Chairman noticed that Question Hour would often be disrupted because members wanted to raise crucial issues at the start of the day. In 2014, Mr Ansari reversed the timings and since then, Zero Hour starts at 11 am (members raise issues of ‘urgent public importance’), followed by Question Hour at 12 noon in Rajya Sabha.

His approach to the role as the Chairman is best exemplified by what he said: “the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is not a player but an umpire in a cricket match… You become a player; you become partisan”. He is now living a happy retired life in Delhi, and has authored many books.

The second Vice President I had the pleasure to interact with in Rajya Sabha was Mr Venkaiah Naidu. A seasoned parliamentarian, he had held the portfolios of Rural Development, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs as Minister.

History will be kind to Mr Naidu who did not preside over the House on 20 September, 2020- the day the contentious Farm Laws were bamboozled in Parliament. He was born into an agricultural family. Perhaps there lies the answer.

Whether it be his chamber or the floor of the House, Mr Naidu used to talk in the same tone with everyone – government or the Opposition. Admirable. And I must mention, whenever he hosted us in the Vice President’s house, the non vegetarian Andhra food was terrific. Equal credit must go to Mrs Naidu for being such a wonderful host. He once jokingly told us that he might be the chief outside, but at home he had a Home Minister!

Mr Naidu loved delivering snappy one-liners. On students going abroad for higher studies, he quipped, “learn, earn, and return”. When asked if he had aspirations to become Rashtrapati, he wittily replied that he was happy being Ushapati (husband of Usha, Mrs Usha Naidu is his wife). Then there was the famous line, “The Left can never be right”. While he had a great sense of humour, he was also very sentimental, often getting visibly misty-eyed when emotive issues were discussed in Parliament.

The fourteenth Vice President of India, Mr Jagdeep Dhankar. The subject of a column. Someday.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Friday, July 25, 2025]

The Monsoon Session of Parliament begins next week. The dates were announced 45 days ago. Unusual. Normally, schedules for Parliament sessions are put out 18-20 days in advance. The reason for the early announcement of dates for this Monsoon Session, by a skittish NDA government, is simple: Avoid a Special Session of Parliament and delay a discussion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha where hard questions on Pahalgam, Poonch, and Rajouri have to be answered. In the forthcoming session, in what format will this discussion be held? This government has shied away from allowing even one discussion proposed by the Opposition (under any rule) since December 2023. A dubious record. What can we look forward to in the upcoming 21-day session?

For Narendra Modi and his team, 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, Question Hour is one of the few tools still available in our parliamentary democracy to hold this government accountable. Here are 12 questions asked in the Budget Session of Parliament, 2025. Each answer from the government tells a story.

Atal Pension Yojana: The reply to Mallikarjun Kharge’s (INC) question on the Atal Pension Yojana revealed that 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: Prakash Chik Baraik’s (AITC) 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: In reply to a question by Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), 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: John Brittas’s (CPM) question was on the integrated scheme for school education. The answer 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 Ramji Lal Suman’s (SP) 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: K Gopinath’s (INC) question on manual scavenging revealed that 430 deaths occurred due to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks between 2019 and April 2025. Consider this: Manual scavenging has been banned in India since 2013.

Cyberattacks: Sanjeev Arora (AAP) sought details on cyberattacks that target India’s critical sectors (banking, healthcare, energy, and others). 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: In an answer to Neeraj Dangi’s (INC) question, the government answered that from 2022 to 2023, the number of digital payment frauds had increased by 334 per cent. In rupee value, the rise was 425 per cent (from Rs 277 crore in 2022 to Rs 1,457 in 2023).

PM Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): The PM-KUSUM scheme was launched to provide energy and water security to farmers. Bajrang Manohar Sonwane’s (NCP-SP) 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: Amra Ram (CPM) asked a question on loan write-offs by scheduled commercial banks. 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: Rajeev Rai (SP) and Hanuman Beniwal (RLP) asked about children suffering from 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: Your columnist (AITC) questioned the government on the increasing debt burden 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).

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, July 18, 2025]

In the previous column, your columnist shared how greats like Gandhi, Ambedkar, Azad, Savitribai Phule, Vajpayee and others saw the English language as a liberating force. Today, let us continue the conversation, drawing on different voices to emphasise how English remains a vital thread in our national fabric, in spite of what Mr Amit Shah feels.

