India has a
parliamentary form of government in which the Prime Minister and his Council of
Ministers are collectively responsible to the lower House of the Parliament
i.e. Lok Sabha. In a parliamentary form of government the Parliament is the
most important organ. It is the people who elect their representatives to be
members of the Parliament and these representatives legislate and control the
executive on behalf of the people. The Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers
remain at the helm of affairs so long as they enjoy the confidence of Lok
Sabha. The Parliament (Lok Sabha) may dislodge them from power by expressing a
no confidence against the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers. Thus the
Parliament occupies a central position in our parliamentary system.
Objectives
Expected
Questions:
l describe the
composition of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha;
l
explain the functions of Indian Parliament;
l
describe the procedure of lawmaking in the Indian Parliament, and
l
compare the functions and powers of both the Houses and show that
Lok Sabha is
more
powerful.
Composition
of the Parliament
The Parliament
has two Houses–Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha is upper House and
represents the States of India while the Lok Sabha is lower House. It is also called
popular House because it represents the people of India. The President is an
integral part of the Parliament though he is not a member of the either House.
As an integral part of the Parliament, the President has been assigned certain
powers and functions, which you have read in the last lesson. In this lesson
you will study about the two Houses in details.
Rajya
Sabha: Membership and Election
Rajya Sabha or
the Upper House of the Parliament is a permanent body as it cannot be dissolved.
The membership of the Rajya Sabha cannot exceed 250. Out of these, the President
nominates 12 members on the basis of their excellence in literature, science,
art and social service and the rest are elected. At present its total
membership is 245. Rajya Sabha is the body representing States in Indian Union.
The elected members of the States’ Legislative Assemblies elect the members of
the Rajya Sabha on the basis of proportional representation through the single
transferable vote system. But all the States do not send equal number of
members to the Rajya Sabha. Their representation is decided on the basis of
population of respective States. Thus the bigger State gets bigger representation
and the smaller ones have lesser representation. While the big State like UP
has been assigned 31 seats, the smaller states like Sikkim and Tripura send
only one member each. Delhi Assembly elects three members of Rajya Sabha and
Pondichery sends one member. Other Union Territories are not represented in the
Rajya Sabha.
Qualifications
The
qualifications for becoming a Rajya Sabha member are as follows:
1. He/she
should be a citizen of India and at least 30 years of age.
2. He/she
should make an oath or affirmation stating that he will bear true faith and
allegiance to
the Constitution of India.
3. Thus
according to the Representation of People Act 1951, he/she should be registered
as a voter in the State from which he is seeking election to the Rajya Sabha.
But in 2003, two provisions have been made regarding the elections to Rajya
Sabha- (i) Any Indian citizen can contest the Rajya Sabha elections
irrespective of the State in which he resides; (ii) elections are to be
conducted through open voting system.
Tenure
Every member
of Rajya Sabha enjoys a safe tenure of six years. One-third of its members retire
after every two years. They are entitled to contest again for the membership.
But a member elected against a mid-term vacancy serves the remaining period
only. This system of election ensures continuity in the working of Rajya Sabha.
Officials
of Rajya Sabha
The
Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He/she
presides over the meetings of Rajya Sabha. In his absence the Deputy Chairman,
who is elected by its members from amongst themselves, presides over the
meeting of the House. The Deputy Chairman can be removed by a majority of all
the then members of Rajya Sabha. But the Chairman (Vice-President) can only be removed
from his office by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of
Rajya Sabha and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. As the Vice-President is an
ex-officio Chairman and not a member of Rajya Sabha, he/ she is normally not
entitled to vote. He/she can vote only in case of a tie. Tie means a
situation in which there are equal vote cast in favour and against a bill or
resolution. In such a situation the presiding officer may exercise a casting
vote in favour/against to break the tie.
Qq
1. What can be
the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha?
2. How many
members the President nominates in Rajya Sabha?
3. Who can
vote to elect the members of Rajya Sabha?
4. What is the
tenure of a member of Rajya Sabha?
