Bhopal:
A trademark of a good politician, many say, is to provide information, but no real answers. By that standard, Madhya Pradesh is home to some of the world's best politicians.
When the government was asked a tough question by the Opposition, it provided 8,000 pages of information. Delivered by an autorickshaw to the State Assembly.
Somewhere amidst those documents is the government's explanation for a rather simple question put to it in July - how many factories and industrial units cleared anti-pollution requirements between 2006 and 2009? The Opposition claims that the state's Pollution Board is overlooking environmental concerns and issuing certificates to factories that violate basic pollution laws.
And now, those who asked the question, don't appreciate the government's attempt to bury them in paperwork.
''They have sent such a bulky document, that legislators are unable to go through it. It will take at least four months to go through 8,000 pages. Obviously the ruling alliance has created this hurdle to bury the truth,'' says Rakesh Chaturvedi, a Congress MLA from Bhind.
Even the Speaker of the House admits, the autorickshaw worth of documents is just poor form.
''The concerned department should have informed the minister that since the answer is so bulky that it's not practical to present it to the assembly,'' said Ishwardas Rohani, Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
The real worry though is about function, not form. After all, the Opposition says, if it takes 8000 pages to explain how many factories were cleared by the Pollution Board, perhaps the strictest procedures aren't being followed, after all.