Maybe Messrs. Modi and Shah might have missed what Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee – whose 125th birth anniversary was a few days ago – had said in the Constituent Assembly: “You have got some time, fifteen years, within which English will have to be replaced. How is it to be replaced? It will have to be replaced progressively. We will have to decide realistically whether for certain special purposes English should still be continued to be used in India. As some of my friends have already stated, we might have rid India of British rule—we had reasons for doing so—but that is no reason why you should get rid of the English language. …After all, it is on account of that language that we have been able to achieve many things. Apart from the role that English has played in unifying India politically, and thus in our attaining political freedom, it opened to us civilisations from large parts of the world. It opened to us knowledge, specially in the realm of science and technology, which it would have been difficult to achieve otherwise.”

In the 1960s, there were many attempts to impose Hindi as the sole official language. Frank Anthony, a fierce advocate against this view, called English the “mortar of unity”. The Member of Parliament and leader of the Anglo-Indian community, fought against attempts to undermine English. Speaking during the 1961 Language Convention in Madras, he stressed that English-medium schools were the only all-India system of secondary education. His efforts, alongside leaders like C Rajagopalachari and K Subba Rao, ensured English’s place in post-independent India, preventing what Rajaji called a “Split-India charter”.

In 1961, K Subba Rao, who went on to become Chief Justice of India, warned: “To force Hindi down the throats of unwilling people will certainly lead to the disintegration of the country. The best course is to maintain the status quo and to continue with English as the official language”. These were pages from history. What about today.

Suresh Gopi, a minister in Narendra Modi’s team, reflecting on his teacher Zita Fernandez at Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian High School in Kerala, said: “You enriched us with your talents, culture, and English language skills”. His words express the gratitude of millions of Indians – including many in the current Union Cabinet – who benefited from being educated in an English-medium school.

Here is what Dr Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland and staunch ally of the BJP said: “In the context of Nagaland, English is the officially declared language of the State. This designation is not recent, it is rooted in our history, where English has played a pivotal role for over a century, particularly in the domains of education, governance, and religion. English serves as vital bridges, linking us beyond our borders to the rest of India and to the wider global community.”

The language we made our own

English is no longer a foreign tongue, it’s an Indian language, spoken with our own accents and idioms. As linguist Peggy Mohan observes, it was Dr BR Ambedkar’s vision that ensured English remained “equidistant from all communities”, preventing linguistic dominance. Knowing English can change the economic and social trajectory of an entire family.

Yes, some people still see English as a marker of privilege. Some see it as a barrier. But when you try to shame people for speaking it, you don’t just ignore history, you disregard the aspirations of millions who see English as their best chance to create opportunities, to connect, to be a part of a global language.

So again, India doesn’t need less English. It needs more multilingualism. It needs more respect for Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, Manipuri, Urdu. And alongside all this, it needs more confidence in speaking English too – without shame, without apology.

We are Indian. And we should be able to say that in any language we choose.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Friday, July 11, 2025]

Two quizmasters in conversation.

Derek O’Brien: This is the first time we’re doing something like this. Thank you, Siddhartha.

Siddhartha Basu: It’s the first time ever the both of us have been together, and I’m delighted.

DOB: You and I met just three years ago. And it was such a beautiful occasion. We had dinner at home. You started Quiz Time in 1985, I was 24, you were 31. You were doing television shows, and I was more into stage shows before I did TV. Yes, but we only first met in 2022. And it’s been so lovely.

SB: I’m thankful to hear that from you, because your family has been right at the forefront of open quizzing. Let us chat about the whole business of the purpose of general knowledge, quizzing and life lessons, too.

DOB: It’s very interesting that you’ve used the word “business”. For you and me, it was business. But the interesting story is how it moved from a hobby into a business.

SB: Prannoy Roy used to joke with me, “You’ll always be a Bong yaar”, because he thought I wasn’t businessman enough. We hadn’t thought of it that way, but, fortunately, the business followed.

DOB: Yes, from 1967 to the 1980s, nobody ever charged a rupee for a quiz. You and I did.

SB: You know Quiz Time or a national inter-college quiz wasn’t my idea; I was roped into it by happenstance as a host. I was asked to come for 10 minutes and just give an introduction. I was in and out. And then, one month later, they said, “Why don’t you be the quiz master for Rs 1,000 an episode?” I left my job instantly. My son was yet to be born and I took the plunge.

DOB: While working for eight years in an advertising agency, Ogilvy, I started doing quizzes on weekends for a fee, Rs 2,000 a quiz — for Maggi and Bata. This was in the late 1980s.

