Question Hour

Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 6 "The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 11, Ch 5 "Legislature"

Meaning

Question Hour is the part of a sitting of Parliament when members ask ministers questions and ministers must answer. In the Lok Sabha it is usually the first hour of the sitting. Class 11 NCERT calls it "the most effective method" of keeping watch on the executive (the government of the day). Class 8 NCERT says it makes ministers "accountable" to Parliament.

Explanation

How a question moves through the system

The steps below are in order. Each comes with its time limit or rule.

1. Notice: the member must give at least 15 clear days' notice of the question. This gives the ministry time to prepare an answer [6].
2. Length check: a question can have at most 150 words [3].
3. Day of answer: ministries are split into five groups. Each group answers on its own fixed day of the week [3].
4. Ballot: when many notices come in at the same time, a ballot (a draw of lots) decides their order [6][3].
5. Daily list: up to 20 starred questions are listed for spoken answers each day. Up to 230 unstarred questions get written answers [3].
6. Answer in the House: the minister answers starred questions out loud. Members can then ask supplementaries (follow-up questions asked on the spot).

Kinds of questions

Kind	How it is marked or asked	How it is answered	Supplementaries?
Starred question	Marked with an asterisk (*)	Orally, on the floor of the House	Yes
Unstarred question	No asterisk	In writing, laid on the table (treated as placed before the House)	No
Short notice question	On an urgent public matter, with less than 10 days' notice	Orally, but only if the minister agrees	Yes
Question to a private member	Put to a member who is not a minister (Lok Sabha Rule 40)	By that member	—

• Starred question: the asterisk shows that the member wants a spoken answer.
• Because the answer is spoken, members can ask supplementaries.

• This makes it the sharpest tool for checking a minister.

• Unstarred question: it is useful for collecting data. But nobody can cross-check a written answer on the spot.

• Short notice question: it is for urgent matters that cannot wait 15 days. The minister can refuse to take it at short notice.
• Question to a private member: it can only be about a bill, resolution or other House business that this member is in charge of.

Why it works as a daily check

• NCERT Class 11 calls it "like giving an examination almost every day". Ministers must face the House on a fixed day every week.
• Attendance is highest during Question Hour, and heated scenes are common.
• Typical subjects are price rise, availability of food grains, atrocities, riots and black-marketing.

Limits

• Its power depends on the House actually sitting. If the House is adjourned (sitting stopped), starred questions are not answered out loud.
• Written answers still go out. But without spoken answers there are no supplementaries, so the minister is not questioned on the spot.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits:
• The Constitution does not set out Question Hour by name. It comes from the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Each House makes these rules under Article 118.

• It puts into practice the idea that the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, meaning all ministers answer to the House together (Article 75(3)).

• History before 1947:

• The Indian Councils Act 1892 first allowed questions. The first question was asked in 1893. It was about the burden on village shopkeepers, who had to supply goods to touring government officers [3].

• Supplementaries were allowed from 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms).

• After 1947:

• The Lok Sabha held Question Hour every day from 1952.

• The Rajya Sabha started with two days a week in 1952. A few months later it moved to four days a week, and it has held Question Hour every day since 1964 [3].

• Rajya Sabha timing: in 2014, Chairman Hamid Ansari moved Question Hour from 11 am to 12 noon so that disruptions would not wash it out [3].

• Times it was stopped:
• 1962: suspended in the Winter Session after the Chinese aggression [3].
• Monsoon Session 2020: cancelled because of COVID-19. Only written (unstarred) answers were given [3][4].

• Special Session 2023: no questions were allowed [4].

• How it has weakened:

• 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24): Question Hour ran for 60% of its scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 52% in the Rajya Sabha [4]. Only 24% of Lok Sabha starred questions got oral answers, against 31% in the Rajya Sabha [4].
• Monsoon Session 2025 (21 July – 21 August): Question Hour ran for 23% of scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 6% in the Rajya Sabha [2]. Ministers answered 8% (LS) and 5% (RS) of starred questions orally [2]. On 7 days in the Lok Sabha and 12 days in the Rajya Sabha, no question was answered orally [2].

• Monsoon Session 2026 (20 July – 13 August): Question Hour ran for only 1% of scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 12% in the Rajya Sabha [5].

• The chain of cause and effect:

• Disruptions cause adjournments.
• Adjournments mean starred questions are not answered on the floor.
• With no spoken answers there are no supplementaries, so day-to-day accountability gets weaker.

Don't confuse with

• Zero Hour: it comes right after Question Hour. It is an Indian innovation from 1962 and is not in the Rules of Procedure. Members raise urgent matters without notice, and ministers need not reply [3][7]. In Question Hour, notice is required and ministers must answer.
• Unstarred question vs starred question: an unstarred question gets a written answer and no supplementaries. Exams often set a trap by giving unstarred questions supplementaries.
• Half-an-hour discussion (Lok Sabha Rule 55): it follows up a recent answer that needs more explanation. It is held in the last half hour of a sitting, on up to three sittings a week. There is no formal motion and no vote.
• Calling attention motion (Rule 197 LS / Rule 180 RS): it is an Indian innovation of 1954. The minister makes an official statement on an urgent matter, and members ask brief questions. There is no debate and no vote, and it is not part of Question Hour.

Prelims Hooks

• Questions were first allowed under the Indian Councils Act 1892 (first question in 1893). Supplementaries came in 1909 (Morley-Minto) [3].
• Starred = asterisk + oral answer + supplementaries. Unstarred = written answer + no supplementaries.
• Short notice question: less than 10 days' notice, and an oral answer only if the minister agrees. A normal question needs 15 clear days' notice [6].
• Limits: at most 150 words per question. Up to 20 starred and 230 unstarred questions a day. Ministries answer in five groups on fixed days [3].
• In 2014 the Rajya Sabha moved Question Hour to 12 noon (Chairman Hamid Ansari) [3].
• Question Hour was suspended in the Winter Session 1962 (China war) and cancelled in the Monsoon Session 2020 (COVID-19) [3].

Mains Points

• Falling accountability: Question Hour ran for 60% of scheduled time in the 17th Lok Sabha [4]. It fell to 23% (LS) and 6% (RS) in the Monsoon Session 2025 [2], and to 1% (LS) in 2026 [5]. The executive escapes the daily "examination" (NCERT) that keeps it answerable to Parliament.
• Written answers are not enough:
• Unstarred answers still give out information.
• But without supplementaries, nobody can question the minister on the spot.

• So the 2020 cancellation and the falling share of oral answers weaken real scrutiny.

• Reforms:

• Protect Question Hour from adjournment.
• Hold it at a time when disruption is less likely, as the Rajya Sabha did in 2014 [3].
• Reduce the deadlocks that cause disruption, such as the fight over whether a debate is held under Rule 184 (ends in a vote) or Rule 193 (no vote).

Related concepts

• Starred question
• Unstarred question
• Short notice question
• Zero Hour
• Special mention
• Half-an-hour discussion
• Short duration discussion
• Calling attention motion

Read more

• Questions, Zero Hour and short discussions