Parliament is not a ritual or a television backdrop. It is the core of a parliamentary democracy where the government is questioned, national crises are debated and people’s voices are meant to matter. When Parliament is in session, presence is accountability. And yet, our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
India’s cities are among the most polluted places on planet Earth. Delhi, Mumbai and several Indian cities routinely feature in the global top ten for worst air quality. Air pollution contributes to over a million premature deaths every year in India. Ironically, our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
Our child mortality rate remains a national shame for a country that calls itself Viksit Bharat. India still records roughly 24 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births and about 28 under-five deaths per 1,000. These are not just statistics, they are lost futures. But clearly, this is not a priority. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
Close to 11,000 farmers and agricultural labourers died by suicide in the latest officially available national data. Maharashtra alone continues to report hundreds every year due to debt and crop failure. Yet this tragedy rarely finds sustained space in Parliament. Because our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
Booth Level Officers, the backbone of our democratic machinery, are collapsing under work pressure. More than forty have reportedly died while on duty in recent years. That too does not demand urgent parliamentary presence. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
India has more hungry and malnourished people than most countries in the world. We rank in the “serious” category on the Global Hunger Index, with alarming levels of child stunting and undernourishment. But hunger is apparently not worthy of debate. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
Unemployment continues to haunt the youth. Even as headline numbers fluctuate, youth unemployment and underemployment remain deeply worrying, leaving millions disillusioned and directionless. Not worth staying back to resolve. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
India remains among the most unsafe countries for women. Nearly 4.5 lakh crimes against women were officially recorded in a single year, including rape, domestic violence and assault. Yet outrage fades quickly. We have better things to do. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
A major plane crash killed 241 people. Even today, the full and clear reasons behind the disaster remain unknown to the public. As you read this, thousands are flying every hour. Does aviation safety deserve a full parliamentary discussion? Apparently not. Our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
Our healthcare system remains strained. Government hospitals are under equipped and understaffed. Private healthcare is prohibitively expensive. Structural reforms are barely discussed with seriousness. But then again, our Prime Minister is in Ethiopia and our Leader of the Opposition is in Germany.
I do not intend to be satirical, nor negative this early in the morning. I am genuinely concerned about how casually our leaders treat Parliament and how comfortably they take our votes for granted. Probably because we allow them to.
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