5. What is the
minimum age for becoming a member of Rajya Sabha?
6. Who is the
ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha?
Membership and Election of the Lok Sabha
Unlike Rajya
Sabha, Lok Sabha is not a permanent body. It is elected directly by the people
on the basis of universal adult franchise. It is also called the popular House
or lower House. The maximum permissible membership of Lok Sabha is 550 out of
which 530 are directly elected from the States while 20 members are elected
from the Union Territories. Besides, the President may nominate two members
from the Anglo-Indian community if he/she feels that the said community is not
adequately represented in the House.
Certain number
of seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok
Sabha. Initially this provision was made for ten years from the commencement of
the Constitution, which has been extended time and again for further ten years
by various constitutional amendments. The 79th Amendment has extended it for
sixty years from the commencement of the Constitution. Reservation of seats for
the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes means the persons belonging to SC/ST
will represent such reserved seats. That implies that only persons belonging to
SC/ST can contest from the reserved constituencies. But we have joint
electorate and all the voters of the reserved constituency vote irrespective of their caste/tribe. There
is no separation of voters in terms of caste or tribe. The representation to
the Lok Sabha is based on population. Therefore UP which is the most heavily
populated State in India sends as many as 80 members while smaller States like
Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim send just one representative each to the Lok
Sabha. Seven members represent Delhi. For the purpose of elections to the Lok
Sabha, the States are divided into single member constituencies on the basis of
population.
Qualifications
All the
citizens of 18 years of age and above are entitled to vote in the elections to
Lok Sabha subject to the laws made by the Parliament. Any Indian citizen can
become a member of Lok Sabha provided he/she fulfils the following
qualifications:
1. He/she
should be not less than 25 years of age.
2. He/she
should declare through an oath or affirmation that he has true faith and
allegiance in
the Constitution and that he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India.
3. He/she must
possess such other qualifications as may be laid down by the Parliament
by law. He
must be registered as a voter in any constituency in India.
4. Person contesting
from the reserved seat should belong to the Scheduled Caste or
Scheduled
Tribe as the case may be.
Tenure
The normal
term of Lok Sabha is five years. But the President, on the advice of Council of
Ministers, may dissolve it before the expiry of five years. In the case of
national emergency, its term can be extended for one year at a time. But it
will not exceed six months after the emergency is over. On several occasions
Lok Sabha was dissolved prior to the end of its term. For example the 12th
Lok
Sabha elected in 1998 was dissolved in 1999.
Officials
of the Lok Sabha
The Speaker and
the Deputy Speaker: The presiding officer of Lok Sabha is known as Speaker. The
members of the House elect him. He/she remains the Speaker even after Lok Sabha
is dissolved till the next House elects a new Speaker in his place. In she absence,
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 all the then members of the
House. Some of the powers and functions of the speaker are given below :
1. The basic
function of the Speaker is to preside over the house and conduct the meetings of
the House in orderly manner. No member can speak in the House without she permission.
He/she may ask a member to finish his speech and in case the member does not
obey he/she may order that the speech should not be recorded.
2. All the
Bills, reports, motions and resolutions are introduced with Speaker’s
permission. He/she puts the motion or bill to vote. He/she does not participate
in the voting but when there is a tie i.e. equal number of votes on both sides,
he/she can use his casting vote. But
he/she is expected to caste her vote in a manner so that her impartiality and independence
is retained.
3. His/her
decisions in all parliamentary matters are final. She also rules on points of order
raised by the members and her decision is final.
4. He/she is
the custodian of rights and privileges of the members.
5. He/she
disqualifies a member of his/her membership in case of defection. He/she
also accepts
the resignation of members and decides about the genuineness of the
resignation.
6. In case of
joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Speaker presides over the
meeting.
Questions
1. What is the
maximum permissible membership of Lok Sabha?
2. Which State
sends the maximum number of members to Lok Sabha?
3. How many
Anglo-Indian members may be nominated by the President in Lok Sabha?
4. For which
section of the society seats are reserved in the Lok Sabha?