SB: Since you mentioned the Maggi Quiz, the largest ever live ground quiz I have done was the national finals of the Maggi Quiz at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi for 15,000 kids. I want you to rewind to when the first open quiz was conducted by your father, Neil.

DOB: In 1966, my dad, who was in his 30s, was sent by his employers to the UK. My parents were there for three months and that is where they were exposed to University Challenge, a quiz started in 1962.

The local parish in Kolkata used to have a contest for one-act plays. So, Neil and his cousin Errol came up with the idea to change that to an inter-parish quiz. And so was born India’s first open quiz, the Eddie Hyde Memorial. The Bournvita Quiz Contest on TV came in 1993. Then you and Amitabh Bachchan, with Kaun Banega Crorepati, took quizzing to another level.

SB: Kolkata has been the capital of quizzing. The city had many quizzards and a number of them came later on Mastermind, which is another show that I was doing. But then I think there are all those people who know the strangest things about the strangest things. I’ve always been averse to the term trivia, because I don’t think it needs to be about peripheral information.

DOB: Today, it’s not just the recall of knowledge which excites young people. “Can I speak better English? Can I feel confident?” That is where young people are moving to.

SB: What has become terribly important now is to have contextual knowledge and information. See how much misinformation and propaganda is out there. And WhatsApp University. How do you train, particularly young people, but also ourselves, to have our antennas up… on another note, because even your brothers (Andy, Barry) have been quizzing, tell us about growing up.

DOB: My father would always tell us to read. Then write it down. That will help you recall. He had his diaries, so he would read, and he would write.

SB: Note it down?

DOB: Yes. Write it down as a quiz question in a diary. From 1967, he’s had all these questions. So you never have to prepare for a quiz when you’re setting a quiz. For all the research you do, whether for a quiz or in Parliament, there is a simple rule: You need three authentic sources.

SB: Minimum. Reliable. Authentic sources.

DOB: Yes, verified sources. And that is where the authenticity comes in. So do not forward information you receive on your mobile phone. Check first.

SB: It is incumbent on everybody to be sure of the facts before they spread it or just forward it.

DOB: You receive a piece of information, you put it on your family WhatsApp group without checking, and you are the editor who is putting it out. So you have to be careful.

SB: Fact-checking for anything that is shared publicly has now become very important, and everybody needs to be able to do it at their level.

DOB: I have enjoyed this conversation. I really want the two of us to do a couple of quizzes together — for a good cause. And whatever we raise from those quiz shows, we will give to a charity of our choice.

SB: I accept, let’s figure it out.

Abstracted from the full podcast on YouTube – Quizzitok with Derek O’Brien – on Family Legacy, TV Quizzing and General Knowledge.

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, July 4, 2025]

“In this country, those who speak English will soon feel ashamed, the creation of such a society is not far away.” – Home Minister Amit Shah, 19 June, 2025.

121 languages. 19,500 dialects. In a country as vast and diverse as India, English is not only a language, it is a unifier. For the lakhs of Indians who have been forced to live their lives on the fringes, English is a tool. A tool that promises access, exposure and upward mobility. To dismiss English and its potential as an equaliser, is to dismiss the struggles and aspirations of those Indians who have historically been invisibilized . To view it singularly as a colonial imposition, is to be ignorant of  the world order, and what it takes to destabilise the powers that be. English is no longer perceived, viewed, or accepted as a language thrust on the colonised by the British; it is the global language that connects and enables people to collaborate.

Across our history, English has been a functional ally used as a tool to fight colonialism, build institutions, and connect India to the world. This view isn’t recent or elitist. It is grounded in the thought of those who built the nation. To shame people for speaking English is to ignore history, undermine progress, and deepen divisions.

India doesn’t need less English. It needs more multilingualism, more access, and more confidence in its ability to speak in many tongues without shame or fear. English doesn’t make anyone less Indian. Rather, it makes Indians more prepared and more connected in a globalized world. The challenge before us is not the language we speak, but whether we allow ideology to limit access to opportunity. We aren’t speaking in the master’s tongue. If anything, we are speaking back to the master bygone.

You have heard the views of the Home Minister. You have read some of my views. What did others think about English. Did they agree with Amit Shah? We present the counter view. From Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkar, C Rajapolachari, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Savitribai Phule, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Frank Anthony and others. You, the reader, can then decide on whose side you are on.

