Answers to Lok Sabha questions to be put online on time

Answers to all starred and unstarred questions taken up by Lok Sabha will henceforth be uploaded online to facilitate members better discharge their duties.

All replies to starred questions will henceforth be uploaded on the website 'www.pqals.nic.in' by around 10 a.m. on the day questions related to a specific department or ministry are asked.

"It has now been desired by the Speaker, Lok Sabha that soft copies of replies to starred questions be uploaded by 10 am on the day of the questions are listed so as to facilitate the members to draft supplementaries to to starred questions," Union Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha said in a missive to all department secretaries.

"Further, it has been desired that replies to unstarred questions be uploaded immediately after the question hour (12 p.m.)," said the order that also directed all secretaries concerned to ensure "strict compliance" of the instructions from the coming Winter Session of Parliament.

A starred question is one to which a member desires an oral answer in the House. When a question is answered orally, supplementary questions can be asked thereon. A maximum of only 20 questions can be listed for oral answer on a day. However, whether a question is listed as starred depends on the luck of the draw.

An unstarred question is one which is not called for oral answer in the House. Detailed answers are given to these questions along with supporting documents and on which no supplementary questions can be asked consequently, officials said.

The directions from the Cabinet Secretary were issued after the Lok Sabha Secretariat pointed out the "delay" in uploading of replies to questions by the ministries/departments.

As per the norms, hard copies of replies to starred and unstarred questions are required to be forwarded by the ministries/departments to the Lok Sabha Secretariat by 3 p.m. on the working day preceding the date on which the question is listed for answer.

--IANS

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