Starred question

Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

A starred question is a question in Parliament that is marked with an asterisk (*). The member wants the minister to answer it orally (out loud) on the floor of the House during Question Hour, and members can then ask supplementary questions (follow-up questions asked on the spot).

It matters because it is the sharpest tool members have for checking a minister every day. A minister who must answer out loud, with follow-ups, cannot hide behind a prepared written reply.

Explanation

How a starred question works

• Notice: the member gives at least 15 clear days' notice [5]. This gives the ministry time to prepare an answer.
• Marking: the member puts an asterisk (*) on the question. This tells the House the member wants a spoken answer.
• Length: a question can have at most 150 words [2].
• Ministry's day: ministries are split into five groups. Each group answers on its fixed day of the week [2].
• Ballot: when many notices come in together, a ballot (a draw of lots) decides their order [5][2].
• Daily limit: up to 20 starred questions are listed each day [2].
• On the floor: the minister answers out loud. Then the member who asked, and other members, can put supplementaries.

Why supplementaries make it powerful

• The spoken answer can be tested on the spot.
• A member can point out a gap or a wrong figure right away.
• The minister must reply without time to prepare.

• So the minister is held accountable (made to answer for the government's work) in public.

• A written answer gives information, but nobody can cross-check it in the House at that moment.

Conditions and limits

• Only listed questions are answered orally. If Question Hour ends or is disrupted, the starred questions that were not reached get no spoken answer.
• Disruption kills the follow-up.
• Disruptions lead to adjournments (the House stops sitting for a time).
• Adjournments mean starred questions go unanswered on the floor.

• With no spoken answer there are no supplementaries, so daily checking of the government gets weaker.

• If a member needs more explanation of a recent answer, they can ask for a half-an-hour discussion (Lok Sabha Rule 55), held in the last half hour of a sitting.

In the Constitution and practice

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

• It supports collective responsibility (the Council of Ministers as a whole answers to the Lok Sabha, under Article 75(3)).

• History:

• The Indian Councils Act 1892 first allowed questions. The first question was asked in 1893 [2].
• Supplementary questions were allowed from 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms). This is the feature that gives the starred question its force today.

• The Lok Sabha held Question Hour every day from 1952. The Rajya Sabha moved to every day from 1964 [2].

• Who uses it: any member, to question ministers. NCERT Class 11 calls Question Hour "the most effective method" of keeping watch on the executive, "like giving an examination almost every day". Class 8 says it makes ministers "accountable".

• Key instances:
• 1962: Question Hour was suspended in the Winter Session after the Chinese aggression [2].
• 2014: Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari moved Question Hour from 11 am to 12 noon, so that disruptions would not wash it out [2].
• Monsoon Session 2020: Question Hour was cancelled because of COVID-19. Only written (unstarred) answers were given [2][3].
• Special Session 2023: no questions were allowed [3].
• 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24): only 24% of Lok Sabha starred questions got oral answers. In the Rajya Sabha the share was 31% [3].
• Monsoon Session 2025: ministers answered only 8% of starred questions orally in the Lok Sabha and 5% in the Rajya Sabha. On 7 days (Lok Sabha) and 12 days (Rajya Sabha), no question was answered orally [1].
• Monsoon Session 2026: Question Hour ran for only 1% of scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 12% in the Rajya Sabha [4].

Don't confuse with

• Unstarred question: has no asterisk. It gets a written answer laid on the table, with no supplementaries. Up to 230 are answered each day [2].
• Short notice question: is about an urgent public matter and needs less than 10 days' notice. It is answered orally only if the minister agrees. A starred question needs 15 clear days' notice [5].
• Question to a private member: is put to a member who is not a minister (Lok Sabha Rule 40). It can only be about a bill, resolution or other House business that this member is in charge of.
• Zero Hour: comes right after Question Hour. It is not in the Rules of Procedure, needs no notice, and ministers need not reply. A starred question is in the rules and must be answered.

Prelims Hooks

• Starred = asterisk + oral answer + supplementaries. Unstarred = written answer + no supplementaries. A common trap gives unstarred questions supplementaries.
• Up to 20 starred and 230 unstarred questions are listed each day [2].
• Normal questions need 15 clear days' notice [5]. Short notice questions need less than 10 days' and depend on the minister's consent.
• Questions were first allowed under the Indian Councils Act 1892. Supplementaries came in 1909.
• Question Hour was suspended in Winter Session 1962 (China war) and cancelled in Monsoon Session 2020 (COVID-19) [2].
• A recent answer to a starred, unstarred or short notice question can lead to a half-an-hour discussion (Lok Sabha Rule 55): no formal motion and no vote.

Mains Points

• Falling share of oral answers:
• Only 24% of Lok Sabha starred questions were answered orally in the 17th Lok Sabha [3]. This fell to 8% in the Monsoon Session 2025 [1].

• Without spoken answers there are no supplementaries, so the executive escapes the daily "examination" (NCERT) that keeps it answerable.

• Written answers are not a full substitute:

• Unstarred replies still give data.
• But no one can question the minister on the spot.

• So the 2020 cancellation and the shift to written-only replies weaken real scrutiny (close checking of the government).

• Reforms to protect it:

• Protect Question Hour from adjournment.
• Move it to a time when disruption is less likely, as the Rajya Sabha did in 2014 [2].
• Reduce the deadlock over Rule 184 and Rule 193 debates that causes many disruptions.

Related concepts

• Question Hour
• 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