Prologue : No more question hour collapsing. The rule has been changed now.
The Rules Committee of the House on Thursday made major changes for smooth functioning of the Lower House. It decided that a question, for which notice has already been given, will be taken up. This would mean that even if the member who raises it is absent from the House, the question will not be allowed to lapse.
Epilogue : So, more free walk to members. Send a request for asking a question, and go for lunch out. Don't worry, your question would definitely be asked.
Earlier, a question was not taken up in the House if the member in whose name it was listed was absent. During the last Winter Session of Parliament, proceedings in the Lok Sabha collapsed because as many as 28 members who had raised questions skipped Question Hour. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House after taking up just three questions. The episode, which had paralysed Question Hour, had left the House and the government shamefaced. In the Rajya Sabha too many questions could not be taken up due to members skipping Question Hour, forcing chairman Hamid Ansari to say that absenteeism was a “virus”.
