Hello,

In the third instalment of the Parliament Defied investigative series, we tell you the story of how Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the newly appointed Union Minister for Agriculture, is now tasked to hold himself, Chouhan the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, answerable to citizens through Parliament.

In 2017, farmers’ protest erupted in Madhya Pradesh against farm policies of the Union and state governments. The farmers wanted the Chouhan government to pay more for their crops and waive off their debts. But the government didn’t budge. In the clashes, police fired, killing six farmers and wounding as many.

A question was raised in the Rajya Sabha asking the government whether it had sought a report from the state on reasons for the farmers agitation, whether action had been taken against policemen who opened fire and what relief was offered to farmers who faced police violence.

The government replied that a report had been sought from the state government on the killings. Parliament treated it as an assurance, requiring the government to share the findings of the report.

Even seven years after the firing in June 2017, the Union government hasn’t tabled the report. It instead has tried getting Parliament to stop asking for the report by attempting to get the assurance dropped altogether. With Chouhan at the helm of the agriculture ministry, the seven-year-old assurance that the government will tell us about the report on the killing of farmers is likely to remain pending.

Our investigative series, Parliament Defied, delves into such parliamentary promises, examining their outcomes. Through an exhaustive analysis of 100 parliamentary reports spanning thousands of pages and covering 55 ministries over five years, our reporters reveal the stark reality of government assurances.

Read the full story here.