RAISING OF MATTERS
OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
BY MEMBERS

C O N T E N T S

PAGE(S)

1. President's Address 1-5

2. Calling Attention 6-8

3. Special Mention 9-10

4. Zero Hour Submissions 11-12

5. Motions on Matters of Public Interest 13-15

6. Resolutions 16-18

7. Short Duration Discussion 19

8. Statement by Minister 20-21

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

Our Constitution provides for Presidential Address to both Houses of Parliament assembled together or either House of Parliament--article 86 and article 87. Whereas article 86 gives right to the President to address either House of Parliament or Both Houses of Parliament assembled together, article 87 makes it incumbent upon the President to address both Houses of Parliament assembled together. Articles 86 and 87 read as follows:-

Right of President to address and send messages to Houses:

86. (1) The President may address either House of Parliament or both Houses assembled together, and for that purpose require the attendance of members.

(2) The President may send messages to either House of Parliament, whether with respect to a Bill then pending in Parliament or other-wise, and a House to which any message is so sent shall with all convenient despatch consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration.

Special address by the President:

87. (1) At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons.

(2) Provision shall be made by the rules regulating the procedure of either House for the allotment of time for discussion of the matters referred to in such address.

So far as article 86 is concerned, after coming into force of the Constitution there has been no occasion so far where the President exercised the fight to address either House of Parliament or both Houses together.

The Address of the President under article 87(1) of the Constitution is made to both Houses of Parliament assembled together which otherwise means that at the time of the commencement of the first session of the year if the Lok Sabha stands dissolved then the Rajya Sabha can have its session without the President's Address. This happened in 1977 when the Rajya Sabha had its session on the 28th February, 1977 without the President's Address.

In connection with the President's Address certain ceremonies are observed and these made the President's Address a very solemn, dignified and colourful occasion. Members of both Houses of Parliament assemble together in the Central Hall of the Parliament House, at least 5 minutes before the arrival of the President. No Member may leave the Central Hall during the Address.

The President arrives in a car or a horse-driven coach and alights at Gate No. 5, Parliament House. On arrival he is introduced to the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Speaker, Lok Sabha, Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha and Secretary-General, Lok Sabha. Thereafter the President reaches the Central Hall in a procession. On his arrival the Marshal announces "Hon'ble Members of Parliament, Hon'ble the President". All members then rise in their places and continue to do so till the President reaches his seat on the dais. On the dais three chairs are kept, the Central one for the President, to his right for the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, and to his left for the Speaker, Lok Sabha. When the President reaches his seat on the dais the National Anthem is played. Thereafter, the President addresses in English or Hindi. In case the President makes his speech in Hindi the Address in English is read out by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha on behalf of the President and vice-versa. After the Address, National Anthem is played once again. Thereafter, the President leaves the Central Hall in a procession. Members rise in their places at the time of the departure of the President.

The President's Address to both Houses of Parliament assembled together is one of the most solemn and formal acts under the Constitution. The Assembly of members of two Houses to hear the President's Address is not however, treated as sitting of either House. The practice in both the Houses in this regard is that the respective Houses meet separately half-an-hour after the President's Address is over. At the sitting of the two Houses so held, a copy of the President's Address is laid on the Table by the Secretary-General of the House to bring the Address on record of the House. Immediately thereafter the copies of the Address in Hindi and English are made available to members in the Lobbies and later through the Publications Counter.

The President's Order summoning either House of Parliament does not make any mention of the Address by the President. However, the provisional Calendar of Sittings does mention about the Address. The Secretariat receives the information regarding the date, time and venue of the President's Address from the Government and the same is conveyed to the members through a Parliamentary Bulletin.

The President's Address at the commencement of the first session of the year is a regular feature. This Address is considered as a statement of policy of the Government and therefore it is the government who are responsible for the contents of the Address. The Address contains a review of various activities and achievements in different domestic and international spheres during the previous year and the policy of the Government with regard to important internal and international problems, The Address also contains the main items of Legislative business which are proposed to be brought before Parliament during that year.

The President's Address is discussed by each House of Parliament on a Motion of Thanks moved by a member and seconded by another member. Members who are to move and second the motion are selected by the Prime Minister and notice of such a motion is received through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

The Motion of Thanks is in the following form:- That an Address be presented to the President in the following terms:- "That the members of the Rajya Sabha assembled in this Session are deeply grateful to the President for the Address which he has been pleased to deliver to both Houses of Parliament assembled together on the..... (date)." The discussion on Motion of Thanks lasts for three or four days. The scope of discussion on the Address is very wide and the members are free to speak, on variety of issues ranging from national to international problems. After the Motion of Thanks is moved and seconded, a large number of amendments are moved by members of the opposition highlighting issues which do not find a mention in the President's Address. Members also give amendments criticising the policy enunciated in the Address and make suggestions for governmental action. An amendment to the Motion of Thanks is worded as follows:- That at the end of the Motion, the following be added, namely:-

"but regret that the Address does not mention about the..." etc.

