Ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday called for a comprehensive discussion in the House on the escalating air pollution crisis in the national capital, while pointedly questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued silence on what he described as a full-blown “health emergency”.
He further demanded a stringent, legally enforceable action plan to combat air pollution and asked why the Modi government was displaying neither urgency nor accountability in addressing the issue.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi hosted a group of concerned mothers at his residence to discuss the impact of toxic air on children. He later shared a video of the interaction on social media, in which several mothers expressed deep anxiety about the long-term effects of pollution on their children’s health.In an accompanying post on X, he wrote: “Every mother I meet tells me the same thing: her child is growing up breathing toxic air. They are exhausted, scared and angry.
Modi ji, India’s children are choking in front of us. How can you stay silent? Why does your government show no urgency, no plan, no accountability?”
He continued, “India needs an immediate, detailed Parliament debate on air pollution and a strict, enforceable action plan to tackle this health emergency.” Concluding his post, the Congress leader declared, “Our children deserve clean air – not excuses and distractions.”
In the recorded conversation, the former Congress president emphasised that air pollution spares no one in Delhi, whether the poorest resident or the wealthiest.
“The reason there is pollution,” he explained, “is because there are stakeholders who benefit from the pollution and, to put it bluntly, they are more powerful than you are. Now when you are talking of political will, consequences of this power affect political will. If you have 500 to 1000 commercial units who are polluting Delhi, they have political power and the problem is that the average citizen is not organised at all. So, he has no political power.”
He acknowledged that the mothers present already had some options that millions of others in India lacked: “You can go to the doctor, but there are many who don’t… Pollution problem is the tip of the sphere.”
Gandhi assured them of his support: “I am more than happy to help you because I think it is important. I breathe the same air and it is terrible. My niece and nephew grew up with it. You can’t escape it, there is no way.”
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When one of the mothers suggested holding a debate in Parliament, Gandhi responded, “There would be a fair goal to let us have a debate on air pollution in Parliament.” He also enquired how they were seriously planning to organise people and what steps they were taking in that direction.
During the discussion, one woman informed Gandhi that nearly 500 children under five years of age die every day in India due to air pollution-related causes, yet the issue has never been treated as an emergency.
Another mother described the situation as a “chronic national medical emergency” and pointed out the complete absence of any government advisory. She questioned what the authorities were doing for an entire generation of children and why the government remained silent. “If we don’t act now,” she warned, “it is going to be like a bomb in the next 10 years.”
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Delhi has been grappling with very poor air quality for the past 15 days. According to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the coming week.
As Delhi’s air quality has repeatedly plunged into the ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ zones this winter, medical professionals have underlined the urgent need for regular diagnostic screening to catch early signs of pollution-related health deterioration—particularly among smokers, asthma patients, children, and individuals with pre-existing cardiac or respiratory conditions.
Experts note that preventive health checks are becoming ever more critical as prolonged exposure to toxic air triggers airway inflammation, impairs lung function, and significantly worsens underlying illnesses.
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