Venkaiah may revisit Ansari's Question Hour timings of Rajya Sabha

Vice President Venakaiah Naidu, as new Rajya Sabha chairman, may revisit the Question Hour timings of the Upper House, which were changed under his predecessor Hamid Ansari's tenure in 2014.

Ansari had changed the timings of the 'Question Hour' in Rajya Sabha to 12 noon till 1 pm -- as against the traditional practice of holding it from 11 am to 12 noon-- from the winter session of Parliament in November 2014.

The Lok Sabha, however, continued with the old practice of having the Question Hour from 11 am to 12 noon. However, different timings for the Question Hour and Zero Hours in the two Houses has often put the government's floor managers in a quandary. Government's floor managers say different timings have meant that the ministers rushing from one House to another --between the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha and the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha and vice versa.

Naidu has told his officials to study the problems encountered in the ministers being required to be present in the both the Houses. He has also began consulting the leaders of the opposition as well as the MPs in this regard.

The MPs insist that the ministers must be present in the respective House to respond to queries they raise both during the Question House and the Zero Hour. The Question Hour is held to be sacrosanct time because the MPs --even those belonging to the ruling party-- can hold the government accountable to its decisions and functioning.

On the other hand, the Zero Hour is an unstructured moment that the chair allows for the MPs to raise urgent matters of public importance. The opposition often insists on a quick response from the ministers concerned to the issue or subject.

In 2011, the 'Question Hour' in Rajya Sabha was shifted for a few days to 2-3 pm so that the House could function normally in the first half. But, it was subsequently discontinued. Some MPs said early afternoon was used by older members for a nap and it was generally difficult for them to be in the house for the entire one hour.