Dr. B R Ambedkar: “English is the milk of a lioness, only those who drink it will roar.”

Mahatma Gandhi: “Towards the end of my second year in England I came across two Theosophists, brothers, and both unmarried. They talked to me about the Gita, they were reading Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation – The Song Celestial – and they invited me to read the original with them. I felt ashamed, as I had read the divine poem neither in Sanskrit nor in Gujarati. I was constrained to tell them that I had not read the Gita, but that I would gladly read it with them, and that though my knowledge of Sanskrit was meagre, still I hoped to be able to understand the original to the extent of telling where the translation failed to bring out the meaning. I began reading the Gita with them.”

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: “English was a foreign language. We were greatly handicapped by having it as our medium of instruction. But we were also greatly benefited in one way that all the educated people in the country thought and expressed themselves in the same language. It cemented national unity. It was such a great boon to us that I should have advocated its retention as the medium of instruction, had it not been fundamentally wrong to impart education through a foreign language.”

Savitri Phule: “In such a dismal time of ours / Come Mother English, this is your hour. / Throw off the yoke of redundant belief / Break open the door, walk out in relief.”

Dr. S Radhakrishnan: “English is the only means of preventing our isolation from the world. If we give up English because of sentimental urges, we would cut ourselves from the living stream of ever growing knowledge.”

C. Rajagopalachari: “English is the gift of goddess Saraswati.”

Atal Bihari Vajpayee: “However, our English is also good and the country is proud of it. We are very fast in learning a language. That’s why our people are doing so well in the area of technology whereas China has to send their people abroad to learn the language.”

Frank Anthony: “The English language is one of the few good things that the British incidentally, perhaps unthinkingly, gave to this country, and so opened up a treasure house of literature, thought and culture which a knowledge of the English language has given to the Indian people..”

Some fans of the Home Minister can quickly dismiss the multiple quotes this columnist has cited with the argument that “History Is Bunk.” To them we would say, this is only the first installment of a two-part column around the English language. More coming up, exactly a fortnight from now. Watch this space.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Friday, June 27, 2025]

Framing of Meghalaya honeymoon case speaks of a disconcerting pattern when it comes to the region

“Even Ganesh idols come from abroad, small-eyed Ganesh idols whose eyes don’t even open properly” — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, May 27.

If the Prime Minister of India can propagate a hurtful stereotype against the 4.5 crore people living in Northeast India, are you surprised that fellow Indian citizens in the Northeast are labelled? Many have borne the brunt of racial prejudice and violence for decades. In 2014, the Bezbaruah Committee was formed after a teenage student from Arunachal Pradesh was assaulted and killed in Delhi. The Committee quoted a research report which found that nine out of 10 people from the Northeast faced racial discrimination in Indian metros. Another report quoted revealed that two out of three women from the Northeast frequently suffered various forms of discrimination.

The most recent instance was the tragedy of the Meghalaya honeymoon which dominated news cycles till the heartbreaking catastrophe in Ahmedabad took over. Unsubstantiated facts and fabricated reports started doing the rounds on social media, running down a state which has so many natural gems: Elephant Falls, Umiam Lake, Double Decker Living Root Bridge, Mawsmai Cave and more. There was a concerted campaign to denigrate not just Meghalaya, but the whole of Northeast India. Vile messages, from targeting dietary habits to social customs, physical appearance to language, nothing was off bounds.

There is little official data in the public domain to showcase the important role played by people from Northeast India, especially in the hospitality, aviation, and health sectors. Data from National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in 2020 suggests that one out of four women migrants from Northeastern India are engaged in the hospitality sector. Five years on, this figure might well be even higher. It also reveals that most are in jobs that are low-paid, informal, and devoid of social security benefits.

I have an old connection and a special fondness for the Northeast. In 1991, I quit my job in advertising and started hosting quiz shows. During the first few years, these quizzes were held in cities across the Northeast: Guwahati, Shillong, Kohima, Imphal, Dimapur, and many more. These events were organised to promote a brand of instant noodles, which had a large market share in those parts. My professional fee for each show was Rs 2,500. Flights, trains, buses, mostly car rides — this was a beautiful opportunity to get to discover so much. To learn. To understand. To meet folks who were always welcoming. So it really stings to see people typecasting citizens from the Northeast.