 At the end of the discussion, the Prime Minister replies to the Debate. After the Prime Minister's reply, the amendments are disposed of and the Motion of Thanks is put to vote and adopted.

There have been two instances in the Rajya Sabha when the Motion of Thanks was adopted by the House with amendments.

In 1980, the Motion of Thanks was adopted in this following amended form:--

`That the Members of the Rajya Sabha assembled in this Session are deeply grateful to the President for the Address which he has been pleased to deliver to both Houses of Parliament assembled together on the 23rd January, 1980, but regret that the Address does not take notice of the disturbing attempts to engineer defections on a large scale in the Assemblies in the States under the non-Congress (I) governments and even to arbitrarily dissolve such assemblies in flagrant violation of all federal principles, nor does it give any assurance that the Government will not in any manner encourage, directly or indirectly, such attempts at subverting the Constitution and flouting democratic norms and standards.’ Again in 1989, the Motion of Thanks was adopted in the following form with six amendments having been accepted by the House:- `That the Members of the Rajya Sabha assembled in this Session are deeply grateful to the President for the Address which he has

been pleased to deliver to both Houses of Parliament assembled together on the 20th December, 1989, but regret that the Address-

does not mention about the burning Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and the measures proposed by-the Government to resolve the issue;

does not make any mention about the steps to be taken to avert destablishing State Governments;

fails to state that the Government will amend the Constitution to ensure the 'Right to Work' as a Fundamental Right;

does not mention the Indo-Sri Lanka accord and also falls to specify Government's stand on the question of life and security of the Tamils and the devolution of powers to the North-Eastern province;

fails to define Government's stand on Anandpur Saheb Resolution which compromises the unity and integrity of the country;

does not contain any mention whatsoever of the abject of the Government to the demands of the anti-national, secessionist forces in Jammu and Kashmir by releasing the terrorists in December 1989, thereby Putting the entire nation and its dignity to ignominous shame.'

 After the Motion is adopted a letter is sent by the Chairman to the President conveying to him about the adoption of the Motion by the House. In reply to that letter, the President sends a message conveying his satisfaction on the adoption of the Motion by the House. The Message received from the President is reported to the House by the Chairman.

 

CALLING ATTENTION

The Calling Attention procedure is an Indian innovation in the Parliamentary procedure and combines the asking of a question with supplementaries and short comments in which all points of view are expressed concisely and precisely, and the Government has adequate opportunity to state its case. It gives an opportunity to bring to the surface the failure or inadequate action of Government on a matter of urgent public importance.

Rule 180 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha governs the procedure regarding Calling Attention to a matter of urgent public importance Under the provision of this rule a member may with the previous permission of the Chairman, call the attention of a Minister to any matter of urgent public importance and request the Minister to make a statement on the Subject. The Minister concerned may either make a brief statement or ask for time to make a statement at a later hour or date. There can be no debate on such a statement at the time it is made nor is there any motion before the House, The Calling Attention matter is, also not subject to vote of the House. However, members are permitted to seek clarifications and at the end the Minister concerned replies to them

At the commencement of each session members are informed through a para in Bulletin about the procedure and practice regarding Calling Attention which is as under:-

(i) All Calling Attention Notices received for a day during a week in which that day falls will be kept alive during the whole of that week and placed before the Chairman for his consideration from day to day along with notices received up to 10.30 A.M. on the day on which the notices are put up to him. (ii) On the last day of the week on which the House sits, the notices received upto 10.30 A.M. on that day will he considered and all the notices which are not selected will be deemed to have lapsed and no intimation about this will be given to the members. (iii) Notices received after 10.30 A.M. on the last day of the week on which the House sits will be deemed to have been received for the day on which the next sitting of the House is to be held and these will be valid for the following week. (iv) Not more than two notices of Calling Attention may be given by a member for one sitting.

(v) A member who initiates a Calling Attention should not take more than 7 minutes and other members who are called by the Chairman should not take more than 5 minutes each and should restrict themselves strictly to seeking clarification on the Calling Attention.

(vi) Where a Calling Attention Notice stands in the name of a number of Members, in choosing members who desire to seek clarifications the first principle will be party/group. After exhausting the parties/groups, whose members have given the notice by calling one member from each party/group, the Chairman may call members belonging to parties / groups not in the list.

