IMPORTANT PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS

Point of Order

• A member may raise a Point of Order if proceedings do not follow normal rules
• The Presiding Officer decides whether the Order may be allowed or not

Vote on Account

• This procedure covers government expenditure between the presentation and the passage of the Budget
• The Vote on Account allows the Lok Sabha to make a grant in advance for a part of the financial year
• It is usually passed by the Lok Sabha without discussion
• It is passed after the general discussion on the Budget is over and before the demand for grants in taken up

Guillotine

• Certain demands for grants of various Ministries are taken up by the Lok Sabha without discussion. This is called guillotine
• Usually done due to lack of time
• To avoid this, Parliament in 1993 established 17 Parliamentary Committees to study these demand for grants
• The Committees scrutinize the demand for grants and report to the House
• The reports are not binding on the House

Quorum

• It is the minimum number of members required to transact the business of the House
• Article 100 of the Constitution specifies that the Quorum of either House shall be 10% of the strength of the House

Question Hour

• The first hour of every sitting of Parliament is called Question Hour
• Questions usually need a 10 day notice before being answered by the concerned Minister
• Questions addressed to the Ministers are of three types:
• Starred questions: to be answered orally on the floor of the House
• Unstarred questions: are answered in writing. No supplementary questions may be asked
• Short notice questions: questions on urgent public importance, do not need 10 day notice

Zero Hour

• Does not formally exist in the Parliamentary procedure
• The hour after Question Hour is popularly known as Zero Hour
• Members raise matters which they feel is urgent
• However, since the questions are raised without prior notice, it results in loss of time