Questions, Zero Hour and short discussions

Detail

1. Question Hour: what it is and where it came from

• Question Hour is the time in a sitting when members ask ministers questions and ministers must answer. In the Lok Sabha it is usually the first hour of the sitting.
• 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].
• History:
• 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].
• Supplementary questions (follow-up questions asked on the spot) 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, moved to four days a week a few months later, and to every day from 1964 [3].

• Why NCERT values it:

• Class 11 (Legislature) calls it "the most effective method" of keeping watch on the executive, "like giving an examination almost every day".
• 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.
• Class 8 says Question Hour makes ministers "accountable" to Parliament.

2. How a question moves through the system

• Notice: a member must give at least 15 clear days' notice of a question [6]. This gives the ministry time to prepare an answer.
• Length: a question can have at most 150 words [3].
• Rotation: ministries are split into five groups. Each group answers on its fixed day of the week [3].
• Ballot: when many notices come in at the same time, a ballot (a draw of lots) decides their order [6][3].
• Daily limits: up to 20 starred questions are listed each day. Up to 230 unstarred questions get written answers [3].

3. 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 tells the House the member wants a spoken answer. Because the answer is spoken, the member and others can ask supplementaries. This makes the starred question the sharpest tool for checking a minister.
• Unstarred question: this is useful for collecting data. A written answer cannot be cross-checked on the spot.
• Short notice question: this covers 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 responsible for.

4. How Question Hour has weakened

• 1962: Question Hour was suspended in the Winter Session after the Chinese aggression [3].
• Monsoon Session 2020: Question Hour was cancelled because of COVID-19. Only written (unstarred) answers were given [3][4].
• Special Session 2023: no questions were allowed [4].
• 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. In the Rajya Sabha the share was 31% [4].

• Monsoon Session 2025 (21 July – 21 August 2025):

• Question Hour ran for 23% of its scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 6% in the Rajya Sabha [2].
• Ministers answered 8% of starred questions orally in the Lok Sabha and 5% in the Rajya Sabha [2].
• On 7 days in the Lok Sabha and 12 days in the Rajya Sabha, no question was answered orally [2].

• Overall, the Lok Sabha sat for 29% and the Rajya Sabha for 34% of scheduled time [2].

• Monsoon Session 2026 (20 July – 13 August 2026): 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 go unanswered on the floor.
• Without spoken answers there are no supplementaries, so day-to-day accountability gets weaker. Class 8 links low productivity to disruptions of exactly this kind.

5. Zero Hour

• Zero Hour is the time right after Question Hour (and after papers are laid) and before the listed business begins. In it, members raise urgent matters without the usual notice.
• It is an Indian innovation from 1962. It is called Zero Hour because it used to begin at 12 noon [3][7].
• Not in the rules:
• Zero Hour does not appear in the Rules of Procedure [3][7].
• It survives because presiding officers allow it [3].

• Ministers need not reply (Class 11).

• Rule 377 (Lok Sabha): a member can raise a matter that is not a point of order and cannot be raised under any other rule [7].

• Special mention (Rajya Sabha): this is the Rajya Sabha's version of Rule 377.

6. Discussions and calling attention

• Half-an-hour discussion (Lok Sabha Rule 55):
• It covers a matter from a recent answer (starred, unstarred or short notice) 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.

• Short duration discussion (Rule 193 Lok Sabha; Rule 176 Rajya Sabha):

• It is often called the "two-hour discussion". It is used for an urgent public matter and has been in use since 1953.

• There is no formal motion before the House and no vote. The minister replies at the end.

• Discussion under Rule 184 (Lok Sabha):

• It begins with a formal motion and ends in a vote.

• This is why the opposition often demands Rule 184: a vote shows publicly where each party stands. The government usually prefers Rule 193.

• Calling attention motion (Rule 197 Lok Sabha; Rule 180 Rajya Sabha):

• It is an Indian innovation of 1954. It comes from the Rules of Procedure, not the Constitution.
• Steps: a member draws a minister's attention to an urgent matter → the minister makes an authoritative (official) statement → members ask brief questions → there is no debate, no vote and no censure (no criticism or blame of the government is recorded).

Device	Rule (LS / RS)	Formal motion?	Vote?	Main purpose
Half-an-hour discussion	55 / —	No	No	Explain a recent answer more fully
Short duration discussion	193 / 176	No	No	Up to 2-hour debate on an urgent matter
Rule 184 discussion	184 / —	Yes	Yes	Debate that ends in a decision of the House
Calling attention	197 / 180	Notice only	No	Get the minister's statement on an urgent matter
Rule 377 / special mention	377 / special mention	No	No	Raise a matter not covered by other rules
Zero Hour	Not in rules	No	No	Raise urgent issues without notice

Prelims Hooks

• Questions were first allowed under the Indian Councils Act 1892; supplementaries came in 1909.
• Starred question = asterisk + oral answer + supplementaries. Unstarred = written answer + no supplementaries. Watch for a common trap that gives unstarred questions supplementaries.
• Short notice question: less than 10 days' notice; answered orally only if the minister agrees. Normal questions need 15 clear days' notice [6].
• Zero Hour: an Indian innovation (1962); not in the Rules of Procedure; ministers are not bound to reply.
• Calling attention motion: an Indian innovation (1954); Rule 197 LS / Rule 180 RS; it is in the rules, not the Constitution; it carries no censure.
• Rule 193 (LS) / 176 (RS) = short duration discussion with no vote. Rule 184 = discussion that ends in a vote.
• Rule 377 is a Lok Sabha device. Its Rajya Sabha counterpart is the special mention.
• The Rajya Sabha moved Question Hour to 12 noon in 2014 (Chairman Hamid Ansari) [3].
• Question Hour was cancelled in the Monsoon Session 2020 (COVID-19) and suspended in the Winter Session 1962 (China war) [3].

Mains Points

• Falling accountability: Question Hour ran for 60% of scheduled time in the 17th Lok Sabha but only 23% (LS) and 6% (RS) in the Monsoon Session 2025, and 1% (LS) in 2026 [4][2][5]. The executive escapes the daily "examination" (NCERT) that keeps it answerable.
• Rule 184 vs Rule 193: the opposition wants a vote, and the government wants a debate without one. Deadlock over which rule to use is a major cause of disruption. A fixed opposition-chosen slot for Rule 184 debates could reduce this.
• Informal tools vs formal rules: Zero Hour gives MPs room for urgent issues, but ministers need not reply. Reforms could include writing Zero Hour into the rules with a time-bound written reply, protecting Question Hour from adjournment, and moving it (as the Rajya Sabha did in 2014) to a time when disruption is less likely.
• Written answers are not a full substitute: unstarred answers still give information. But without supplementaries a minister cannot be questioned on the spot, so the 2020 cancellation and the falling oral-answer share weaken real scrutiny.