5. Who can
vote in Lok Sabha elections?
6. Who can
dissolve the Lok Sabha?
7. Who elects
the Speaker of Lok Sabha?
Functions of Parliament
The functions
and powers of the Indian Parliament can be divided into legislative, executive,
financial and
other catagories.
Basically the
Parliament is a law-making body. In an earlier lesson you have seen that there
is a division of power between the Centre (Union) and the States. There are
three lists – Union List, State List and the Concurrent List. Only Parliament
can make laws on the subjects mentioned in the Union List. You know that the
Union List has 97 subjects. Along with the State Legislatures, the Parliament
is empowered to make laws on the Concurrent List. In case, both the Centre as
well as the States make a law on the subject mentioned in the Concurrent List
then the central law prevails upon the state law if there is a clash between
the two. Any subject not mentioned in any list i.e. residuary powers are vested
with the Parliament.
Thus the law
making power of the Parliament is very wide. It covers the Union List and Concurrent
List and in certain circumstances even the State List also.
In a
parliamentary system of government there is a close relationship between the
legislature and the executive. And the executive is responsible to the
legislature for all its acts. The Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers
are responsible to the Parliament individually as well as collectively. The
Parliament can dislodge a ministry by passing a vote of noconfidence or by
refusing to endorse a confidence motion. In India this has happened several
times. This happened in 1999 when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government lost the confidence
motion in the Lok Sabha by just one vote and resigned.
But the
no-confidence motion or the confidence motions are the extreme ways of
maintaining the accountability of the Parliament over the executive. They are
employed in exceptional cases. Parliament also maintains its control over
executive in a routine manner through several ways. Some of them are as
follows:-
a. The members
of Parliament can ask questions and supplementary questions regarding any
matters connected with the affairs of the Central Government. The first hour of
every working day of Parliament relates to the Question Hour in which the
Ministers have to answer the questions raised by the members.
b. If the
members are not satisfied with the Government’s answer then they may demand separate
discussion on the subject.
c. The
Parliament also exercises control over the executive through several motions. For
example calling attention notice or adjournment motion are such ways by which some
recent matters of urgent public importance are raised. The government always takes
these motions very seriously because the government’s policies are criticized severely
and their likely impact on the electorate whom the government would have to
face ultimately. If the motion is passed then it means that the government is
censured.
Censure Motion: This motion
implies severe indictment of the government; but it does not require
resignation of the Council of Members.
d. The Lok
Sabha can express its lack of confidence in the executive by disapproving
budget or
money bill or even an ordinary bill.
The
Financial Functions
The Parliament
performs important financial functions. It is the custodian of the public money.
It controls the entire purse of the Central Government. No money can be spent without
its approval. This approval may be taken before the actual spending or in rare cases
after the spending. The budget is approved by the Parliament every year.
The
Electoral Functions
The elected
member of Parliament one members of the Electoral College for Presidential election.
As such, they participate in the election of the President of India. They elect
the Vice-President. The Lok Sabha elects its Speaker and Deputy Speaker and the
Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy Chairman.
Power
of Removal
Certain high functionaries
may be removed from office on the initiative of the Parliament. The President
of India may be removed through the process of impeachment . The judges of
Supreme Court and of High Courts can be removed by an order of the President,
which may be issued only if a resolution of their removal is passed by both
Houses of Parliament by special majority .
Functions
Regarding the Amendment of the Constitution Structure
of Government
Most of the
parts of the Constitution can be amended by the Parliament by special majority.
But certain provisions only be amended by the Parliament with the approval of
States. However India being a federal State, the amending power of the
Parliament is highly limited. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Parliament
cannot change the basic structure of the Constitution. You have already read
about the amending procedure in another lesson.
Miscellaneous
Functions
Besides the
above-mentioned functions, the Parliaments also performs a variety of other functions.
Some of them are as follows: -
a. While it is
the power of the President to declare Emergency, the Parliament approves all
such Proclamations of Emergency. Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have to approve
the Proclamation.
b. Parliament
may form a new State by separating the territory from any State or by uniting
two or more States. It may also change the boundaries and the name of any State.