While writing this piece, I spoke to Tonshimla Leisan, a 30-year-old woman from Manipur, working as cabin crew in a reputed airline. Here is what she told me, “A year ago, a group of youngsters kept looking at me and my mother in the Delhi Metro and kept laughing and I overheard them saying ‘Chinese, Chi***es’. In the workplace, making a mockery of our unique names by our colleagues is another challenge we have to face. Many passengers motivate us for our hardworking and resilient nature, but others often try to put us down”. Two of the cabin crew members on Air India flight AI171, Lamnunthem Singson and Kongbrailatpam Nganthoi Sharma, were from Manipur. Lamnunthem from the Kuki-Zo community, Kongbrailatpam from the Meitei community. It did not matter who was Kuki and who was Meitei. Manipur was united in grief.

Bias and othering of residents of the Eight Sisters (states) increased manifold during the pandemic. A study by the Centre for Criminology and Victimology at the National Law University, Delhi, commissioned by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 2021 on racial discrimination against people from the Northeast found that “Northeast India seamlessly fits Indians’ imagination of a Chinese person” and that they “faced an increased number of acts of hate and prejudices against them”.

In the recent past, Manipur was discussed twice in Parliament. Once, when opposition parties compelled the Union government to discuss the issue by moving a No Confidence Motion in 2023, and once, through the night in April 2025. Here is what Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, said on the floor of the House in April this year: “President’s Rule was imposed on 13 February 2025, zero violence in November, zero violence in December, zero violence in January, zero violence till 13 March and zero violence since then till today. So we should not try to create misconceptions.”

Soon before the Home Minister spoke, here is what your columnist said in the Rajya Sabha: “3,80,000 kilometres. In the last 22 months, it is the distance the Prime Minister of India has travelled nationally and internationally. That is also the distance from Planet Earth to the Moon! But the Prime Minister could not take a flight to Manipur, just 2,400 kilometres away. We are discussing this in Parliament in the dead of night — at three in the morning. No TV channels, no prime time. Look at Manipur straight in the eye during the day.”

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, June 20, 2025]

June 9 marks exactly one year since Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers were sworn in. Before the elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) published a 69-page manifesto. Here are 15 promises from the BJP Manifesto 2024. What is the reality in 2025.

1. Promise: Expanding our efforts to protect garib ki thali (page 11).

Reality: According to the World Bank, 7.5 crore Indians earn less than Rs 225 per day. The poorest 5% spend Rs 68 per day. A vegetarian thali costs Rs 77.

2. Promise: Empowering the neo-middle class (page 13).

Reality: Between 2014 and 2024, household liabilities have doubled, while net financial savings have fallen to one of their lowest levels in the last 50 years.

3. Promise: Creating high value jobs (page 14).

Reality: Since 2021, more and more people have been pushed towards agriculture. Currently 46% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. Nearly three out of five people are self employed, which experts call ‘not the best form of employment’.

4. Promise: Participation of women in the workforce (page 15).

Reality: Between 2018-23, the proportion of women engaged in employment-related activities rose by just 2.3 percentage points. Time spent on employment-related activities increased by just 10 minutes over five years. The labour force participation rate for women remains half that of men.

5. Promise: Implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Bill) (page 16).

Reality: BJP has 13% women MPs in Lok Sabha. The Bill was passed in 2023. However, it was linked to the Census which is slated to be conducted in 2027. Post Census, the delimitation exercise will be held. It is only after both of these, that the Bill can be actually implemented. When? Anybody’s guess.

6. Promise: Strengthening PM KISAN (page 22).

Reality: 30 farmers commit suicide every day. Between 2018-23, real wages declined annually by 0.4% in rural areas, while agricultural wages saw an annual growth of just 0.2%. The suggestion made by a Parliamentary Committee to increase funds under PM Kisan to Rs 12,000 has been ignored.

7. Promise: Global manufacturing hub (page 42).

Reality: The value added by the manufacturing sector declined from 12.3% of GDP in 2023 to 4.5% in 2024, falling below 2014 levels. Over the past two years, only one in ten individuals have been employed in manufacturing. Between 2015 and 2024, the number of manufacturing MSMEs grew just over 2%.

8. Promise: Expansion of kavach train protection system (page 45).

Reality: In four years, Kavach has been installed in just 2% of routes and less than 1% of locomotives. At the current rate of progress, the implementation of Kavach across the Indian Railways network could take a few decades to complete.