(vii) A member whose Calling Attention Notice has not been selected during a week may renew the same for subsequent week(s). In such a case, the date and priority of the notice will be the date and time at which the renewal notice is received in the Secretariat from the member concerned and no consideration will be given to the previously, lapsed notice of Calling Attention on the same subject.

(viii) Not more than one hour should be spent on a Calling Attention and when there is Question Hour, the Calling Attention should conclude at 1.00 P.M.

 It may be mentioned that while admitting any particular Calling Attention Notice all the notices received, in respect of that subject or a very similar subject, are also considered and the names of all those Members are appended to the item accordingly while including the same in the List of Business. Names of Members are arranged in point of time of the receipt of their notices.

SPECIAL MENTION

There is no specific provision in the Rajya Sabha Rules in regard to the 'mentioning of matters of urgent public importance' in the House by the members. At the same time members feel that such urgent matters should be brought to the notice of the House. In the past, members used to approach the Chairman before the commencement of the sitting of the House, to seek permission to raise certain matters of urgent public importance which were not included in the List of Business of that day. A new procedure in this regard was introduced from the 90th Session of the Rajya Sabha which commenced on 11.11.1974, under which members were required to give notice in writing seeking permission of the Chairman for mentioning a matter of urgent public importance in the House.

At the commencement of each session members are informed through a Parliamentary Bulletin about the procedure and practice regarding Special Mentions. The procedure is as under:-

(i) A member who desires to seek permission of the Chairman for mentioning a matter of urgent public importance in the House should give notice thereof in writing in the form available for the purpose in the Notice Office not later than 5.00 P.m. on the day preceding the day on which he proposes to mention the matter in the House. (ii) A member should not give more than two such notices for one sitting.

(iii) Notices received upto 5.00 P.m., the preceding day only will be placed before the Chairman for his consideration for the day on which the next sitting of the House is to be held. Notices received after that will be deemed to have been received for the subsequent sitting of the House.

(iv) The Chairman in his discretion may select seven such matters depending upon their urgency and importance.

(v) A member to whom permission is given by the Chairman for mentioning a particular matter in the House on that day will be informed of it in the House during the Question Hour.

(vi) Only the member to whom permission has been given may mention the matter in the House.

(vii) A member to whom permission has not been granted to mention a matter given notice of by him will not be allowed to mention it in the House. It will, however, be open to him to give fresh notice on the subject for any subsequent day for the consideration of the Chairman.

(viii) Ordinarily not more than one Special Mention may be permitted on one subject. In case notices are received from more than one member on the same subject at the same time and for the same day, the Chairman in his discretion will decide which member, is to be permitted to make the Special Mention irrespective of the order in which the notice is submitted. The others may simply mention that they also associate with it and no further speeches will be allowed.

 (ix) A member should not take more than three minutes to make Special Mention. (x) The members so permitted may mention that matter after the disposal of "Questions" and "Zero Hour Submissions", if any. A Member may make only one special Mention/Zero Hour Submission during a week.

It may be mentioned that after a 'Special Mention' is made in the House by a Member, an extract from the Rajya Sabha Debate, containing the above matter is forwarded to the Ministry concerned, on the following day. The matter is then examined in the Ministry and a suitable reply is sent by the Minister to the Member concerned, in due course.

ZERO HOUR SUBMISSIONS

Members usually give expression to their feelings on matters of urgent public importance around noon after the Question flour. This time has been termed as 'Zero Hour'. Like the Special Mention, there is no procedure prescribed in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha regulating the Zero Hour Submissions. However the following procedure has been adopted for Zero Hour Submissions with effect from the 174th Session of the Rajya Sabha:

(i) A member who desires to seek permission of the Chairman for mentioning a matter during Zero flour in the House should give notice thereof in writing either in the form available for the purpose in the Notice Office or otherwise, not later than 10.15 A.M. of the day on which he proposes to mention the matter in the House. (ii) Notices received upto 10.15 A.M. only will be considered by the Chairman.

(iii) The total number of Zero Hour Submissions to be permitted by the Chairman on a day will not normally exceed seven depending upon their urgency and importance.

(iv) Only those members who have been permitted by the Chairman will be called to make their submissions.

(v) Ordinarily not more than one Zero Hour Submission may be permitted on one subject. In case notices are received from more than one member on the same subject at the same time and for the same day, the Chairman in his discretion will decide which member is to be permitted to make the Zero flour Submission irrespective of the order in which the notice is submitted. The others may simply mention that they also associate with it and no further speeches will be allowed.

