Question Hour in Question

Debatable times continue. Once again the Modi government triggered a row. The government decided to convoke this year’s monsoon session of Parliament without Question Hour which has been labeled as ‘pulse of the nation’ by the Lok Sabha website. The session is delayed due to lethal pandemic. However, the government announced that it has pleaded the Lok Sabha Speaker to permit un-starred questions by members, which are responded in writing. The government’s move flickered annoyance in the opposition and motivated past masters namely Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Derek O’Brien to raise flags.

Since 2015 very less time has been spent on Question Hour. Year-wise, the actual time spent on Question Hour was 26.25% of the available time during 2015, 48.33% during 2016, 57.73% during 2017, 22.28% during 2018 and 47.17% during 2019. Parliament met on 14th September 2020 after being in break for 174 days. It is the elongated gap between the budget and monsoon sessions in the last twenty years.

Question Hour is vital to a functioning democracy. Numerous scams and scandals exhumed or toppled due to Question Hour. The importance of Question Hour is not confined just to ask questions and it has huge political impact. One of the biggest financial scandals, the Mudhra scandal was unveiled during the Question Hour. In 1957, the government regulated Life Insurance Corporation’s investment of Rs.1.26 crore in quite a few firms of Haridas Mundhra was interrogated by MP Feroze Gandhi shook the Nehru government and as a result then finance minister T.T. Krishnamachari had to resign. In the late 2000, the coal scam was unearthed due to the Question Hour.

There are four instances when a Parliament Session has been organized without Question Hour. The first instance was in 1961, when a special session of Parliament was arranged for the passage of the Budget for Odisha which was under the President's Rule and its Budget wanted the endorsement of Parliament. The second occasion was in 1975, when the Parliament session was convened for supporting the President’s assertion of National Emergency as per Article 352 which is still discussed for its provocative purpose. The next instance was in 1976 when the Constitution was amended. The Amendment Act came down to be known as mini constitution for wide-ranging modifications that it brought including incorporation of words, socialist and secular in the Preamble to the Constitution. The fourth time Parliament did away with the Question Hour in its session was in 1977, when it sat to favor the extension of President’s Rule in Nagaland and Tamil Nadu.

What is Question Hour and Zero Hour?

Question Hour is the sparkling time in Parliament. Members of Parliament are given the privilege of asking questions during this period and the questions are designed to provide information and initiate appropriate action by ministries. History has disclosed that Question Hour has unearthed many financial misdeeds and brought data and information involving government performance to the public province. Considering its importance, the broadcasting of Question Hour begun in 1991 and it has become one of the most observable features of parliament sessions.

Every phase of Question Hour of Parliament governed by comprehensive regulations and the chairing officers of both the houses control the conduct of Question Hour. Generally Question Hour is the first hour of a parliamentary sitting. However, to remove disturbance Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari shifted Question Hour in the House from 11 am to 12 noon in 2014. According to the Parliamentary guidance notes questions asked by the ministers should be specific and limited to 150 words. The questions should not seek information that are surreptitious or under settlement or judgment before courts. Reigning officers of both houses have the right to decide the validity of the questions.

At the commencement of Parliament in 1952, the Question Hour was conducted every day in Lok Sabha. However, it was conducted for two days in a week in Rajya Sabha which was shifted to four days a week. Since 1964 Question Hour is taking place in Rajya Sabha on every day of the session. There is no Question Hour on the day the President addresses MPs from both Houses which takes place at the start of a new Lok Sabha and on the first day of a new Parliament year. Also Question Hour is not scheduled either on the day the Finance Minister presents the Budget.

To rationalize the Question Hour the ministries are put into five clusters and each group answers questions on the day assigned to it. MPs can stipulate whether they need an oral or written reply to their questions and can put an asterisk symbol against their question suggesting that they want the minister to answer that question on the floor. These are known as starred questions. Follow-up questions are also allowed after the response to primary interrogations. Experienced and veteran parliamentarians select to ask verbal questions when the answer to the questions will place the government in a scratchy situation.

Questions are submitted to the ministries 15 days in advance and within this tenure they can prepare their ministers for Question Hour and follow-up questions session. However, the presiding officers may permit MPs to ask a question to a minister at a notice period lesser than fifteen days. To support the minister answering question, the government administrators are close at hand in a gallery so that they can pass notes or pertinent documentary evidences. Questions of MPs seek response in writing are referred as un-starred questions. The replies to these questions are placed on the table of Parliament. Earlier in Lok Sabha, there was no boundary on the number of un-starred questions that could be inquired in a day. Now, 20 starred questions and 230 un-starred questions are selected from a random ballot containing all questions.

On the other hand, Zero Hour is an Indian parliamentary invention. The Zero Hour was born during the first decade of Indian Parliament when MPs thought the necessity of raising vital electoral and national issues. Earlier, Parliament used to break for lunch at 1 p.m. and the opportunity for MPs to raise national issues without a prior notice became available at 12 p.m. and could last for an hour till the House suspended for lunch. This led to the hour being popularly referred to as Zero Hour and the issues being raised during this time as Zero Hour submissions. Chairing officers of both Houses give instructions to trim the working of Zero Hour to make it even more efficient. Lately, the Zero Hour got high appreciation from citizens and media.

Oppose when in opposition

Although the BJP ruled central government decided to skip Question Hour and shorten Zero Hour in the Monsoon session of Parliament, it has confronted few State governments for abolishing question hour in assembly sessions and blamed them of insincerity or double standards. This attitude of hypocrisy raises the fundamental question whether the political group has to oppose an anomaly only when in opposition?!

In three days Rajasthan assembly, the BJP protested necessitating Question Hour on the third day. Numerous MLAs who sat for dharna along with their leader Gulab Chand Kataria who mentioned several of our party members who sat in dharna have tested positive for corona virus disease. Responding to the statement of Speaker Biman Banerjee, the BJP has criticized the government of West Bengal led by Trinamool Congress for avoiding the Question Hour. In one day assembly session of Punjab government, the leader of the opposition Harpal Singh Cheema insisted a lengthier session and methodical Question Hour. In a condensed two-day assembly session of Maharashtra government, the opposition party followed its twofaced stratagem and demanded for Question Hour without knowing the fact that Question Hours were skipped during the tenancy of preceding governments, including of the BJP.

To sum up, the government’s resolution to cancel Question Hour in the session of Parliament clearly gesticulates a craving to circumvent answerability. This also applies for the decision to dangle the Zero Hour. Exclusion of starred questions which are followed by supplemental queries, in the Question Hour definitely weakens or emasculates Parliament and democracy. The government is of the opinion that allowing usual Question Hour needs more administrators to be present in the premises of Parliament and endangers social distancing norms. This is prejudiced opinion since many governments in the world lengthily employed digital technologies to minimize the human manifestation while managing business as near normal as possible.

The government’s parochial intention to cancel the Question Hour comes at a time when the citizens of India are seeking the answers to the migrants’ crisis, unemployment crisis, economic crisis, border crisis, Covid crisis and GST crisis. At least few members of the ruling party should take a joint decision not to dole out questions in the whole session. It can then be said that the Indian Parliament has a mind of its own. If the government avoids questions, the critical issues of governance of the nation will be in hazardous position. This will divest members of opportunities to call the government to account. Nevertheless many know that the Question Hour loses its glamour when the government’s standard answer to all questionings pertaining to failure of Act of Government is either Act of God or Act of Nehru.