QUESTION HOUR

QUESTION HOUR

TOPIC: Polity

Context- Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that this was the first time in 70 years that no Cabinet Minister had replied to questions posed by members during the Question Hour.

Concept-

Question Hour:

• 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.
• There are four types of question—Starred, non-starred, short notice question and questions to private members.

1. Starred Questions are those for which an oral answer is expected. Answer to such question may be followed by supplementary questions by member. These questions are printed in green colour and are marked with asterisk sign ‘*’, in order to distinguish from other questions.
2. Non-starred questions are those for which a written reply is expected. After the reply has been provided, no supplementary question can be asked. These questions are printed in white colour and not more than 230 questions can be listed for a day in loksabha.
3. Short notice questions are those which are asked on matters of urgent public importance and thus, can be asked on a shorter notice i.e. less than 10 days. These questions can be answered orally and supplementary questions can be asked. These questions are printed in light pink colour.
4. Questions to private members are those which are asked to members who are not ministers. These questions are related to private member’s bills, parliamentary committees, private member resolutions. These questions are printed in Yellow colour.