There will be no Question Hour during the upcoming Parliamentary Session. The decision was taken due to the prevailing pandemic situation.
Parliamentary session during normal times
The first hour i.e., 11 a.m. to 12 noon of the day is reserved for question hour wherein, members of the house raise questions and seeks answers from the ministers or other members of the house. These questions can be classified into three types.
- Starred questions
- Unstarred questions
- Short notice questions
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest to get updates.
Starred questions:
The answers to the Starred questions should be given orally. Two supplementary questions can be asked by the member who has raised the stared question.
Other members can also ask supplementary questions subjected to the approval from the Speaker or Chairman of the house.
Unstarred questions:
The answers to the Unstarred questions should be in the written form and no supplementary questions are allowed.
Both starred and un-starred questions have to be submitted 15 days in advance.
Short notice questions:
These questions are asked with a notice of less than 10 days. The answers to these questions are given orally.
Every day, 20 starred questions and 230 un-starred questions are answered.
After the question hour, one hour i.e., 12 noon to 1 p.m., is called Zero Hour.
In Zero Hour, questions that need urgent answers are asked without giving any prior notice.
Importance of the Hour
Question Hour is very important as it ensures that the executive is accountable to the electorate through the legislature. The hour gives equal opportunity to every member of the house to raise questions.
It not only increases awareness of the public but also gives a chance to the government to explain its stand on the particular issue.
It has broader scope as the members can ask questions on topic related to domestic and foreign.
Why no question hour in upcoming Parliamentary Session
Due to the pandemic, the government has decided to reduce the number of persons inside the house in order to adhere to the physical distancing norm and reduce the risk.
Keeping it in view, the government has decided not to hold Question Hour in the upcoming Parliamentary Session as answering Starred questions required key ministry officials to be present in the Parliament.
It is not the first time. Earlier too, question hours was suspended due to various reasons.