Monsoon Session of Parliament: What did the MPs ask the government?
Distilled Policy Brief
- During the first five days of the Monsoon session of Parliament in September 2020, a total of 1,950 unstarred questions were asked, with major focus on Ministries like Health, Agriculture, and Education.
🎯 Prelims High-Yield Examination Points
Parliamentary Question Hour vs Unstarred Questions, and key health and economic statistics from the 2020 parliamentary session such as export decline percentages and trade deficit figures with China.
⚖️ Mains Analytical & Syllabus Linkages
Examine the role of parliamentary instruments like unstarred questions in ensuring executive accountability during extraordinary situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.
🎯 UPSC Prelims Practice Drill
With reference to the parliamentary proceedings during the Monsoon session of Parliament in September 2020, consider the following statements regarding the instruments available to Members of Parliament (MPs) to hold the government accountable: 1. Question Hour, which allows MPs to seek oral responses and ask follow-up questions from Ministers, was suspended in both Houses in view of the extraordinary situation due to COVID-19. 2. Unstarred questions, which require written answers from the government, were completely suspended during this session. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- [A] 1 only
- [B] 2 only
- [C] Both 1 and 2
- [D] Neither 1 nor 2
▶ Reveal Official Answer & Analytical Explanation
Statement 1 is correct because due to the prevailing extraordinary situation of COVID-19, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha suspended their Question Hour, which would have allowed MPs to seek oral responses from Ministers. Statement 2 is incorrect because unstarred questions were not suspended; in fact, a total of 1,950 unstarred questions were admitted and answered in writing during the first five days of the session.
🏛️ Historical Twin PYQ Anchor (2021)
Consider the following statements regarding the "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)": 1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2. Central Pollution Control Board acts as the sole regulatory executive body.