Parliament’s Monsoon Session will begin from September 14 and continue till October 1. According to notifications issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, there will be no Question Hour, no private members’ Bills and the Zero Hour will be curtailed. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Session will be held in two shifts — 9am to 1pm and 3pm to 7pm. The Rajya Sabha will sit in the morning shift and the Lok Sabha will sit in the evening.

What is Question Hour?

Generally, the first hour of a sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is devoted to questions and this hour is called the Question Hour.

It is during the Question Hour that MPs can ask questions on every aspect of administration and government activities.

Government policies in national as well as international spheres come into sharp focus as MPs try to elicit pertinent information during the Question Hour.

Every minister whose turn it is to answer questions has to stand up and answer for his or his administration’s acts.

Although a question mainly seeks information and tries to elicit facts on a particular subject, there are many a time lively and quicksilver repartees between the members asking the questions and the ministers answering them. These repartees are sometimes coupled with flashes of wit and humour. That is why the public galleries and the press galleries are packed to the capacity during the Question Hour.

Significance of Question Hour

Question Hour has a special significance in the proceedings of Parliament. Asking questions is an inherent and unfettered parliamentary right of members.

Through the Question Hour the government is able to quickly feel the pulse of the nation and adapt its policies and actions accordingly.

Questions enable ministries to gauge the popular reaction to their policy and administration.

Questions bring to the notice of the ministers many loopholes that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.

Sometimes, questions may lead to the appointment of a commission, a court of inquiry or even legislation when matters raised by members are grave enough to agitate the public mind and are of wide public importance.

Four types of questions

Starred Question: It is one to which a member desires an oral answer from the minister in the House and is required to be distinguished by him/her with an asterisk. The answer to such a question may be followed by supplementary questions by members. Only 20 questions can be listed for oral answers on a day.

Unstarred Question: It is one to which a written answer is desired by the member and is deemed to be laid on the table of the House by the minister. Thus it is not called for oral answer in the House and no supplementary question can be asked thereon.

Short Notice Question: A member may give a notice of question on a matter of public importance and of urgent character for oral answer at a notice less than 10 days prescribed as the minimum period of notice for asking a question in ordinary course. Such a question is known as Short Notice Question.

Questions to Private Members: A question may also be addressed to a private member (an MP who is not a Cabinet minister), provided that the subject matter of the question relates to some Bill, Resolution or other matter connected with the business of the House for which that member is responsible. The procedure in regard to such questions is the same as that followed in the case of questions addressed to a minister with such variations as the Speaker may consider necessary.

Grouping of ministries for answering questions

For the purpose of answering questions in Rajya Sabha, the ministries and departments have been divided into five Groups and fixed days are allotted to groups of ministries during the week.

The grouping is done in such a way that each minister has one day fixed in the week for answering questions in Rajya Sabha and another fixed day in the week for answering questions in Lok Sabha.

Changes are introduced in the grouping of ministries according to the changes in the restructuring of ministries or due to a reshuffle in the portfolios of ministers or some such valid reasons. 

What is Zero Hour?

The time immediately following the Question Hour and before any listed business is taken up in the House has come to be popularly known as the Zero Hour. As it starts around 12 noon, this period is termed as Zero Hour. 

For raising matters during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, members give notice between 8.30am and 9am everyday to the Speaker stating clearly the subject which they consider to be important and wish to raise in the House. 

It is for the Speaker to allow or not to allow for raising such matters in the House. 

Normally, 20 matters per day as per their priority in the ballot are allowed to be raised during the Zero Hour. The order in which the matters will be raised is decided by the Speaker at his/her discretion.

Private member’s Bill

Any MP who is not a minister is referred to as a private member. Private member’s Bills are introduced by non-minister MPs. Their purpose is to draw the government’s attention to what individual MPs see as issues and gaps in the existing legal framework, which require legislative intervention.

A member who wants to introduce a Bill has to give prior notice. The period of notice for introduction of a Bill is one month unless the Speaker allows its  introduction at a shorter notice. 

In Lok Sabha, the last two and a half hours of a sitting on every Friday are generally allotted for transaction of private members’ business — private members’ Bills and private members’ resolutions.

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