9. Promise: Expanding bullet trains (page 46).

Reality: The government announced the bullet train project in the railway budget 2014 with an estimated expenditure of 60,000 crore. 11 years later, after spending more than Rs 71,000 crore, less than half the project has been completed.

10. Promise: Expanding expressways and ring roads (page 47).

Reality: In 2017, the government sanctioned 34,800 km under Bharatmala Pariyojana. However, only about half of this has been completed. Nearly 25% of the project has not even been awarded as yet.

11. Promise: Developing airports for seamless connectivity (page 48).

Reality: 114 routes have been discontinued even before they completed three years. 619 routes were operationalised of which half are currently operational under UDAN.

12. Promise: Combating corruption (page 54).

Reality: In the last decade, only two convictions have been made out of 193 cases against MPs, MLAs, and political leaders by the ED. In the last 11 years, a total of 5297 cases were filed by ED. Only 47 were taken to court for trial. For every 1000 cases filed, accused were found guilty in only seven cases.

13. Promise: Strengthening AIIMS (page 57).

Reality: 18,737 positions are vacant in AIIMS hospitals across India. More than 2200 of these positions are related to faculty.

14. Promise: Expanding skills training for youth (page 60).

Reality: One in three young people in India are neither in education, employment, nor training, with women making up 95% of this group. Only 4% of the youth workforce have received formal skill training. Under the PM internship scheme, one out of five districts had less than 10 internship opportunities available.

15. Promise: Maintaining peace in northeast (page 63).

Reality: It has been over two years since the violence began in Manipur. The Prime Minister has not visited Manipur even once. Another broken promise.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Monday, June 9, 2025]

Centre’s skittishness about calling a Special Session is of a piece with its attitude to parliamentary precedents and principles

This week, leaders from 17 political parties wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to call a special session of Parliament in June. Within hours of doing so, a skittish government hurriedly announced the dates for a regular monsoon session starting July 21, seemingly turning down the demand for a special session. Normally, the lead time to announce a Parliament session (the number of days between announcement and commencement) has been around 20 days or less. The upcoming monsoon session has been announced 47 days in advance!

At the time of going to press, another 250 MPs from the Opposition are endorsing the letter already dispatched by their party leaders to the Prime Minister. The demand for a special session was first raised by Kapil Sibal, eminent jurist and Independent MP, three days after the tragedy in Pahalgam. Opposition parties took the cue from there.

Convening Parliament sessions: Let us start with the rulebook. Article 85 (1) of the Constitution stipulates, “The President shall from time to time summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit…”

The letter signed by the Opposition parties has been addressed to the Prime Minister. Yes, calling a special session is a decision the Union government takes. In practice, when MPs ask for a special session, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, after assessing the situation, (and accepting the need for a session) prepares a note, proposing the dates and duration. This is placed before the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. If the proposal is approved by the Prime Minister, the ministry then forwards it to the President, who formally approves and announces the session dates. It is another story if the government has what could be called, “Parliament-ophobia” (noun) — the acute condition that is a morbid fear of facing Parliament.

Precedents for special sessions: Even though there is no mention of a special session in the rulebook, there are numerous precedents. In 1972, a sitting was convened to celebrate 25 years of Independence. In 1992, Parliament held a midnight session to mark 50 years of the Quit India Movement. In 1997, a special session was called to commemorate 50 years of the Republic.

Since 2014, three special sessions have been convened. One, in 2015, a two-day session, to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution in 1949. Two, in 2017, a midnight session, to introduce the Goods and Services Tax. In 2023, a five-day session, to mark the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The Women’s Reservation Bill was also passed in the same session.

These sessions to mark celebratory milestones are welcome. But the great halls of Parliament have to go beyond symbolism and anniversaries.

There have been the odd occasions where governments have shown no urgency to break the routine. In 2006, over 180 people were killed in the Mumbai train bombings. Parliament waited for its next scheduled session before responding. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Parliament reconvened only when the pre-scheduled session resumed.

Parliament must urgently deliberate and discuss the events that unfolded in Pahalgam, Poonch, Uri, Rajouri, and their aftermath. Here is the most convincing precedent. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the Leader of the Opposition, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then a first-time Rajya Sabha MP, demanded a special session. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to this request, and the session was held when the active conflict was still on: 165 members participated in the debate — an open discussion on the war and government policy.

In the past 15 years, many parliamentary precedents have been ignored. Just three examples: One, the position of the Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha has lain vacant since 2019. Two, from seven out of 10 bills being sent for scrutiny to committees, now only about two out of 10 bills go. Three, Opposition MPs were denied their right to electronic voting during the passage of crucial bills like the farm laws.