(vi) A member might raise only one matter and will not take more than three minutes for the purpose.

(vii) Zero Hour Submissions will commence immediately after the Question Hour and the Business of the formal nature if any, and will be completed by 12.30 P.M.

MOTIONS ON MATTERS OF PUBLIC INTEREST

 Every matter in the House is determined upon questions put from the Chair upon a motion made by a member and resolved in the affirmative or negative, as the case may be. The term 'motion' in its wide sense means any proposal made for the purpose of eliciting a decision of the House.

Rules 167-174 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha deal with motions on matters of public interest. Under rule 167, any member may give notice of a motion to discuss a matter of general public interest.

In order that a motion may be admissible it has to satisfy the following conditions-

(a) issue raised should be substantial and definite;

(b) there should be no arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations, or defamatory statements in it;

(c) the conduct or character of persons should not be refered to except in their public capacity, in the motion;

(d) the motion should be related to a matter of recent occurence;

(e) a question of privilege should not be involved in a motion of general public interest;

(f) there should be no revival of matter discussed in the same session i.e. a motion must not repeat an identical question decided in the same session;

(g) it should not anticipate discussion of a matter which is likely to he discussed in the same session; and

(h) a matter under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India cannot be admitted in general type of motions.

 The admissibility of a motion is decided by the Chairman, who may disallow it or a part of it on the ground of non- compliance with the rules. Admitted notices of motions are immediately notified in the Bulletin Part-II under the heading 'No-Day-Yet-Named Motion'.

A day or days or part of a day may be allotted for discussion of any such motion by the Chairman, in consultation with the Leader of the House and after taking into consideration the state of business in the House. In practice, however, it is the Business Advisory Committee of the House which recommends or selects a motion for discussion in the House.

At the appointed hour on the allotted day, or as the case may be, the last of the allotted days, the Chairman forthwith puts every question necessary to determine the decision of the House on the original question. A member who has moved a motion may withdraw the same by leave of the House. At any time after a motion has been made, a member may move that the debate on the motion be adjourned. Discretion vests with the Chairman either to put the proposition for adjournment of the debate forthwith or decline to propose the question thereon.

A time limit may, whenever necessary, be prescribed by the Chairman for such speeches.

A Government motion, if admitted, is given priority for discussion in the House if a private member's motion on the same subject is also admitted by the Chairman.

The mover of a motion has a right of reply. Amendments can also be moved to such a motion. Notice of amendment to a motion has to be given one day before the day on which the motion is to be considered. To be admissible, it must satisfy the conditions laid down in Rule 231, as under--

"231, Scope of amendments.-- (1) An amendment shall be relevant to and within the scope of, of the motion to which it is proposed. (2) An Amendment shall not be moved which has merely the effect of a negative vote.

(3) An amendment on a question shall not he inconsistent with a previous decision on the same question.

 The Chairman has power to select amendments to be proposed in respect of any motion and may refuse to put an amendment which in his opinion is frivolous.

 

RESOLUTIONS

A resolution may be in the form of a declaration of opinion by the House or in such other form as the Chairman may consider appropriate. Subject to the provisions of the rules, a member other than a Minister may move a resolution relating to a matter of general public interest, under rule 154 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha.

PRIVATE MEMBERS' RESOLUTIONS

In every session, alternate Fridays are allotted for Private Member's Resolutions and Private Members' Bills and two and a half hours are allotted on these days for the purpose. Before the commencement of a session a para is issued in Bulletin Part-II regarding the dates and time of draw of lot for all the days allotted for Private Members' Resolutions during that session. The draw of lot is held on the appointed time and date in the Secretary-General's Room (Room No. 29, Ground Floor, Parliament House) and any member may be present to witness the draw.

Members who desire to give notice of a resolution are requested to give written intimation to that effect. The names of members from whom intimations are received are drawn by lot and those securing first five places in the draw of lot for any particular day, are intimated accordingly through letters and they are requested to give a text of the resolution, The resolutions, if admitted, are put down in the List of Business.

Rule 157 of the Rajya Sabha Rules lays down the conditions about the admissibility of a resolution. They are --

(i) it shall be clearly and precisely expressed;

(ii) it shall raise substantially one definite issue;

(iii) it shall not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expression, imputations or defamatory statements;

iv) it shall not refer to the conduct or character of persons except in their official or public capacity; and

(v) it shall not relate to any matter which is under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdication in any part of India.

A member in whose name a Resolution Stands in the List of Business when called upon, moves the resolution. The mover commences his speech by a formal motion in the terms appearing in the List of Business.

