Parliamentary Questions are one of the important procedural devices that empower Members of Parliament to elicit factual information from the Government on a matter of public interest. Parliamentary Question is a unique mechanism to exercise surveillance over the administration, it is an important instrument in the hands of the members to ensure answerability or accountability of the administration for its acts of omission or commission to the Parliament and the people. The entire range of governmental activities comes under the scrutiny of Parliament by this procedure. Very often, members are able to pinpoint the administrative lapses and extract certain information and assurances or even commitments from the Government.
Generally, the first hour of every sitting of Lok Sabha, known as the “Question Hour”, is available for asking and answering of questions. In very exceptional cases, the ‟Question Hour‟ is dispensed with to take up some other urgent business only if the House unanimously agrees.
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.
Types of Questions
Questions are of four types:—
Parliamentary questions are categorized as Starred, Unstarred and Short Notice Questions.
A Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer on the floor of the House. Answers to such questions may be followed by Supplementary Questions by Members. Starred Questions derive their name from the fact that they are always distinguished by an asterisk.Only 20 questions can be listed for oral answer on a day.
An Unstarred Question is so named because it does not carry an asterisk mark. Answers to such questions, unlike a Starred Question, is not given orally, but, in a written form. 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 is related to a matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with shorter notice than the period of notice prescribed for an ordinary question.
A question may also be addressed to a Private Member provided the subject matter of the question relates to some Bill, Resolution or other matter connected with the business of the House for which that Member is responsible. No supplementary can be asked on such a question. Similarly, no short notice question can be addressed to a Private Member.
Besides, members may raise Half-an-Hour Discussion on matters arising out of questions recently answered in the House and which needs elucidation on a matter of fact. Such discussion is limited to half-an-hour and generally held in the last half-an-hour of the sitting on three days in a week, namely Monday, Wednesday and Friday. During the Budget Session, no half-an-hour Discussion is normally held till the transaction of financial business is completed.
In the Lok Sabha, the list of Starred Questions is printed on green paper, the list of Unstarred Questions on white paper, the list of Short Notice Questions on pink paper and the list of Questions to Private Members on yellow paper, so that Members can distinguish these lists easily.
Period of Notice
A Member is required to give not less than ten and and not more than twenty-one clear days notice in writing in the prescribed form to table a question(The normal period of notice of a question is not more than twenty-one and not less than ten clear days). Members can give notices of questions from the day following the day on which the summons for a session are issued. Such notices are addressed to the Secretary-General, Lok Sabha, and specify the official designation of the Minister to whom the question is addressed.
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.
Limits on the number of Questions
There is no restriction on the number of notices of Starred and Unstarred Questions which a member can give under the rules. But not more than five questions are admitted in the name of a member for each sitting, out of which not more than one is entered in the Starred list for oral answer. Admitted Notices of Questions in excess of Five are returned to members for revival for another date. Normally, not more than twenty questions are placed on the list of Questions for oral answer on any one day. The number may rise on account of postponed Questions. Questions in excess of twenty are transferred to the List of Questions for written answer. Not more than one Short Notice Question is put down for answer on any one day. Further, not more than 230 Questions are normally included in the list of Questions for written answer on any one day. However, the overall limit of 230 Questions may exceed by the number of Questions pertaining to a State or States under President's Rule, subject to the maximum limit of 25. Questions in excess of 230 in a day's list of Questions are re-examined for inclusion in the list of Unstarred Questions for subsequent available dates. All those notices of questions which could not be included in lists of questions lapse at the end of the Session. While compiling the list of Unstarred Questions, it is ensured that one question of each member is picked up in each round, till the list of Questions of a date is finalised.
After the Starred Questions have been answered, Short Notice Questions, if any for that day, is taken up and disposed of in the same way as the questions for oral answers.
Allotment of Days for Answer to Questions
As soon as the dates of sittings of a session of Lok Sabha are fixed, days are allotted to different Ministries/Departments of the Government of India for answering of questions relating to them. For this purpose, the Ministries/Departments are divided into five Groups, viz. Groups A,B,C,D and E and fixed days of the week are allotted to Groups of Ministries/Departments for answering questions. There is no Question Hour on a Saturday even if a sitting of the House is fixed on that day for any special reason. Similarly, no question time is usually allotted when a session is extended by a day or a few days beyond the originally scheduled date of termination of the session unless the condition of ten clear days for giving notices of the questions is satisfied.
The classification of Ministries into groups for the purpose of answering questions is done in such a way that each group of Ministries has, as possible, approximately the same number of questions. It is also ensured
allotment of Ministries does not clash with the allotment decided for answering questions in the Rajya Sabha so that the Ministers are able to be present in both Houses on the respective days allotted for answering 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.
Conditions of Admissibility of Questions
A question is primarily asked for the purpose of obtaining information on a matter of public importance within the special cognizance of the Minister to whom it is addressed. However, the right to ask a question is governed by certain conditions. Questions which are vague or are too general or roving in nature or give information instead of seeking it are not admitted. Questions which are not the primary concern of the Government of India are disallowed. 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 covered by answer to a question given in the recent past or in regard to which information is available in accessible documents or in reference works, are also not admitted. Besides, if the subject matter of a question is pending for judgment before any court of law, or any other tribunal or body set up under the law, or is under consideration before a Parliamentary Committee, the same is not permitted to be asked. Questions 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 compass of an answer to a question. Questions seeking information regarding matters exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Speaker are also not admitted.
Answers to Questions
Notices of Questions which have been admitted are segregated. Separate lists are prepared for Starred and Unstarred Questions. Admitted notices of questions are entered in the Lists of Questions for the day for oral or written answers, as the case may be, in the order or priority obtained in the ballot.
Answers to questions orally given in the House on any date are printed in the day's proceedings. In the case of Unstarred Questions, written answers thereto are laid on the Table by the Ministers concerned. Further, if any question placed on the list of questions for oral answer on any day is not called for answer within the time available for answering questions on that day, the Minister to whom the question was addressed lays on the Table a written reply to the question. Written answers to questions are not formally laid by the Ministers, but are deemed to have been laid on the Table at the end of the Question Hour. In the event of the Question Hour having been dispensed with or where questions are not taken up for oral answer owing to disorder and continuous interruptions, all Starred Questions for the day are treated as Unstarred and their answers, together with answers to the Unstarred Questions, if any, are printed in the debate of that day. When the Question Hour is dispensed with owing to cancellation of one or more sittings of the House or adjournment without transacting any business, the Questions entered in both Starred and Unstarred lists of Questions for the days are deemed to be Unstarred Questions for the next sitting and such Questions along with their answers are deemed to have been laid on the Table and are included in the Debates of the next date of sitting.
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 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.
