Generally,
the first hour of a sitting of the Lok Sabha is devoted to Questions and that
hour is called the Question Hour. It has a special significance in
the proceedings of Parliament. Asking questions is an inherent and
unfettered parliamentary right of Members. It is during the
Question Hour that Members can ask questions on every aspect of
administration and governmental activity. Government politics and the national
as well as international spheres come into sharp focus as the Members try
to elicit pertinent information during the Question Hour. The Government
is put on trial during the Question Hour and every Minister whose turn it is to
answer Questions has to stand up and answer the administration’s act of omission
and commission. At the same time, through the Question Hour, the
Government is able to quickly feel the pulse of140 the nation and adopt
its policies and actions accordingly.150 It is through
questions in Parliament that the Government remains in160 touch with the people
as Members are enabled to ventilate grievances of the public in matters
concerning the administration. Questions enable Ministries to gauge popular
reaction to their policy and administration. Questions also bring to the
notice of the Ministers many an abuse which otherwise would have gone
unnoticed. Sometimes, questions may lead to the appointment of a commission, a
court of enquiry or even a legislation when matters raised are grave enough to
agitate the public mind and are of wide public importance.
Questions
are of four types: Starred, Unstarred, Short Notice Questions and Questions
addressed to Private Members. A Starred Question is one to which a
Member desires an oral answer in the House and which is distinguished280
by an asterisk mark. When a question is answered orally, supplementary
questions can be asked thereon. Only 20 questions300 can be listed
for oral answer on a day. An Unstarred Question is one which is not
called for oral answer320 in the House and on which no
supplementary questions can consequently be asked. To such a question, a written
answer is deemed to have been laid on the Table after the
Question Hour by the Minister to whom it is addressed. It is printed in
the official report of the sitting of the House for which it is put down. Only
230 questions can be listed for written answer on a day. In addition, 25 more
questions can also be included in the Unstarred List relating to States
under President’s Rule and the total number of questions in the
list420
of Unstarred Questions for a day may not exceed 255 in relaxation of the normal
limit of 230 questions. A Short Notice Question is one which relates to a450
matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with a shorter
notice than the period of notice prescribed for an ordinary question. Like a
Starred Question, it is answered orally, 480 followed by supplementary answers.
The
Question to a Private Member is addressed to the Member himself and it is asked
when the subject-matter of it pertains to any Bill, Resolution or any matter
relating to the Business of the House for which that Member is responsible. For
such questions, the same procedure is followed as in the case of questions
addressed to a Minister with such variations as the Speaker may consider
necessary or convenient. The List of Starred, Unstarred,560
Short Notice Questions and Questions to Private Members are printed in green,
white, light pink and yellow colour respectively, to distinguish them from
one another. A Member gives notice in writing addressed to the
Secretary-General of Lok Sabha,600 intimating one’s intention to ask a
question. Besides the text of the question, the notice states clearly the official
designation of the Minister to whom the question is addressed, the
date on which the answer is desired, as also the order of640
preference, in the event when a Member tables more than one notice of questions
for the same day. A Member is allowed to give not more than ten notices
of questions, both for oral and written answers, in all, for any day. Notices
received in excess of ten from a Member for a day, are considered for
subsequent day concerning700 that Minister during the period
of that session only. The normal period of notice of a question is not
less than 15 clear days. However, the Speaker can relax the required minimum
notice period of 15 clear days to protect the interest of the
Members. A Short Notice Question750 can be asked with a notice shorter
than ten days but the Member has to state briefly the reasons for asking the
question at such short notice.
On
receipt of the notice of a question, it is scrutinized to see that the
designation of the Minister and date of answer have800 been correctly
mentioned in the notice. A preliminary ballot of identical questions is held
and the Member who obtains priority is deemed to have tabled the
question. A computerized auto ballot is then held in respect of notices
received in840 the Secretariat at the same time
to determine their inter se priority. Separate ballots are held for Starred and
Unstarred Questions. Starred, Unstarred and Short Notice questions are numbered
separately and entered in separate diaries on the computer software. The next
stage is to examine the notices of questions in the light of Rules of
Procedure and Conduct of Business900 in Lok Sabha, Directions by the
Speaker, provisions of the Constitution of India and past precedent. A
question is primarily asked for the purpose of obtaining information on a
matter of public importance. Questions that contain arguments, inferences or defamatory
statements or otherwise refer to the character or conduct of any person
except in his official or public capacity, are960 not admitted.
Besides, if the subject-matter of a question is pending for judgement before
any court of law or any980 other tribunal or body set up
under law or is under consideration before a Parliamentary Committee, the same
is not permitted to be asked. Questions making discourteous references to
foreign countries with whom India India
A Short Notice Question which is of
wide public importance is first referred to the Ministry concerned for
furnishing factual information in the matter and also for indicating
whether the Minister concerned accepts the short notice and if so, what date
will1200
be convenient to him to answer the question. If the Minister accepts the short
notice and the matter sought to be raised is considered urgent by the
Speaker, the Short Notice Question is admitted and printed in separate list in
light pink paper in order to distinguish it from the lists of ordinary
questions. The Short Notice Question is taken1260 up after the
Question Hour. Immediately on fixation of the dates of the sittings of a
session of Lok Sabha, 1280 allotment of the days for the
answering of questions relating to various Ministries of the Government
of India is made. For this purpose, the Ministries are divided into five
Groups and fixed days are allotted to groups of Ministries during the
week. There is no Question Hour on Saturday, even if a sitting is
fixed for that day. Separate lists are prepared for Starred and
Unstarred Questions which have been1350 admitted. Admitted
Questions are entered in the List of Questions for the day for oral or written
answers, as the case may be, in the order of priority obtained in
ballot with the orders of the Speaker. Not more than five questions are
admitted in the name of a Member1400 for each sitting of which not more
than one is put down for oral answer. While compiling the list of
Unstarred Questions, care is taken to see that one question of each Member is
included in the List of Questions1440 of that date. The remaining
Unstarred Questions are thereafter put in the list according to inter se
priority obtained in the ballot. A serial number is allotted to
each question. Normally, not more than 20 questions are placed on the List of
Questions for oral answers and not more than 230 questions are placed on
the List of Questions for1500 written answers on any one day. The Ministries
are supplied with the lists of finally admitted questions at least five days
before the date fixed for asking the questions. A Member whose question has
been admitted and which is included in the List of Questions for oral
answer for a particular day, rises in one’s place when the turn of the question
comes and asks the question by reading out its number on the List of Questions.
The Minister concerned answers the question. Thereafter, the Member who had
asked the question can ask only two supplementary questions. 1597
