Question Hour From 12 Noon: Zero Hour To Begin RS Proceedings
Question Hour From 12 Noon: Zero Hour To Begin RS Proceedings
The Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha will now commence at 12 noon and continue till 1 pm. This is a complete change from the existing practice of holding this session from 11 am to 12 noon. These crucial hour long proceedings have been shifted as far as timings are concerned for the winter session of the Indian Parliament commencing November 24.
The aim is to ensure a disruption free Question Hour, according to media reports. The Question Hour is the only means through which the government can be held accountable by the MPs. A formal bulletin regarding the shifting of the Question Hour was issued by the RS secretary general Shumsher K. Sheriff. He said that Question Hour will now be from 12 noon to 1 PM from the 233rd Session of the Upper House onwards.
The RS proceedings will now commence with the Zero Hour which is to be held between 11 am and 12 pm. The Zero Hour is a time during which MPs get to raise issues of public importance that need the attention of the government. Zero Hour earlier used to occur between 12 noon and 1 pm.
The bulletin of the legislative section also indicated that the sittings of the RS will last from 11 am to 6 pm every day. No change has been made in the timings of the proceedings of the LS. The Question Hour of the LS will commence as usual from 11 am. In both houses, the proceedings shall commence at 11 am sharp.
Past records indicate that the Question Hour in the RS was adjourned within a few minutes due to disruptions in various ways in 13 of the 27 sessions during the Budget session in the Parliament in 2014. In light of these findings, the General Purposes Committee of the RS headed by chairman Hamid Ansari indicated in August that the timings had been shifted from 11 am to 12 noon.
As few members had then opposed this move, it was agreed that the rules committee of the Upper House would take the final decision on this matter. Accordingly the decision has been taken and the formal bulletin has been released.
In the year 2011, the Question Hour was shifted to 2 to 3 pm but it was then discontinued. RS Secretariat has issued notifications regarding the latest move after communicating the same to the Ministries. Question Hour is the beginning of the day’s proceedings in the Houses, but many issues have been raised during this time as well.
Generally, no issues can be raised during the Question Hour except those related to questions pertaining to the day. Naturally, with the great divide between leading parties on key issues, the proceedings of both Houses are extremely heated as the political representatives argue their case. This may change with the modification of the timing of the Question Hour, or not.
