Question hour and Zero Hour
2021 JUL 19
Preliminary >
Polity > Parliament > Parliamentary Procedures
Why in news?
- The recent pegasus spyware issue is likely to dominate the zero hour and question hour in parliament in the coming days.
About Question hour:
- The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for Question hour.
- During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers.
- The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice.
- A starred question (distinguished by an asterisk) requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow.
- An unstarred question, on the other hand, requires a written answer an hence, supplementary questions cannot follow.
- A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less tha ten days. It is answered orally.
- In addition to the ministers, the questions can also be asked to the private members.
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.
Prelims Question
Consider the following statements regarding “Question hour”:
1.It is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.
2.It is the last hour after every Parliamentary Sitting.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer to prelims question