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Generally, the first hour of a sitting of 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 of questions is an inherent and unfettered parliamentary right of

members. It is during the Question Hour that the members can ask
questions on every aspect of administration and Governmental activity.
Government policies in 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, as it were, put on its trial during the Question Hour and
every Minister whose turn it is to answer questions has to stand up and
answer for his or his administration’s acts of omission and commission.
Through the Question Hour the Government is able to quickly feel the pulse
of the nation and adapt its policies and actions accordingly. It is through
questions in Parliament that the Government remains in touch with the
people in as much as members are enabled thereby to ventilate the
grievances of the public in matters concerning the administration. Questions
enable Ministries to gauge the popular reaction to their policy and
administration. Questions 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
legislation when matters raised are grave enough to agitate the public mind
and are of wide public importance.

The Question Hour is an interesting part of the Parliamentary proceedings.

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 capacity during the Question Hour.

Telecasting of Question Hour

With a view to familiarising the public at large about the manner in which
the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament are conducted in the Question
Hour and how their representatives raise various issues of
national/international importance, proceedings of the Question Hour are
being telecast since 2 December 1991. Earlier the pre-recorded
proceedings of the Question Hour were telecast by Doordarshan on the
following day in the morning. From 7 December 1994, the proceedings of

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the Question Hour of both the Houses are being telecast live on alternate
weeks throughout the country on the national channel of Doordarshan from
1100 hrs. to 1200 hrs. All India Radio is also broadcasting the proceedings
of the Question Hour of both the Houses from 2200 hrs. to 2300 hrs. in the
same night on their national hook up. It has been arranged in such a
manner that during the telecast of the Question Hour of one House by
Doordarshan, the Question Hour of the Other House is broadcast by All
India Radio. In addition, the proceedings of the Question Hour and the
entire post-lunch proceedings of Lok Sabha are being telecast live on a
separate terrestrial channel through a Low Power Transmitter (LPT) with a
reach of 10-15 kms, installed in Parliament House. The entire proceedings
of Rajya Sabha are also being telecast live daily since 7 December 1994
through a separate LPT.

Types of Questions

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 distinguished by an asterisk mark. When a question is
answered orally, supplementary questions can be asked thereon. Only 20
questions can be listed for oral answer on a day.

An Unstarred Question is one which is not called for oral answer 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 to this, 25 more questions can also be included in the
Unstarred List relating to the States under Presidential Rule and the total
number of questions in the list of Unstarred Questions for a day may not
exceed 255 in relaxation of normal limit of 230 questions.

A Short Notice Question is one which relates to a matter of urgent public

importance and can be asked with shorter notice than the period of notice
prescribed for an ordinary question. Like a starred question, it is answered
orally followed by supplementary questions.

The Question to a Private Member is addressed to the Member

himself/herself and it is asked when the subjectmatter of it pertains to any

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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.

Notices of Questions

A member gives notice in writing addressed to the Secretary-General, Lok

Sabha, intimating his 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 as also the date on which the question is
desired to be placed on the list of questions for answer as also the order of
preference, if any, for its being placed on the list of questions when a
member tables more than one notice of questions for the same day.

The normal period of notice of a question is not more than twenty-one and
not less than ten clear days. A short notice question can be asked with a
notice shorter than ten days, but the member has to state briefly the
reasons for asking the question at short notice.

Procedure in Lok Sabha Secretariat

On receipt of the notice of a question it is scrutinised to see that the

designation of the Minister and date of answer have 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 ballot is then held in respect of notices received in this
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 computer software.

The next stage is to examine the question as to whether or not it is

admissible under the rules and past precedents. 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, are not admitted. Questions which
are in substance repetitions of those that have been answered previously or
in regard to which information is available in accessible documents or in
ordinary works of reference are also not admitted. Besides, if the subject
matter of a question is pending for judgement before any court of law or any
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

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making discourteous references to foreign countries with whom India has

friendly relations are disallowed. Similarly, questions raising larger issues of
policy are not allowed for it is not possible to enunciate policies within the
limited compass of an answer to a question. Questions containing more
than 150 words or relating to a matter which is not primarily the concern of
the Government of India are not admitted. Questions going into minor
details of administration and day-to-day working of the
Government/Organisations are also not admitted.

Keeping the above rules and precedents in view, a question is admitted or

disallowed. Typed copies of the admitted and edited questions are then
made out on a standard form. An advance copy of the admitted question is
informally collected by the Ministry/Department concerned so that they may
on their side initiate the action for collection of information asked for in the
question to prepare a reply.

A Short Notice Question which is of wide public importance is first referred

to the Ministry concerned if necessary for furnishing factual information in
the matter and also for indicating whether the Minister concerned accepts
the short notice and, if so, what date will be convenient to him to answer the
question. If the Minister accepts the short notice and the matter sought to
be raised is considered by the Speaker, urgent, the Short Notice Question
is admitted and printed in a separate list on the light pink paper in order to
distinguish from lists of ordinary questions. The Short Notice Question is
taken up after the Question Hour.

Allotment of Days for Questions

Immediately on the fixation of the dates of sittings of a session of Lok

Sabha, allotment is made of the days available for the answering of
questions relating to the various Ministries of Government of India. For this
purpose the various 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, if a sitting is fixed for that day. Separate lists are
prepared for starred and unstarred questions which have been 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 member 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 questions of that date. The remaining unstarred
questions are thereafter put in the list according to inter se priority obtained

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in the ballot. A serial number is allotted to each question. Normally not more
than twenty questions are placed on the list of questions for oral answers
and not more than two hundred and thirty questions are placed on the list of
questions for written answers on any one day. The Ministries are supplied
with the lists of finally admitted questions at least 5 days before the date
fixed for asking the questions.

Mode of Asking Questions

The member whose question has been admitted and which is included in
the list of questions for oral answers for a particular day, rises in his/her
seat when the turn of his/her question comes and asks his/her 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. After him/her the second
member whose name is clubbed on the question is allowed to ask one
supplementary question. Thereafter, the Speaker allows one supplementary
each to members who are able to catch his eye. The number of such
members depends on the importance of the question. Then the next
question is taken up. The replies to questions not reached for oral answer
during the Question Hour are deemed to have been laid on the Table of Lok
Sabha.

At the end of the Question Hour, i.e. after the questions for oral answer
have been answered, Short Notice Question, if any, for that day is taken up
and disposed of in the same way as the questions for oral answers.

Half-an-Hour Discussion

Where answer to a question whether Starred or Unstarred needs

elucidation on a matter of fact, any member can table a notice for raising
Half-an-Hour Discussion thereon. If the notice is admitted and gets priority
in ballot such a discussion may be allowed by the Speaker. Normally, such
discussions are held on three days in a week, viz., Monday, Wednesday
and Friday except in Budget Session when such discussion is normally not
held till the financial business is completed. The discussion is usually held
from 17.30 to 18.00 hrs. During the discussion, the member who has given
notice makes a short statement and not more than four other members,
who have given advance notice before 11.00 hours on the day on which
discussion is to be held are permitted to ask a question each for further
elucidating any matter of fact. Thereafter, the Minister concerned replies.

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