QUESTION HOUR & ZERO HOUR

QUESTION HOUR & ZERO HOUR

Subject: Polity

Context: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said both Houses will have five-hour sessions each with Question Hour and Zero Hour. Rajya Sabha will sit from 9 am to 2 pm, and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm.

Concept:

Question Hour

• The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for this.
• It is regulated according to parliamentary rules and presiding officers of both the houses are the final authority for conducting the question hour.
• During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers.
• Questions can also be asked to private members of the house.
• The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice.
• Starred question (distinguished by an asterisk)- this requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow.
• Unstarred question- this requires a written answer and hence, supplementary questions cannot follow.
• Short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less than ten days. It is answered orally.
• Question Hour in both Houses is held on all days of the session. But there are two days when an exception is made.

When the President addresses MPs from both Houses.

The President’s speech takes place at the beginning of a new Lok Sabha and on the first day of a new Parliament year.

On the day the Finance Minister presents the Budget.

Zero Hour

• Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.
• Thus it is an informal device available to the members of the Parliament to raise matters without any prior notice.
• The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (ie, regular business of the House) is taken up.
• In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour.
• It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence since 1962.