Parliamentary questions rarely make the headlines. However, questions raised and answered in parliament are a treasure trove of information. In the last decade, Question Hour has been a good opportunity for members in the opposition to expose the shallowness of this government and its disdain for solid data. From the hundreds of questions asked by Members of Parliament to this government during the 'strangulated' winter session of parliament, this columnist has chosen just seven questions to make the point that the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) could very well stand for No Data Available (NDA)!

1. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Manual Scavenging)

Lok Sabha's Aparupa Poddar's (Trinamool Congress) and Rajya Sabha's Md. Nadimul Haque (Trinamool) asked questions regarding data on manhole cleaning robots and deaths due to cleaning septic tanks. Conveniently, the government claimed the absence of centralised maintenance for this information. This is despite the Finance Minister's explicit mention of putting an end to manual scavenging in the Union Budget 2023. If only words could provide relief to communities in India that have experienced the highest indignities of caste for over a millennium.

2. Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Chinese Companies in India)

The response to Shyam Yadav Singh's (BSP) question on Chinese companies operating in India in the........

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