General Awareness The Union Legislature

Parliament

- The Constitution of India provides a Parliamentary form of government, both at the centre and in the states.
- The Parliament of India consists of the President, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
- Although President is not a member of either of the House, he is an integral part of it.
- Out of the seven UTs, only two (Delhi and Puducherry) have representation in the Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha

- The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He presides over the meetings of Rajya Sabha in the capacity of Chairman.
- Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and not subject to dissolution. Its maximum strength is 250 out of which twelve members are nominated by the President having special knowledge or practical experience in tho fields of Science, Literature, Art. and Social Service and the rest are elected.
- The total membership of the present Rajya Sabha is 245 however, one-third members retire every second year.
- Their seats are filled up by fresh elections and presidential nomination at the beginning of every third year.
- There are no seats reserved for SC's and ST's in Rajya Sabha.
- Constitution has not fixed tho term of office of members of the Rajya Sabha and left it to the Parliament.
- All the States do not send equal number of members to the Rajya Sabha. Their representative number is decided on the basis of population of the respective State. Therefore, the bigger State gets higher representation and the smaller ones have lesser representation.
- Every member of Rajya Sabha has a tenure of six years.
- The members of Rajya Sabha are entitled to re-election. But, a member elected for a mid-term vacancy will serve the remaining period only.

Lok Sabha

- Unlike Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha is not a permanent body and is subject to dissolution.
- It is elected directly by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.
- The maximum membership of Lok Sabha is 552, which is made up by election of up to 530 members to represent the states; up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President of India, if, in his/her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House.
- Certain number of seats have also been reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha which implies that only persons belonging to SC/ST can contest from the reserved constituencies.
- The representation to the Lok Sabha is based on population. Therefore Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members whereas smaller States like Mizoram, Nagaland send just one representative each to the Lok Sabha.
- The normal term of Lok Sabha is five years. But the President, can dissolve it before the expiry of five years term on the advice of Council of Ministers. Also, in the case of national emergency, the term of Lok Sabha can be extended for one year at a time. But this should not exceed six months after the emergency is over.
- The presiding officer of Lok Sabha is known as the Speaker. The conduct of business in Lok Sabha is the responsibility of the Speaker.
- The members of the House elect him/her after the new Lok Sabha forms. In the absence of the Speaker, a Deputy Speaker, who is also elected by the House presides over the meetings.
- Both the Speaker as well as the Deputy Speaker can be removed from office by a resolution of Lok Sabha passed by a majority of the members of the House.

Allocation of Seats in Parliament

The number of seats allotted to various states and union territories in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha is given in the table on the right.

Dissolution of Lok Sabha

- Dissolution of the House means the end of the life of the Lok Sabha either by an order made by the President under article 85 (2) (b) of the Constitution or on the expiration of the period of five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
- The Lok Sabha can be dissolved by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
- The bills pending in Rajya Sabha but not passed by Lok Sabha do not lapse unless the president calls a joint session of both the House.

Powers and Functions of the Speaker

- The Speaker of the Lok Sabha conducts the business in the House.
- He/She decides whether a bill is a Money Bill.
- He/she maintains discipline and decorum in the House and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them.
- He/She permits the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions like the motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice as per the rules.
- The Speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting.
- The date of election of Speaker is flexed by the President.

Speakers of Lok Sabha

The complete list Speakers of Loksabha till date is given on the right.

Protem Speakers of Lok Sabha

- Operative person on the chair of the speaker of the Lok Sabha on state Legislative Assemblies, temporarily holding the post is called the Protem speaker.
- He has to work for a limited Period, till the new speaker and deputy speakers are elected after the election.
- When Newly elected house is yet to elect its speaker, so to run activities of the House till the speaker is elected, the House chooses one of them with an agreement to work as a Protem speaker. Even in the other situations, when the posts of the speaker and deputy speaker lie vacant due to death resignation, etc.
- The powers regarding the Protem speakers are not clarified but this is very clear that Protem speaker does not have as much power as the permanent speaker has. He cannot or at least does not exercise the serious powers of the speaker like defection etc. But in regular routine work, he enjoys the same position power and privilege and immunities as that of a regular speaker.

Members of Parliament

As per article 84 of the constitution, a person is qualified to be a member of parliament provided he:
- Must be a citizen of India.
- Must not be less than 30 years of age in the case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years of age in the case of the Lok Sabha.
- Must possess other qualification as prescribed by Parliament.

