Can CBSE skip parliamentary panel queries? Ministry, Opposition spar over accountability

This objection drew sharp reactions from several Opposition members on the committee.

Venugopal is learnt to have pushed back, saying the committee functions as a mini-Parliament. He was of the view that if Parliament had the authority to question the CBSE, the PAC had the same oversight powers. Issues related to the Board were of immense public importance, directly affecting millions of students, and ought to be addressed by the CBSE leadership, Venugopal was learnt to have said.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee is learnt to have backed Venugopal’s stance, maintaing that accountability questions regarding students’ welfare cannot be sidestepped.

Joshi is learnt to have informed the committee that they would seek the Law Ministry’s opinion regarding the questions posed by the committee and its members to the CBSE chairperson.

Several BJP members reportedly supported the officer’s claim that the CBSE chairperson cannot answer questions at the committee meeting. They were of the view that since the CBSE was not funded by the government, it was not obligated to respond to inquiries from the committee or its chairperson.

This was the second instance of confrontation during recent parliamentary panel meetings. Last week, the Venugopal-led committee held an intense discussion on the multi-crore Great Nicobar Island (GNI) project, during which the chairperson and several Opposition members raised serious concerns over the mega project’s potential impact on the island’s fragile ecology.