No speech on resolution, may ordinarily exceed fifteen minutes in duration. However, the mover of a resolution, when moving the same and the Minister concerned when speaking for the first time, may speak for thirty minutes or for such longer time as the Chairman may permit.

After a resolution has been moved, any member may move an amendment to the resolution. Notice of amendment/ amendments should be given one clay in advance of the day on which the resolution is to be taken up. The amendments, if admissible under the rules relating to amendments, are circulated to Members.

Discussion on resolution must be strictly relevant to and within the scope of the resolution.

A member in whose name a resolution stands when called upon, may withdraw it by making a statment to that effect. But after the resolution or amendment thereto has been moved, it cannot be withdrawn except by leave of the House.

When a resolution has been moved, no resolution or amendment raising substantially the same question can be moved within one year from the date of the moving of the earlier resolution. When a resolution has been withdrawn with the leave of the House, no resolution raising substantially the same question

 can be moved during the same Session. If a resolution is adopted by the House, a copy thereof is forwarded to the Ministry concerned with the subject-matter of the resolution.

 

GOVERNMENT RESOLUTIONS

Government Resolution may be classified broadly under three categories, namely (a) Resolutions approving international treaties, conventions or agreements to which the Government is a party; (b) Resolutions declaring or approving certain policies of the Government; and (c) Resolutions approving recommendations of certain Committees.

No period of notice has been prescribed for Government resolutions but in practice Ministers give notice of their resolutions well in advance of the date on which the item is proposed to be included in the List of Business.

Some instances of Government resolutions moved and adopted in the House in the past are --

(A) "That this House approves the National Health Policy contained in the Statement laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha on the 2nd November, 1982."

(B) "That this House approves the Proclamation issued by the President on the 6th October, 1983, under article 356 of the Constitution, in relation to the State of Punjab."

 

 SHORT DURATION DISCUSSION

A Member desiring to raise discussion on a matter of urgent public importance may give notice in writing to the Secretary-General. The notice clear and precise should be accompanied by an explanatory note giving reasons for raising the discussion on the matter in question. The notice should also be supported by the signatures of at least two other members.

The Chairman may admit the notice on being satisfied about the urgency of the matter for which he call for necessary information from the member who has given notice and from the concerned Minister as he may consider necessary, and also after taking into consideration the fact that an early opportunity is not otherwise available for the discussion of the matter. The notice after admission is notified in Bulletin Part-II.

The date for discussion of such matter may be fixed, by the Chairman, in consultation with the Leader of the House and it is the Chairman who allows such time for discussion not exceeding two and a half hours, as he may consider appropriate in the circumstances.

No formal motion at the time of such discussion is made before the House, nor there is any voting. A short statement is made by the member who gives the notice. Any other member who has previously intimated to the Chairman may be permitted to take part in the discussion. Thereafter the Minister replies briefly.

A time limit may be prescribed for speeches by the Chairman if he thinks fit.

 

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

In order to keep the House informed about matter of public importance or to state the Government's policy in regard to a matter of topical interest, Minister makes statement in the House, from time to time, with the consent of the Chairman.

A Minister who desire to make a statement has to intimate in advance the date on which he proposes to make the statement. The intimation is required to be sent, as far as possible, at least one day in advance so that the item may be included in the List of Business. The Statement is made at the appropriate time i.e., after the question and other formal items of business are over. The Minister has to send an advance copy of the statement for information of the Chairman.

However, in urgent cases when a Minister proposes to make a statement ex tempere the requirement of supply of the advance copy of the statement is not insisted upon, but he has to inform the Chairman in advance of the reasons for making the statement at short notice in writing or by meeting the Chairman personally.

Rule 251 of the Rajya Sabha Rules provides that a statement may be made by a Minister on a matter of public importance with the consent of the Chairman but no question shall be asked at the time the statement is made. However, as per convention which is followed in this regard, after the Minister has made the statement, the Chairman allows some Members, who have sought his permission in this regard, to seek clarifications from the Minister. The following procedure, recommended by the Business Advisory Committee at its meeting held on 1st August, 1991, is followed regarding the clarifications to be sought by Members on statement by Ministers in the House:--

(i) Only one member from a Party/Group having a strength of 4 or more may be called to seek clarifications on a statement. However, so far as the Congress (I) Party is concerned 2-3 2-3 members from that party may be called to seek clarifications.

(ii) Members belonging to a Group whose strength is less than four may be grouped together and given chance to seek clarifications by rotation, not more than three on one statement.

(iii) Names of the members who may be called to seek clarification may be supplied to the Chair by Leaders/Whips of the Parties/ Groups.

(iv) No members should take more than three minutes to seek clarifications.