Union legislature

Lok sabha, rajya sabha, speaker

Federal set-up in india

A federal setup involves a dual government

Where we have a union government at the centre and state government at each state level, both functioning through the three wings – legislature, executive & judiciary

Federal features of the indian constitution

Dual government and the distribution of powers

Supremacy of the constitution

• The central and state government derive their authority from the constitution

Supreme court is the final interpreter and guardian of the constitution

The union parliament or

the central legislature

Parliament is the supreme legislative organ of the government.

It is a representative body whose permission is required in the process of making or changing laws.

It controls the union council of ministers and the national budget.

The Indian parliament consists of three constituents – lok sabha, rajya sabha and the president

Parliament - IT IS A FRENCH WORD THAT

MEANS SPEAKING.DURING THE

MEDIEVAL PERIOD THE Council of barons

where the king of England used to hold

meetings to consult important issues,

adopted the name of the parliament.

The lok sabha is the lower house or the house of

the people & the rajya sabha is the upper house

or the council of states.

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA

QUALIFICATION • should be a citizen of India

• should be 25 years age

•Should not be a proclaimed offender

•Should have his name in the electoral rolls in

any part of the country

•Should not hold any office of profit under

the State or Central Government

•Should not be an insolvent – he should not

be in debt

• should be 30 years of Age

•Rest as required for a Lok Sabha

member

COMPOSITION Seats allotted to the states and union

territories on the basis of the population

Maximum seats as provided by the

constitution is 552 –

•530 represent the states

•20 union territories

•2 from Anglo-Indian community nominated

by the President

Maximum strength of the Rajya

Sabha can be 250 members

•238 elected

•12 nominated by the President

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA

TERM • Five Years.

• It can be dissolved before the expiry of its

term and the term can even be extended.

• Six years.

• One-third of the members retire

every two years. It cannot be

dissolved

ELECTION Directly elected by Universal Adult Suffrage

from single member constituencies.

Indirectly elected by the elected

members of the State Legislative

Assemblies to represent the

respective States, in accordance with

the system of proportional

representation by means of a single

transferable vote for a period of six

years.

PRESIDING OFFICER Speaker and Deputy Speaker

– Elected by the members

• Vice President is the ex-officio

Chairman

• Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy

Chairman from amongst its members

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA

ADVANTAGES OR POWERS AND

FUNCTIONS EXCLUSIVE FOR EACH HOUSE •Money bills can originate only in Lok

Sabha

•Lok Sabha actually controls the

Executive. A vote of no-confidence

passed in Lok Sabha makes it obligatory

for the Government to resign

•Lok Sabha has an upper hand because of

the greater numeral strength of its

members

• Rajya Sabha alone can declare a

subject on the State List to be a

subject of national interest

• It is a permanent house and

performs functions of Lok Sabha as

well when the latter is dissolved

• people of repute in various spheres

of life – Science, Art, Literature etc

are nominated by the President only

in India

•Can decide by 2/3rd majority to set

up a new All India Service.

Parliamentary procedures

and motions

Sessions Quorum Question hour adjournment

motiion

No-confidence

motion

Parliamentary sessions

• Budget session: February to May.

• Monsoon session: July to September.

• Winter session: November to December.

Quorum

•THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS REQUIRED TO BE PRESENT FOR THE LOK SABHA TO MEET. It is decided as one-tenth of the total members including the speaker. Thus the present quorum is 55.

Question hour (interpellation)

The first hour of a sitting in both the houses is allotted for asking and answering questions

Purpose – obtain info on a matter of public importance

Questions must not exceed 150 words

Member has to give 10 clear days notice of a question

The speaker of the lok sabha

• Election – ELECTED SOON AFTER THE NEWLY ELECTED Lok Sabha meets for the

first time

– The indian constitution provides that when the house is dissloved the speaker shall not vacate his office. He remains in office till the new speaker is elected.

– Speaker is elected by lok sabha from amongst its members.

– Speaker is elected for five years.

– He/she can seek for re-election for any number of times, id he is re-elected as the member of the loksabha

The speaker of the lok sabha

• Removal

– Can resign on health grounds or other reasons by submitting a

letter of resignation

– Can be removed by the lok sabha if a majority of the members

pass a resolution to this effect. 14 days notice is provided.

– Deputy speaker shall preside over the meetings of the house.

Powers and functions/duties of the speaker • SHE PRESIDES OVER THE MEETINGS OF THE LOK SABHA

• RESOLUTIONS OR BILLS CAN BE MOVED ONLY WITH HER PERMISSION

• SHE ALLOWS TIME TO THE MEMBERS TO SPEAK IN THE HOUSE

• SHE CAN ADJOURN THE MEETINGS OF THE LOK SABHA

• CONTROLS THE VISITORS OF THE HOUSE

• CALLS FOR VOTE ON THE BILLS AS WELL AS OTHER MOTIONS

• PRESIDES OVER THE JOINT SITTING OF THE LOK SABHA AND RAJYA SABHA

• DECIDES WHETHER A PARTICULAR BILL IS MONEY BILL OR NOT

• HAS A CASTING VOTE IN CASE OF A TIE.

• CAN SUSPEND A MEMBER FROM THE HOUSE FOR MISCONDUCT

• Appoints various parliamentary committees and guides them in their work

• Safeguards the privileges of the members of the house.

• Can adjourn the house if it lacks quorum

• Has final say to decide whether a question, put by a member during the question hour is to be allowed or not

• Admits various motions – motion or adjournment, no-confidence etc if he finds them in order under the rules

Powers and functions of the parliament

• Legislative powers

• Executive powers – control over the executive

• Judicial powers

• Financial powers – control over the finance of the country

• Electoral functions

Legislative powers

• Law making body at the central level. Frames new laws and

amends them – union list and residuary subjects.

