Question hour and Zero Hour

Why in news?

• The recent pegasus spyware issue is likely to dominate the zero hour and question hour in parliament in the coming days.

About Question hour:

• The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for Question hour.
• During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers.
• The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice.
  • A starred question (distinguished by an asterisk) requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow.
  • An unstarred question, on the other hand, requires a written answer an hence, supplementary questions cannot follow.
  • A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less tha ten days. It is answered orally.
• In addition to the ministers, the questions can also be asked to the private members.

Zero Hour

• Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure. Thus
• It is an informal device available to the members of the Parliament to raise matters without any prior notice.
• The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (ie regular business of the House) is taken up.
• In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour.
• It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence since 1962.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements regarding “Question hour”:
1.It is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.
2.It is the last hour after every Parliamentary Sitting.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

 Answer to prelims question