Opposition was okay with no Question Hour, can’t record calls to prove it, says minister

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi says Congress leaders in both Houses were ‘on board’ with suspending Question Hour, protested as an afterthought.

File image of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi | Photo: ANI

New Delhi: Opposition leaders raising a hue and cry about the suspension of Question Hour from the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament looks like an “afterthought”, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has told ThePrint in an interview.

Joshi said the Narendra Modi government had spoken to about 40 opposition leaders, including the Congress’ leaders in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, to convey its decision, and “they were on board”.

Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor, had slammed the government for suspending Question Hour during the 18-day monsoon session that starts on 14 September. Tharoor had tweeted that questioning the government is the oxygen of parliamentary democracy, and that the government had done away with the one mechanism to promote accountability.

Following the opposition backlash, the government agreed to allow taking up of ‘unstarred questions’, where the minister concerned does not give a verbal reply but submits a written answer.

But Joshi said in a telephone conversation: “We can’t do anything if Congress leaders don’t talk with each other. Both their leaders in the two Houses were on board with the government’s decision when we called and told them it will be difficult to schedule Question Hour as it will require the presence of a large number of officials representing different ministries in the House.

“Congress leaders are now going back on their word and are taking a different stand,” Joshi said, adding that except for Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, all the opposition leaders the government spoke to had agreed to suspend Question Hour.

“What were they (opposition leaders) doing when we had called and spoken to them? Now they are going back on their word. We can’t do anything. We can’t record the conversation that we have with every opposition leader,” Joshi said.

Joshi said it is “unfortunate” that the opposition is trying to create controversy when the government is going all out to ensure that MPs stay safe during the Parliament session. “These are unprecedented times and I appeal to all opposition members to cooperate,” he said.

Govt ready for discussion on pandemic, economy

Pralhad Joshi said the government is ready to allow discussion on any issue during the monsoon session, be it the Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment or the state of economy. “Government will allow discussion on any issue that the Parliament’s business advisory committee (BAC) approves,” he said.

The BAC comprises both ruling and opposition party leaders and decides the day’s agenda to be taken up in the two Houses.

The minister added that contrary to what the opposition would like people to believe, Question Hour is not the only way to demand answers from the government.

“There’s a Short Duration Discussion and a Calling Attention Motion, where opposition can question the government and the latter is bound to answer,” he said.

Short Duration Discussion is a provision under which an MP can ask questions on a matter of urgent public importance, and the minister dealing with the subject has to respond at the end of it.

A Calling Attention Motion, meanwhile, is one where an MP asks a minister to pay attention to any matter of urgent public importance, and the latter has to give a response.

Joshi also pointed out that ruling party MPs too ask questions during a Parliament session, and the government has to respond.

The minister also hit out at the opposition for frequently disrupting Question Hour in previous Parliament sessions.

“During the last six years, how many times has the opposition disrupted Question Hour? They had not allowed Question Hour to function for one reason or another. Now, they are talking about how it is such an important aspect of parliamentary democracy,” he said.

Precautionary measures

Joshi did, however, appeal to all MPs to cooperate with the government, saying the Covid-19 pandemic has produced an “extraordinary situation”, and that “all of us are trying to ensure that the session happens keeping the safety of all MPs in mind”.

This means taking unprecedented precautions, such as the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha sitting for two hours daily, including on weekends.

“While the Rajya Sabha will meet in the morning, the Lok Sabha will meet in the afternoon. The RS staff will be allowed only during morning hours while LS staff will be allowed to come in the noon. After the RS session ends, both the House premises will be thoroughly sanitised,” the minister said.

All members have been mandated to get Covid-negative certificates before entering Parliament. “If it’s not possible for an MP to get a certificate because of some reason, we will conduct the test here, 72 hours before the session starts,” he said.

The MPs have also been requested to arrive just 15 minutes before the session starts. “Each MP will be allowed to bring only one staff member inside. We are also limiting the number of officials inside the two Houses to avoid crowding,” the minister added.

Elaborate measures have been taken to seat members in both Houses — including installing large display screens, audio consoles, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation in the air conditioning system, special cables connecting the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for transmission of audio-visual signals, and polycarbonate separators in between seats to ensure a smooth session.