This Union government’s tendency to cock a snook at the legislature has a history. Look at the track record of the legislative assembly of Gujarat from 2001 to 2012. The state assembly, under the then Chief Minister, sat for fewer times than it did under any previous CM of Gujarat. In this period, the average number of sittings of the Gujarat Assembly was less than 30 a year. Beat that!

Are we surprised that this government has all but ducked out from calling a special session? I am not surprised. But I am reminded of my civics teacher in middle school. It was he who first told me: “The government is answerable to Parliament. Parliament is answerable to the people.” So when Parliament is sidelined, who is the government answerable to?

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, June 6, 2025]

There are some things about life that we take for granted. Sometimes that list includes life itself, whether we realise it or not. On Wednesday, May 21, I boarded an Indigo flight from Delhi to Srinagar. Just another day in public life. Just another flight. I take my usual seat at 19F, at the emergency exit. Opting for that seat is an old habit.

I’m on autopilot, doing all the things I normally do on a flight. Forty-five minutes in the air. Halfway to our destination. Then, there is an announcement over the PA, asking us to fasten seatbelts. 

But there’s no turbulence. About five minutes later, we see lightning, clearly visible as it stabs through daylight. Now there is some turbulence, but it progresses rapidly. I realise this is not your regular turbulence. This is severe, the likes I’ve never experienced on my ‘frequent flyer miles’ before.

Not Your Usual Turbulence

The plane is scarily tilting to the right. I am acutely aware of this because I am seated on the right-hand side of the Airbus A321neo. I’m accustomed to planes banking for a variety of reasons, but this does not feel like a normal situation.

It is not a series of bumps or jerks. The entire aircraft starts tilting precariously. We are hurtling down, seemingly to a sickening drop. Not a minute or two, I would say, at least ten terrifying minutes. Outside, all we can see are clouds, ripped apart by angry streaks of lightning and constant hail. My mind is racing.

Now there are other noises in the passenger cabin. Not the normal buzz of conversation or a meal service. No, now people are screaming. Praying. Chanting. Some are actually screeching. The wave of sound creates added tension and fear. I am conscious of passengers trying to film on their phones. But a voice – was it male? Female? Passenger? Flight attendant? I can’t remember. The voice says, ‘Stop filming’.

My life doesn’t flash before me. Instead, I’m consumed by the thought that if something goes terribly wrong, I will miss the wedding in a few months of my only daughter. I think of my daughter, wife, stepdaughters, brothers, colleagues, friends. I think of what a tragedy it would be to leave them all behind, without the chance to say goodbye to any of them.

Sadness. The sadness is overwhelming. It is a deep, abiding sorrow for relationships and friendships that will not progress beyond this fraught afternoon.

Counting My Blessings

Yes, I am aware of how blessed my life has been. Perhaps – I honestly don’t know – it had something to do with going to a dingy lane in Kolkata in 1990, which housed the worldwide headquarters of a congregation of nuns. The setting was spartan, almost awkward: four tackily painted wooden stools set out on a verandah overlooking a quadrangle. My first meeting and touching the hand of Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta).

So, what else ran through my mind? I didn’t think about politics. I didn’t think about Parliament. I didn’t think about the number of followers I had on X or Instagram. I was focused on the people I love. People who mean the world to me. People who have been an important part of my life.

I prayed to a higher being. I made a pact. A pact to be good. 


My colleague, a few seats away, had felt the tension too. We had battled our own fears in our ways. Bathed in perspiration, he looked as if he had just stepped out of a shower. At the time, I didn’t think to ask him what I looked like.

It was probably thirty minutes before we landed. Before we touched down, a member of the cabin crew asked us to pull down our window shades, because we were landing at a military airfield. After taxing to a halt, the engines were switched off and everyone began to deplane.

A Newfound Gratitude

I didn’t follow. I remained seated. Alone. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps to let it all sink in. Perhaps to process it all. Perhaps to decompress. I don’t know why exactly. But it gave me a chance to speak to the pilots before they left the aircraft. I thanked them on behalf of all the passengers and crew. The captain told me that it had been the most difficult flight in his forty-one years as a pilot. We kept speaking, but I promised him that the rest of our conversation would remain private forever. 

I only saw the damage to the nose when I deplaned. I still have no idea what that damage could have done, or the potential danger it posed to our collective safety.