In the recent years (2000), new states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand
were created. c. Parliament may admit or establish new States in the Indian
Union (Sikkim in 1975). d. The Parliament can abolish or create Legislative
Councils in the States. This is done only on the request of concerned States
Assemblies.
Thus the
Indian Parliament, though limited by the federal nature of the political
system, has wide functions to perform. In performing its functions, it has to
mirror the aspirations and needs of the people of India. It also has to
function as an agency for resolving socioeconomic or political conflicts in the
country. It also helps in building consensus on specific issues, which are
crucial to the nation like foreign policy formulation.
Questions
1. What is the
name of the list on which only the Parliament can make laws?
2. Who makes
laws on the subjects mentioned in the State List?
3. How many
States can request the Parliament to make law on some subject mentioned
in the State
list?
4. Who Can
admit a new State in the Indian Union?
Law-making Procedure in the Parliament
As pointed out
earlier basically the Parliament is a law making body. Any proposed law is introduced
in the Parliament as a bill. After being passed by the Parliament and getting
the President’s assent it becomes a law. Now you will study how the law is made
by the Parliament. There are two kinds of bills, which come up before the
Parliament:-(i) ordinary bill and (ii) money bill. Here we shall discuss the
legislative procedure in each of these kinds of bills.
Ordinary
Bills
Every member
of the Parliament has a right to introduce an ordinary bill and from this point
of view, we have two types of bills – government bills and private member’s
bills. A Minister moves a government bill and any bill not moved by a Minister
is a Private Member’s Bill, which means that the bill has been moved by a
member of parliament but not a minister in the Government. The Government bills
consume most of the time of the Parliament. The Bills pass through several
stages. : -
(A) With the
introduction of the bill, the First Reading of the bill starts. This stage is simple.
The Minister wanting to introduce a bill, informs the presiding officer. He/she
puts the question of introduction to the House. When approved, normally by
voicevote, the Minister is called upon to introduce the bill.
(B) Second
Reading: -This stage is the most vital stage. After general discussion the House
has four options: - (i) it may straightaway take the bill into detailed
(clauseby- clause) consideration or (ii) refer it to a select committee of the
House or, (iii) refers it to the Joint Committee of both the Houses or (iv)
circulate it among the people to elicit public opinion. If the bill is referred
to a select committee of the House or the joint select committee of both the
Houses, the concerned committee examines the bill very minutely. Each and every
clause is examined. The committee
may also take
the opinion of professionals and legal experts. After due deliberations, the
committee submits its report to the House.
(C) Third
Reading:- After the completion of the second reading, the Minister may move that
the bill be passed. At this stage normally no discussion takes place. The
members may oppose or support the adoption of the bill, by a simple majority of
members present and voting.
2. Bill in the
other House: -After the bill has been passed by one House, it goes to the other
House. Here also the same procedure of three readings is followed. The following
consequences may follow: -
(A) It may
pass it; then the bill is sent to the President for his assent.
(B) It may
pass the bill with amendments. The bill will be sent back to the first House.
In such a case, the first House will consider the amendments and if it accepts
the amendments then the bill will be sent to President for his assent. In case
the first House refuses to accept the amendments, then it means there is a
deadlock.
(C) It may
reject it. It means there is a deadlock. In order to remove the deadlock between
the two Houses, the President may call for a joint sitting of the two Houses.
Such joint
sittings are very rare in India and till now only three times such meetings have
taken place. They were convened on the occasion of passage of Dowry Prohibition
Bill 1959, Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1978, and Prevention of
Terrorism Bill, 2002.
(D)
President’s assent to the Bill:- After being passed by both the Houses or the
Joint Sitting of both Houses, the bill is referred to the President for his
assent. The President also has some options in this regard: - (i) He may give
his assent and with his assent, the bill becomes a law. (ii) He may withhold
his assent, but may suggest some changes. In such a case the bill is sent back
to the House from where it had originated. But if both the Houses pass the bill
again with or without accepting the recommendations of the President, the
President has no option but to give his assent. (iii) In 1986, the President
Giani Zail Singh invented a new option. He neither gave his assent nor he returned
it to the Parliament for reconsideration of the Postal Bill. He sought some clarifications,
which were never provided. The bill thus, lapsed.
