Parliament Secretariat Decides To Forego Question Hour, Move Creates Controversy

The Parliament secretariat’s decision to forego question hour during the upcoming parliament sessions has become a hot topic for discussion among the political class. While the Opposition and the Left-leaning columnists are making a big issue of this, the BJP says there is nothing wrong in this move.

The BJP says that these being extraordinary times due to Covid-19 crisis,  the question hour was cancelled as a precautionary measure. It says that the question hour was suspended in 1962,1975, 1976, 1991, 2004 and 2009 too and on all these occasions, it was the Congress which was in power. It is arguing that this step was taken because of the health emergency situation prevailing in the country. The Government says that issues of importance can still be raised through other modes such as zero hour, short term notice and others.

The government also says that the question hour is among the least utilized mode to raise public issues. While the parliamentary affairs department has allocated 162 hours for the last eight sessions, only 59 hours could be utilized. As much as 103 hours were lost to din and ruckus. Hence, in view of the current pandemic, the question hour can be done away with, says the government.