What happened
During a July 2 inspection of a government girls' high school near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu Industries Minister S Keerthana asked a student to answer, in English, what her father does for a living. When the girl couldn't respond, the minister told her teacher — audibly, on camera — that the child was 'unable to answer even a simple question.' The clip went viral within hours, drawing accusations from opposition leaders and child rights activists that a routine government inspection had turned into a public exam with one visibly losing student. Keerthana has since defended herself by noting she is a product of Tamil-medium government schooling too, and insists she neither recorded nor arranged the video — crediting the media crew that was, apparently, also there inspecting the school.