Question

The Union Legislature is the controlling body of the Union Executive.
In this respect describe how it used the following procedures.
a)Question Hour
b)Adjournment Motion
c)No confidence motion

Answer 1

Hint: India has a parliamentary form of government. Here, the executive remains responsible and accountable to the legislature. India doesn’t have complete separation of powers but instead has a system of checks and balances. That is why, it is said that the union legislature controls the union executive.

Complete answer: The Indian political system has created enough measures to ensure that no one organ of the state acquires unquestionable powers. Article 75 says that the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. There are tools like the question hour, adjournment motion and no confidence motion which allow the union legislature to have surveillance and control over the union executive.
A)Question hour
The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is called the question hour. It is the time when legislatures can ask questions to ministers regarding their ministry. Questions can also be asked to private members.
The question hour not only makes the ministers answerable to the parliament but also helps them understand the needs of the masses.
There are three kind of questions which can be asked in a question hour
-Starred question: These are answered orally and supplementary questions can be asked too.
-Unstarred question: These are questions which are answered in a written format and no supplementary questions can be asked here.
-Short notice question: These are questions asked by giving a notice of less then ten days and are answered orally.
B)Adjournment motion
It is a motion which can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha to draw the attention of the House to an issue of urgent importance.
Requiring the support of at least 50 members to be introduced, this motion can raise matters which are definite, factual, urgent and of public importance.
The motion is a way of censuring the government and hence it is only allowed in the Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha.
C)No confidence motion
The government in our parliamentary system can last as long as it has the support of the majority of members in the Lok Sabha. The no confidence motion can be moved by any member of the Lok Sabha with the support of at least 50 members . If allowed by the speaker, the motion requires the government to prove its strength through a floor test which is taken to know if the executive enjoys the support and confidence of the legislature.
If the executive fails to prove its strength in the floor test, the government has to resign.
No confidence motion ensures that unpopular governments don’t continue. Through this motion the legislature also expresses its displeasure against the government policies and makes the government more responsible.

Note: Since there are many devices of parliamentary proceedings, it is easy to confuse one with another. It’d help the students if they can keep the following in mind-
1.The question hour is not to be confused with zero hour. Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure, is an informal unregulated hour and starts immediately after the question hour.
2.The adjournment motion is not to be confused with adjournment of the house which means the termination of the sitting of the House by its respective presiding officer.
3.No confidence motion is not to be confused with censure motion. The censure motion is moved for censuring the council of ministers for specific policies and if passed the ministry doesn't have to resign. Unlike the no confidence motion, the censure motion needs to state a specific reason for its adoption and can be moved against a specific minister too.