In the last couple of days, the Union government’s decision to do away with the Question Hour in Parliament has been a source of major controversy. The monsoon session of the Parliament, which is supposed to be held between September 14 and October 1, will mark the first meeting of the Parliament after a 174-day recess. After major criticism though, the government conceded by saying that it would reply to unstarred questions i.e. it will respond in writing to written questions.
To understand why there is so much outrage about the Question Hour being cancelled during this session, one needs to understand the significance of the first hour of a sitting session of the Parliament, in the context of the functions of the Parliament. The legislature is one of the three pillars of democracy, and one of the most important powers and functions of the Parliament is to hold the Union government accountable. Question Hour is one of the most important tools to exercise this power – it is the time where Members of Parliament are allowed to raise questions about any decisions of administrative conduct to a minister, who is then obliged to answer in writing or orally. The medium of answer depends on how the question is asked.
A major essence of democracy is accountability, and the Question Hour, in that sense, is arguably the most lively hour in Parliament.
Historically, the significance of the Question Hour became clear back in 1957, when the Mundhra scam came to light. The scam reportedly emerged from one unstarred question asked in Lok Sabha. However, it took the MPs asking a starred question on the issue to be able to hold accountable the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress government’s Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari.
In a starred question, a member seeks an oral answer from the concerned minister and this can be followed by supplementary questions, whereas in the case of unstarred questions, a written answer is provided, and no supplementary question can be asked.
In the Mundhra scam case, the unstarred question was submitted by Congress MP Ram Subhag Singh and two others to Krishnamachari, asking him to name the ‘private enterprise in Kanpur’ in which Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) had invested Rs 1 crore, besides the reason behind the investment. The unstarred question received a written reply, where the then Deputy Finance Minister Bali Ram Bhagat said that LIC had not invested this money in any single private enterprise in Kanpur, thus using a technicality to avoid answering the question.
However, it later came to be known that LIC had invested that money in multiple companies that were under the ownership of industrialist Haridas Mundhra. After Ram Subhag Singh investigated further, he asked another question in the Parliament’s winter session in November that year. This one was starred. He and Feroze Gandhi, then Rae Bareli’s MP, asked whether the Mundhra companies’ shares had been bought at a price higher than the market value.
The subsequent debate on the matter took place in December, and Feroze Gandhi then pinned Krishnamachari with an onslaught of questions. It ultimately led to Nehru having to set up a commission for inquiry and became the first major financial scam in independent India.
Several MPs have questioned the BJP-led Union government's move to cancel Question Hour.
BJP govt’s decision to suspend the Question Hour for an entire session conveys just one message – “Even elected representatives have no right to question the government”.
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) September 2, 2020
Hyderabad MP @asadowaisi writes to @loksabhaspeaker about scrapping of #QuizTime and the urgent need to reconsider it... pic.twitter.com/5TNTxyzZQP
— Payal Mehta/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) September 2, 2020
MPs file 2 types of questions #Parliament.Unstarred(written Govt response) & starred(ans orally by Mantri + written reply).Govt throwing crumbs with unstarred Qs only.Avoiding direct questioning.Why weren’t these Qs allowed in 1st place?Replies also great source of info for media
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) September 3, 2020
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP, KK Ragesh has written a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman against the 'suspension of Question Hour and Private Members' Business during the monsoon session of Parliament'. pic.twitter.com/JmPnHga2rB
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2020
Speaking to TNM about the impact of the move, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda said, "When MPs submit questions, they need 15 days for questions to be answered. Out of the questions submitted, a ballot is held and each day, 15 questions are picked for answering. Only six to eight are answered in an hour. Ministers have to be prepared and they have to answer supplemental questions. In written answers, this issue is eliminated by the ruling party."
He goes on to explain, "Written answers are very useful. For instance, the Rafale case came back to prominence when I had asked an unstarred question about the price of the deal. The then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had said it is a state secret. Questions are still there: Question hour and starred questions have been removed. In the morning, two hours are dedicated for Question and Zero hours. This is the members' time. Members can question the government and hold it accountable. We are not in a position to question the government about issues directly if this is removed altogether."
Gowda also said that the rest of the business was tightly controlled and set by the government, leaving only Question Hour to hold the government accountable.
"Ministers can rest easy now and nothing that happened over the last six months can be questioned. Now we cannot get on their case and hold them accountable openly. At least half an hour is good and the important issues will be raised. One hour could be devoted to it even in a truncated situation," he said.
Asked about the issues that his party planned to raise, the national spokesperson for the Congress said, "Of course the big issues that we wanted to discuss during Question Hour is the China border issue, the failing economy and COVID-19 cases."
Kerala MP NK Premchandran agrees. “Dropping Question Hour doesn’t give a good sign in democratic principles especially in a parliamentary democracy. One of the most significant businesses of the house is Question Hour,” he told TNM.
“Because the government is made accountable to the people of India through the Parliament. And the Parliament is the right forum by which the people can raise their questions regarding the administration and day-to-day affairs of the government. Hence cancelling Question Hour is not a sign of a healthy democracy,” he added.
Premachandran is the lone MP of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) from Kerala. The four-time MP represents the Kollam constituency in southern Kerala.
He also said that Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had spoken to him over phone and informed him that there was a discussion among all political parties to reach a consensus regarding the cancellation of the Question Hour. “My response was that Question Hour is the most crucial business of the Parliament and must be incorporated during the session,” he said.
Premchandran also did not agree with Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi’s statement that Zero Hour will be curtailed to 30 minutes, asking on what basis this move was being done.
“Question Hour is the independent right of the members while during Zero Hour, time is allotted as per the member strength of each party. You can’t take away the Question Hour, because only during Question Hour, those members get a direct answer from the government. During the Zero Hour, the Speaker can’t force a minister to answer a question, but during Question Hour, a Minister is bound to answer all the questions which are particularly crucial during the time of legislations.”
Premachandran had intended to ask mainly about COVID-19 and its impact on the country’s economy and about 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan'.
“A big package of Rs 20 lakh crore has been announced for it which is one sixth of the budget. Also the government has promulgated eleven ordinances regarding which we have strong objections. Also I wanted to talk about the India-China dispute and labour issues. Now the pandemic has become a tool to suppress the democratic rights of the labour class in the country. Even Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh promulgated ordinances that labour laws are not applicable for them. That anti-labour approach has to be discussed,” he added.
Chakshu Roy, Head of Legislative and Civic Engagement, PRS Legislative Research, said, "In the forthcoming monsoon session, Parliament will not have the visible part of Question Hour. MPs will be able to ask questions and receive written responses to their queries. Questions are important for both treasury benches and Opposition. It allows the government to tell the country its achievements. The Opposition, on the other hand, can use information supplied by the government to poke holes at its functioning. Over the last few weeks, many state Vidhan sabhas (Legislative Assemblies) have held their session. Some of them had question hours and others didn’t. Parliament is the beacon of legislative functioning and its functioning will set the precedent for Vidhan sabhas to follow in the future."
With inputs from Theja Ram and Saritha Balan.