Haryana govt issues SOP to prepare answers to questions asked in Assembly

The Haryana Government has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) aimed at ensuring uniformity in the process of preparing answers to questions raised in the Assembly by members.

A letter written by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal to all administrative secretaries stated that since ministers usually respond in Hindi, answers should primarily be drafted in Hindi and then translated into English.

Furthermore, the SOP emphasizes the need for precise and concise responses. Answers to questions should generally not exceed 50 words. If the reply exceeds this limit, it should be presented in the form of a statement to be laid on the Table of the House. Additionally, answers should avoid containing tabular figures, columns, rows, or graphs/ bar diagrams unless attached to a statement laid on the Table of the House. This approach is logical as the contents of tables may not be easily interpreted by the concerned minister while replying to the question in the Assembly.

According to the SOP, the notepad should be divided into four parts. The first part should include the content of the answers in Hindi and the second part in English. The third part should contain background notes, and the fourth part should include possible supplementary questions and their drafts.

The SOP further specifies that many questions are in two parts, where the first part (Part-A) pertains to whether a particular work or project has been decided by the Government. Subsequently, Part-B asks for details if the answer to Part-A is affirmative. In cases where the answer is negative, the response can be formulated by combining Parts A and B and simply stating 'No Sir.' Often, answers are provided with 'No, Sir' in Part-A and 'Question does not arise' in Part-B, which may come across as rude and are disliked by members. In such cases, combining Parts A and B and stating 'No, Sir' is suggested for a more respectful response.