Disqualification

The constitution of India has provided (in article 102) that a member of parliament will be disqualified for membership if:
- He holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a minister or any other office exempted by Parliament).
- He is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court.
- He is an undischarged insolvent.
- He has ceased to be a citizen of India.
- He is disqualified under any other law by parliament

The last condition above led the parliament to include some other conditions for disqualification in Representation of People Act (1951). These are as follows:
- He must not have been found guilty of certain election offences and corrupt practices.
- He must not have been convicted for any offensc that results in imprisonment for two or more years. However, detention under preventive detention law is not disqualification.
- He must not have failed to lodge an account of election expenses within stipulated time.
- He must not have any interest in government contracts, works and services.
- He must not be a director or managing personnel in a company/organization in which government has at least 25% share.
- He must not have been dismissed from government service due to corruption or disloyalty to state.
- He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between groups.
- He must not have been punished for supporting social crimes such as untouchability, sati, dowry etc.

Oaths and Salaries

Rights, etc. of a member before making oath/affirmation:

- A member elected or nominated to the Rajya Sabha is entitled to make and subscribe the prescribed oath or affirmation and take his seat in the House only upon the commencement of his term of office under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- He is not entitled to sit, participate and vote in the House qua member until he has taken the oath or made the affirmation. However after the commencement of his term of office and even if he has not made and subscribed oath or affirmation, such a member is entitled to receive a salary as a member.
- He can be nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairmen though he can function as such only after he makes and subscribes oath or
affirmation and takes his seat.
- The first act of a member after his election or nomination to the House is to make and subscribe oath or affirmation.
- Oath is administered by the President or some other person appointed by him for this purpose. Salaries and allowances are determined by Parliament.

Salary of Member of Parliament of India: 52,000 + Other allowances fixed for Member of Parliament

Deputy Speakers

- Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the vice-presiding officer of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India.
- He/she acts as the presiding officer in case of leave or absence caused by death or illness of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
- It is by convention that position of Deputy Speaker is offered to opposition party in India.
- The Deputy Speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Lok Sabha after the General elections for a term of 5 years from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha.
- He/she holds office till either he/she ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha or he/she resigns himself/herself.
- He/she can be removed from office by a resolution passed in the Lok Sabha by a majority of its members.
- He/she is supposed to resign from his/her original party because as a Deputy Speaker, he/she has to remain impartial.

Joint Session

- Joint session is presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
- The deadlock over a bill is resolved by a majority of the total numbers of the members both the Houses present and voting.
- Joint sessions take place on the order of the President if,
(a) a bill passed by one House and rejected by another.
(b) the amendments made by the other House are not acceptable to the House, where the bill originated.

Difference of Powers

- A Money Bill can he introduced only in the Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the President and not in the Rajya Sabha.
- The final power to decide whether a particular bill is a Money Bill or not, is vested to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
- The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses.
- The President is authorized to dissolve Lok Sabha at any time even before the completion of years and this cannot be challenged in the Court of Law.
- Lok Sabha can be extended during the National Emergency by a law of Parliament for one year at a time for any length of time. But this extension cannot go beyond a period of six months after the emergency has ceased to operate.

Dissolution of Rajya Sabha

- The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous sessions, and unlike the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, is not subject to dissolution.
- However, the Rajya Sabha, like the Lok Sabha can be prorogued by the President.

Powers and Functions of the Speaker

- The Speaker of the Lok Sabha conducts the business in the House.
- He/She decides whether a bi.ll is a Money Bill.
- He/she maintains discipline and decorum in the House and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them.
- He/She permits the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions like the motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice as per the rules.
- The Speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting.
- The date of election of Speaker is fixed by the President.

Consolidated Fund of lndia

Under Article 266, it is a fund to which all receipts a
(a) all revenues received by the Government of India.
(b) all loans raised by the government by the issue of treasury bills, loans or ways and means of advances.
(c) all money received by the government in repayment of loans from the Consolidated Fund of India.
- All government expenditure is made from this fund, except exceptional items which are met from the Contingency Fund or the Public Account. Importantly, no money can be withdrawn from this fund without the Parliament's approval.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audits these funds and reports to the relevant legislatures on their management.

Committee System

- Committees have been created so that Members of Parliament can discuss and debate on the working of a certain department of the government.
- Most of the committee's functions under the direction of the Speaker and are essentially committees of the Lok Sabha.
- Committees are classified under two heads Standing Committee and Adhoc Committees.
- Adhoc Committees are created for a temporary period.
- The Financial Committees of Parliament are Estimates Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public Undertaking and 24 Departmental Related Committees.
- The Public Accounts Committee was set-up first in 1921, under the provisions of the Government of India. Act of 1919. At present, it consists of 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha). Since, 1967, a convention has developed whereby the Chairman of the Committee is selected invariably from the opposition.
- The first Estimates Committee was set-up in 1950. It has thirty members, all from the Lok Sabha only.
- The Committees on Public Undertakings was created in 1964 on the recommendations of the Krishna Menon Committee. It has 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha).
- In 1993, 17 Departmental Related Standing Committees were set-up. In 2004, 7 more committees were set-up. Thus, total 24 committees were set-up.
- Members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with all the committees except the Estimates Committee.
- In case, Speaker is a member of a committee, he becomes ex-office Chairman of the committee.

 
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