To preserve the sanctity of the Question Hour, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has decided to move it from the customary 11 a.m. to noon in the Upper House starting this winter session. If the experiment proves successful, it may be replicated in the Lok Sabha, sources in Parliament said.
The new rules will have to be presented and ratified by the Rajya Sabha when it convenes on November 24, but pending that, Mr. Ansari has issued directions for their implementation.
In 2011, Mr. Ansari, exercised at the way the Question Hour was used by Opposition parties to raise issues meant for Zero Hour and disrupt the House, for a brief while moved it to the post-lunch session. But with most MPs objecting to the change in timing, it had to be reversed.
Parliament sources said the 11 a.m. to 12 noon slot would effectively be Zero Hour, when political parties could raise issues of immediate concern, even as it would also be used for Special Mentions and for the laying of papers in the House.
The expectation is that once the MPs have voiced their concerns, they will be ready for the more rigorous business of Question Hour.
“It is actually the one hour when MPs, free of their party, can independently ask questions on the programmes and policies of the government and hold it accountable,” a Parliament official said.
The Rajya Sabha will also sit for an additional hour till 6 p.m. as the Lok Sabha presently does.
Samajawadi Party’s Naresh Agarwal, has objected to the change.