• Concurrent list – both parliament and state

• Enact laws in state list subjects – rajya SABHA passes a

esolutio , states e uest, atio al e e ge cy, p eside t’s ule

• Amend the constitution. States cannot initiate an amendment.

Executive powers

• Question hour

• Vote of no-confidence

• Other motions of census – adjournement motion, motions of

censure against a minister

• Monetary controls – cut in the annual budget (cut motion).

Appoints public accounts committee to examine the

expenditure, comptroller and auditor general of india –

financial adviser.

Judicial powers

• Impeach the president

• Removal of judges (supreme court and high court), chief

election commissioner, cag

• Condemn any person found guilty of defamation and contempt

of either house of the parliament.

Financial powers

• Annual budget – statement of sources of income and items of

expenditure for the coming year – parliament empowered to

vote a cut in the budget or reject it a s a whole

• Consolidated fund of india – no vote but can debate the

propriety of this item

• Supplementary demands – by finance minister

• Salary and allowances of the members

Electoral FUNCTIONS

• Election of president

• Vice- president of india is elected by both houses

• Lok sabha Elects the speaker and deputy speaker, rajya sabha

elects its deputy chairman (only) own members

Courtesy:Wikipedia

EXCLUSIVE POWERS OF LOK SABHA AND RAJYA

SABHA

• LOK SABHA – FINANCIAL MATTERS

• Money bill

• Decision on a bill – ordinary or money bill – decided by lok sabha speaker

• Recommendations of rajya sabha

• Vote for special grants

– Responsibility of council of ministers

• Collective responsibility of ministers

• No-confidence motion

• Adjournment motion

• Censure motion

• RAJYA SABHA

– Making laws on matters in the state list

– Creation of one or more all India services

Equal powers – lok sabha and rajya sabha

• Election and impeachment of president

• Removal of judges

• Proclamation of emergency

• Ordinances

• Constitutional amendments

Rajya Sabha is the

permanent house

QUIZ

The lok sabha

WHICH IS THE LAW MAKING BODY OF THE

GOVERNMENT?

ANSWER = THE LEGISLATURE

What is a federal government?

What does the parliament of India comprise

of ?

Answer = the Lok sabha, the Rajya Sabha &

the President.

Which is the lower & which one is the upper

chamber / house of the parliament?

The Lok sabha is the lower house or the house of

the people & the Rajya sabha is the upper house

or the council of states.

How are the Lok Sabha members elected?

By direct election on the basis of

universal adult suffrage that is by all

those who are 18 years or above and

have a vote ’s id/ HAVE THEIR NAMES ENROLLED ON THE VOTERS’ LIST .

As according to the constitution what is the

maximum strength of the Lok Sabha?

552 members

What is the present strength of the lok sabha &

how many of them are directly elected?

Ans= 545 members out of which 543 are

directly elected.

On what basis is the distribution of seats per

state done in the elective membership of the lok

sabha?

Ans= on the basis of the population of the

state

What is a constituency?

A limited geographical area allotted for the

purpose of holding elections.

What is the minimum qualifying age for a

member of lok sabha?

25 years

How long can a lok sabha member absent

himself/herself without permission?

60 days, exceeding which his /her seat will

be declared vacant.

What is the tenure of the lok sabha?

5 years, but it can be dissolved by the president

before it if a no-confidence motion is passed

against the government.

What are lok sabha meetings called as ?

Sessions. There are totally 3 sessions of

the lok sabha – the budget session [Feb

to May], the monsoon session [ Jul to

Sep] and the winter session [ NOV TO

DEC]. EACH SESSION HAS A NUMBER OF

SITTINGS

WHAT PRIVILEGES DO THE MEMBERS OF

PARLIAMENT RECEIVE?

OFFICE EXPENSE ALLLOWANCES, TRAVELLING

ALLOWANCES, ACCOMODATION, TELEPHONE

FACILITIES AND MEDICAL FACILITIES BESIDES

THEIR SALARY.

WHAT SHOULD BE THE TIME INTERVAL

BETWEEN TWO LOK SABHA SESSIONS?

NOT MORE THAN SIX MONTHS.

WHAT IS THE QUORUM OF THE LOK SABHA?

THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS REQUIRED

TO BE PRESENT FOR THE LOK SABHA TO

MEET. It is decided as one-tenth of the

total members including the speaker.

Thus the present quorum is 55.

How many members can the president

nominate in the lok sabha?

2 members from the anglo-indian

community.

What is the first hour of every lok sabha

sitting called as ?

The question hour

What are the types of questions asked in the

question hour?

Starred, unstarred and short notice

questions.

What are starred questions?

Questions requiring an oral answer in the house.

There can be totally 20 starred questions listed

for one day.

What are unstarred questions?

Questions requiring a printed answer. IN A Day

there can be 230 unstarred questions.

Which type of questions can have

supplementary questions also asked?

Only the starred questions can be followed by

supplementary questions and the unstarred

cannot.

What is the notice period for asking

questions in the lok sabha?

For starred & unstarred questions the

period of notice is from 10 to 21 days.

Short notice questions can be asked

with a notice period of less than 10 days.

What is the zero hour in the lok sabha?

The time that immediately follows the

question hour. It starts around 12 noon.

Matters can be raised during this hour

after prior permission of the speaker,

with a given notice before 10 am on that

day.

Who is the presiding officer of the lok sabha

& what is his/her tenure of office?

Speaker = tenure 5 years. Can be re-elected. Can

continue with office even after a lok sabha is

dissolved.