What MPs really mean by ‘yield’, ‘authentication’ and ‘zero hour’ in Parliament

New Delhi: "Yield" does not mean profit or a farm produce here, "leave of the House" is not actually leaving it, there is no water in its "well", "zero hour" does not refer to the midnight or start of an operation, and "authenticating" is not as simple as self-attesting a document.

Jargons are flowing thick and fast during the ongoing fiery Budget Session of Parliament, where everyone speaking is not a "Speaker" and speeches given in response to the Union Budget, or the President's Address before that, is not a "reply".

Some MPs have agreed to "yield", some did not. Some have asked for the "authentication" of documents being quoted, to which some agreed and some did not. Quite often, opposition MPs thronged the "well", but there has been no occasion for a "division" so far.

Here is a primer on what these and a few more parliamentary jargons mean: Authentication: An MP is required to authenticate any document being quoted by giving it in writing to the Speaker or Table of the House. He or she needs to mention that they stand by what is being quoted and they verify the content of the document being quoted. Thereafter, the Speaker can allow or disallow it, though the government can later propose an action if the "authenticated" document is not found to be correct.

Table of the House: In the pit of the two Houses of Parliament, just in front of the table of the Secretary-General, lies the Table of the House.

This is where the papers required to be laid on the Table of the House are formally placed.

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 high chair of the Speaker in case of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman in the Rajya Sabha.

Speaker: 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 members present and voting. Within the walls of the House, his authority is supreme.

Leave of the House: It is the formal approval given by the House to a member to move a motion or withdraw the same. A member can seek the leave of the House only after he or she has been permitted to do so by the Speaker. The member is required to rise in his or her place and ask for the leave. After the leave is granted, the member cannot withdraw the motion without the permission of the House.

Yield: "Yielding" or "yielding the floor" refers to a member agreeing to stop speaking to allow another member to speak. It is meant to allow interruptions in an orderly manner. However, the speaker has an option not to give way or yield and go on with his or her 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 notice any instance of what he or she considers 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 proceedings of the House by rising and saying, "On a point of order, Mr Chairman/Speaker" and then state 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 he or she seeks direction of 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, the speeches made by all the MPs are not called "replies". It is only the last speech that 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 till 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. PTI BJ RUK RUK