I am home now. It’s been a week. I thought I’d dealt with it in my own way. But I was wrong.

Then, a few hours ago, I spoke to a childhood friend. He did the best thing any friend could ever have done. He listened. I had to stop several times as my emotions welled up repeatedly. All he said, amid the prolonged silence and my stifled sobs, was a simple, quiet, “It’s all right. I’m here.” I had to stop several times to regain my composure.

That flight changed who I am. It changed how I regard every aspect of my life. That experience was unforgettable. Deep. Life changing. Now I fully comprehend that life is a gift. It is to be cherished. I haven’t forgotten my pact. It will be the basis of the new profound gratitude I have for life.

The law on child labour is not the problem, its enforcement is

Long before I started asking quiz questions or delivering speeches in Parliament, I spent eight years in advertising, in an agency that we often fondly called Ogilvy University. The most memorable four days of those eight years was when, as a junior copywriter, I hung around with the “father of advertising”, David Ogilvy, when he visited India. Precious. Of all Mr Ogilvy’s (he insisted we all call him David) maxims, my favourite was: “Big ideas are usually simple ideas.”

In the hurdy gurdy ride of politics, marketing and communication still remain favourite subjects. On May Day this year, there was a brilliant advertisement that appeared in print. The communication was created by Ogilvy India. The intriguing headline screamed, “This Labour Day, 7.8 million workers should be laid off.” And then the magical twist in the subhead: “In a country with 35.6 million unemployed adults, there are 7.8 million children working. Let the adults do the work and let the children go to school”. A Big Idea communicated in a simple, powerful way.

Today, the reality of child labour is grim.

An analysis of the Union government’s Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-19 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that the number of children in child labour in India ranged from 18 lakh (using the national definition), to 33 lakh (using the international definition). Almost half of all working children work within their own family. The agricultural sector engages the most children, followed by the industrial sector, including manufacturing and construction.

Worst forms of labour: The most harmful forms of child labour involve work in dangerous industries or occupations. Children from disadvantaged religious or caste backgrounds, as well as those from impoverished households, are more likely to be involved in hazardous work. Abuse and mistreatment by employers, especially in factories, is widely reported. This includes physical and verbal abuse, low wages, and a lack of access to health services, even when children suffer accidents or injuries. Lack of proper hygiene, sanitation and clean water leads to children becoming easily susceptible to infectious diseases. Working with toxic materials causes long-lasting, sometimes irreversible, illnesses. Sectors that require urgent attention to address the worst forms of child labour include the production of matches and fireworks, glass, and leather products, as well as work in brick kilns, coal mines, and construction, among others.

Child labour and poverty: As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), “child labour is both a cause and consequence of poverty”. Household poverty pushes children into the workforce to earn money. Some take up work to help support the family income, while many others are forced to do so just for survival. This needs to be seen in conjunction with the fact that every one out of two of the world’s wasted (low weight for height) children live in India.

Government apathy: Two years ago, your columnist had asked a pointed two-part question to the Minister of Women and Child Development in Parliament: (a) What is the number of working children between the ages of five and 14; and (b) The number of rural and urban working children, gender-wise? The minister replied to the first part by stating that there were 613 cases registered under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 in 2021. The second part of the question went unanswered. The last Census was carried out 14 years ago in 2011. With the 2021 Census seemingly still in cold storage, it is impossible to know exactly how many child labourers there are in the country. Without understanding the magnitude of the problem, it is difficult to find a meaningful solution.

Need for stricter enforcement: Article 24 of the Constitution of India prohibits the employment of any child below the age of 14 years to work in any factory, mine, or any other hazardous employment. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 defined working conditions more clearly. The law is not the problem, enforcement is. Last year, 58 children, including 20 girls, were rescued from a distillery in Madhya Pradesh. They were made to work 11-hour shifts every day, hardly paid wages, and the palms of their hands were burnt from working with chemicals.

I started on a personal note. Let me end on one. In 2012, as part of the Indian delegation to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, I made a statement on “Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children”. Here is what was said: “The eradication of child labour is a priority for the Government of India. We are strictly enforcing the ban on the employment of children under the age of 14 years. At the same time, in recognition of the fact that this problem cannot be separated from its socio-economic circumstances, we are also implementing measures to improve the access to education, health and nutrition for children”. Thirteen years on, there is still much work to be done.

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, May 9, 2025]