Question Hour
Encyclopedia
Question Hour is the first hour of a sitting session of India
's Lok Sabha
devoted to questions that Members of Parliament raise about any aspect of administrative
activity. The concerned Minister is obliged to answer to the Parliament, either orally or in writing, depending on the type of question raised. Questions are one of the ways Parliament
can hold the Executive
accountable.
, after the reply is obtained from the Minister concerned. Non-starred questions are those for which a written reply is expected. After the reply has been provided, no supplementary question can be asked. A notice period is to be given to the minister to reply to a question. However, if a Member seeks to ask a question urgently and cannot wait for the duration of the notice period, then the member can do so provided it is accepted by the Speaker
. Such questions are called supplementary questions.
:
in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, the First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, the Question Period
in the federal Parliament and provincial legislatures of Canada and the Question Time
in Australia and New Zealand.
when Feroze Gandhi
questioned the finance ministry regarding government owned Life Insurance Corporation's unauthorized investment into Haridas Mundhra's companies. It eventually resulted in the resignation of the then finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari
.
, a license scandal was unearthed during question hour. A memorandum allegedly signed by 21 MPs were submitted by traders of Pondicherry to the Union Commerce Ministry to grant licenses for importing various items. The signatures were forged on the behest of Indira Gandhi's
key aide, Lalit Narain Mishra.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
devoted to questions that Members of Parliament raise about any aspect of administrative
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
activity. The concerned Minister is obliged to answer to the Parliament, either orally or in writing, depending on the type of question raised. Questions are one of the ways Parliament
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
can hold the Executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
accountable.
Types of Question
There are two main types of question—Starred and non-starred. Starred Questions are those for which an oral answer is expected. The member is allowed to ask a supplementary question, with the permission of the SpeakerSpeaker of Lok Sabha
The Speaker is the presiding officer of the lower house of Parliament of India. His/her role is similar to that of Speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system of government....
, after the reply is obtained from the Minister concerned. Non-starred questions are those for which a written reply is expected. After the reply has been provided, no supplementary question can be asked. A notice period is to be given to the minister to reply to a question. However, if a Member seeks to ask a question urgently and cannot wait for the duration of the notice period, then the member can do so provided it is accepted by the Speaker
Speaker of Lok Sabha
The Speaker is the presiding officer of the lower house of Parliament of India. His/her role is similar to that of Speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system of government....
. Such questions are called supplementary questions.
Recent Changes
The following procedural changes have been in force since the 5th session of the 15th Lok Sabha15th Lok Sabha
Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected in 2009 during the General Elections in India.- Important members :* Speaker: Meira Kumar, Indian National Congress, Sasaram, Bihar...
:
- A 15 day notice period is now to be given to the minister to respond to a question in Parliament (concept of minimum and maximum notice duration has been removed). The notice duration used to be a minimum of 10 days or maximum of 21 days.
- The SpeakerSpeaker of Lok SabhaThe Speaker is the presiding officer of the lower house of Parliament of India. His/her role is similar to that of Speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system of government....
now has the authority to direct answers to a starred question asked by a member in case of his or her absence on the day their name was called. - A member is now required to make a statement in the House correcting the reply given by him or her earlier, irrespective of whether the reply given pertained to a starred or unstarred or a short notice question.
- The maximum questions, starred or unstarred, a member is now entitled to give is 10 per day.
Question hour in other legislatures
This sort of a process where elected representatives ask questions that are replied by the Prime Minister or other government ministers is part of parliamentary tradition in many other countries. The Question Hour in the Indian Parliament is similar to the Prime Minister's QuestionsPrime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, the First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, the Question Period
Question Period
Question Period, known officially as Oral Questions occurs each sitting day in the Canadian House of Commons. According to the House of Commons Compendium, “The primary purpose of Question Period is to seek information from the Government and to call it to account for its actions.”-History:The...
in the federal Parliament and provincial legislatures of Canada and the Question Time
Question Time
Question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers , which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances...
in Australia and New Zealand.
Significance
The right to ask questions was given to the legislators for the first time by the Act of 1892, and to ask supplementary questions in 1909. Any act of the Government can be made the subject of a question. Even though the question is directed to a particular minister, it is his office that is responsible for framing a response. Formally, it is the process of eliciting information from the government. However, the question hour has been used to bring out several administrative lapses.Mundhra Scandal
India's very first major financial scam was brought to light during the 2nd Lok Sabha2nd Lok Sabha
Membership of the Second Lok Sabha...
when Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Gandhi
Feroze Jehangir Gandhi was an Indian politician and journalist, and publisher of the The National Herald and The Navjivan newspapers from Lucknow....
questioned the finance ministry regarding government owned Life Insurance Corporation's unauthorized investment into Haridas Mundhra's companies. It eventually resulted in the resignation of the then finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari
T. T. Krishnamachari
- References :...
.
Pondicherry License Scandal
In 1974, during the 5th Lok Sabha5th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 5th Lok Sabha, elected February-March 1971. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...
, a license scandal was unearthed during question hour. A memorandum allegedly signed by 21 MPs were submitted by traders of Pondicherry to the Union Commerce Ministry to grant licenses for importing various items. The signatures were forged on the behest of Indira Gandhi's
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
key aide, Lalit Narain Mishra.