New Delhi, February 11 – These terms have specific meanings: "yield" doesn't mean profit or farm produce, "leave of the House" doesn't mean actually leaving, there's no water in the "well," "zero hour" doesn't refer to midnight or the start of an operation, and "authenticating" is not as simple as self-attesting a document.
During the current intense Budget Session of Parliament, various terms are used frequently, and not everyone speaking is necessarily the "Speaker," and speeches given in response to the Union Budget or the President's Address are not necessarily "replies."
Some MPs have agreed to "yield," while others have not. Some have asked for the "authentication" of documents, which some have agreed to and others have not. Often, opposition MPs occupy the "well," but there has been no occasion for a "division" so far.
Here's a primer on what these and other parliamentary terms mean:
Authentication:
An MP must authenticate any document by providing it in writing to the Speaker or the House. They must state that they stand by the document and verify its content. After this, the Speaker can allow or disallow it, although the government can later propose an action if the authenticated document is found to be incorrect.
Table of the House:
The "Table" is the space in the two Houses of Parliament, just in front of the Secretary-General's table.
This is where documents required to be laid on the Table are formally placed.
The Table office outside the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha chamber is also considered an authentic source of which Bill, statement or report was tabled in the House.
Well:
It is the space between the seating areas for MPs and the Speaker's or Chairman's chair.
Speaker:
The Speaker is the principal presiding officer of the Lok Sabha. He is chosen by the House from among its members by a simple majority of those present and voting. Within the House, his authority is supreme.
Leave of the House:
This is the formal approval given by the House for a member to move a motion or withdraw it. A member can only seek the leave of the House after the Speaker has permitted them to do so. The member must rise and ask for the leave. Once granted, the member cannot withdraw the motion without the House's permission.
Yield:
"Yielding" or "yielding the floor" refers to a member agreeing to stop speaking to allow another member to speak. This allows for orderly interruptions. However, the Speaker has the option not to give way or yield and continue with their speech, if the interruption is not for raising a point of order or with the permission of the Chair.
Point of Order:
Any member can bring to the Chair's attention any instance of what they consider a breach of order or a transgression of any written or unwritten rule or convention of the House. In such cases, a member is allowed to interrupt the proceedings by rising and saying, "On a point of order, Mr Chairman/Speaker" and then stating the point in question.
It is up to the presiding officer to accept or reject the said point of order.
The member raising a point of order has to specify the rule under which they seek direction from the Chair.
Reply:
Whenever a debate takes place, whether in response to the President's Address, Union Budget or a Bill, proportionate time is allocated to members from various parties. However, not all speeches made by the MPs are called "replies." Only the last speech is called a "reply," which is given by the concerned minister in case of the Budget or Bills, and by the Prime Minister in case of the President's Address or a no-confidence motion.
Zero Hour:
It is an Indian parliamentary innovation and started in its first decade when it was felt that there should be some allocated time for MPs to raise issues of public importance, related to their constituencies or to the nation, without any advance notice. Generally, it starts at 12 noon and continues until 1 pm before the House adjourns for lunch, but there have been occasions when the Zero Hour has been held at other hours, besides 12 noon.
Division:
Division is ordered by the Chair when his opinion on the question just decided by voice vote is challenged by members who demand a division.
It involves casting and counting of votes by the members present in the House. Once the division is ordered, lobbies need to be cleared by non-members and then electric bells are rung in the entire Parliament complex to alert those MPs present there, so that they can rush to the House to record their votes. Once the bells stop ringing, all entrances to the lobby are closed and there cannot be further entry or exit of members from these entrances.
