Monsoon session day 1: Govt set to face barrage of questions on paper leaks

New Delhi: The new government could be under pressure on the first day of the monsoon session of the 18th Lok Sabha on Monday. One of the first questions listed by the Lok Sabha secretariat is about the rampant paper leaks and the revamping of the National Testing Agency (NTA), to which education minister Dharmendra Pradhan is expected to reply.

According to the Lok Sabha secretariat website, Congress MP Manickam Tagore and DMK leader Kalanidhi Veeraswamy have asked the government about its plans to overhaul the NTA following recent NEET-UG paper leaks that affected more than 2.4 million students.

They’ve also asked if multiple papers have leaked over the past seven years, affecting more than 20 million students, what steps are being taken to protect students, and whether the government is considering scrapping the NEET exams, as requested by states such as Tamil Nadu.

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Revolutionary Socialist Party MP NK Premachandran, representing Kollam, has also asked the education minister how many cases have been registered over the NEET-UG question paper leaks and what action the government has taken.

250 questions listed

The government is expected to face 250 questions in total on the first day of the session, ahead of the budget presentation on Tuesday. Of these, 20 are starred and 230 are unstarred. A starred question is one to which an MP desires an oral answer in the House and for which supplementary questions can be asked.

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Other questions the government will be expected to answer are about the funds it has disbursed for centrally sponsored schemes, the steps it has taken to reduce the number of pending cases under the Companies Act, scholarship schemes launched to promote higher education among SC/ST students, and the impact of climate change on Majuli island. Question Hour starts at 12 pm in the Lok Sabha and 11 am in the Rajya Sabha.

The government has listed six bills, including the Finance Bill 2024, which is expected to propose various tax changes, for tabling in both houses of parliament during the monsoon session. The other five are the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, the Boilers Bill, the Bharatiya Vayu Vidheyak, the Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill, and the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill.

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