Congress vehemently rebukes 'No Question Hour' decision; questions 'relevance of session'

The decision to cancel Question Hour in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning September 14 amid the coronavirus pandemic has caused consternation among Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs). Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh raised a question over the significance of a Parliament session if the government would not take questions on China, the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "COVID-19 pandemic, China and economy -- when questions will not be asked on these matters, then what is the meaning of such a Parliament session? If we cannot raise the question regarding people's difficulties, then what is the relevance of such a session?"

There will be no question hour and private members' business during the monsoon session of Parliament, according to a notification issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The notification on Wednesday states that the measure has been necessitated in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Rajya Sabha MP further said that a Parliament session is not only to fulfill the government's objectives but is also to raise questions regarding difficulties faced by the people.

"I urge that question hour must be allowed," Singh said, adding that "earlier we were free to raise questions. Now when the questions will not be raised, then what will be meaning of the democracy and constitution?"

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Earlier, Congress' DMK’s Kanimoshi also reacted to the cancellation of the question hour and said, "PM Modi is the only world leader to never hold a press conference or answer an unscripted question, it's not surprising his govt has been inspired to do the same & banned Question Hour".

DMK’s Kanimoshi tweeted, “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'”.

READ: Shiv Sena supports Centre on no Question Hour in monsoon session of Parliament

'Unstarred or written questions will be allowed'

Even as the question hour remains cancelled, unstarred questions or written questions will be allowed during the monsoon session that ministers need to reply, according to media reports. The unstarred questions will have to be submitted to the secretariat and answers will be provided on the day the question is listed, as per reports.

Furthermore, there will be no Private Members' bill through which MPs seek policy or legislative changes and the Zero Hour during which MPs raise current issues, will be limited to 30 minutes instead of an hour.

The Monsoon session will have Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha working in separate shifts. There will be special seating for MPs to ensure social distancing keeping in mind the COVID-19 protocols. Lok Sabha will sit for the session from 9 am to 1 pm on the first day and from 3 pm to 7 pm on the remaining days till October 1. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha will attend the session from 3 pm to 7 pm the first day and 9 am to 1 pm for the rest of the days. Weekends will also be included as working days.

READ: TMC's Derek O'Brien slams 'No Question Hour' decision in Parliament monsoon session

READ: Monsoon session of Parliament won't have question hour due to COVID; starts September 14

(with inputs from ANI)