Money Bills
The money
bills are such bills which deal with money matters like imposition of taxes, governmental
expenditure and borrowings etc. In case there is a dispute as to weather a bill
is a money bill or not, the Speaker’s decision is final. The money bill has to
undergo three readings like an ordinary bill but few considerations are also
added here. They are (I) Money bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha and not
in Rajya Sabha and that too with the prior approval of and on behalf of the
President. (ii) After being passed by the Lok Sabha, the bill goes to the Rajya
Sabha. Rajya Sabha has 14 days at its disposal for consideration and report.
(iii) The Rajya Sabha cannot reject the money bill. It may either accept it or
make recommendations. (iv) In case Rajya Sabha chooses to make recommendations,
the bill will return to Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha may accept these recommendations
or reject them. In any case the bill will not go back to Rajya Sabha. Instead
it will be sent directly to the President for his assent. (v) If the Rajya
Sabha does not return the bill within 14 days, it will be deemed to have been
passed by both the Houses of the Parliament and sent to the President for his
assent.
The bill that
deals with the money matters i.e. imposition, abolition, alteration of any tax
or the regulation of the borrowing of money or giving of any guarantee by the Government
of India or amendment of law with respect to any financial obligation undertaken
by the Government of India or related to Consolidated Fund or Contingency Fund
of India, is called a Money Bill.
The
Budget
The Budget is
an annual financial statement showing expected revenue and expenditure of
public money. It is not a bill. Every year the budget is presented by the
Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha. The budget – making is a big exercise. The
Finance Ministry prepares the budget but it involves the entire government. The
budget in India is presented in two parts- Railway Budget and the General
Budget.
(i)
Presentation of the Budget: - The railway budget is generally presented by the
Railway minister in the third week of February, while the general budget is
presented normally on the last working day of February. The general budget is
presented along with the speech of the Finance Minister. The budget remains a
closely guarded secret till its presentation. After the speech, the Finance
Minister introduces the Finance Bill, which contains the taxation proposals of
the government. The House rises thereafter and there is no discussion on the
day of the presentation of the Budget.
A new system
of departmental
select committees has been introduced in India since 1993-94. The Lok Sabha sets up
committees for all major Ministries and Departments of Union Government. The
select committees consider demand for grants in details and submit their
recommendations to the Lok Sabha. After general discussion on the budget, the
Houses are adjourned for about three weeks. During this period select
committees of Departments of Ministry scrutinise budget demands and may make
recommendations. This saves
time of the full House. The full Lok Sabha now does not discuss demands for grants,
one by one, in details.
Quorum means
the minimum number of members required to be present to enable the House to
meet. This is one-tenth of the total membership of the House. This means the meeting
of the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha can take place only if one tenth of the total membership
of the House is present.
Questions
1. What is a
Government Bill?
2. What is a
Private Member’s Bill?
3. When are
the Private Member’s Bills discussed?
4. Which bill
cannot be introduced in Rajya Sabha?
5. When is the
joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament held?
6. What
constitutes quorum in either House of Parliament?
Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha – A Comparative
Study
You have seen
earlier that the two Houses of Parliament differ in their composition. From the
federal point of view the Rajya Sabha represents the States in the Indian Union
while the Lok Sabha is the representative of the Indian people. This is also
the reason why the method of election differs. The members of Legislative
Assemblies of the States elect the members of Rajya Sabha while the people
directly participate in the elections to the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha is a
permanent House while the Lok Sabha is constituted for a specified term of five
years. From the constitutional point of view, the relationship between the two Houses
can best be studied from three angles which are as follows: -
1. There are
certain powers and functions in which Lok Sabha is superior to the Rajya Sabha.
Introduction and adoption of money bills and removal of a cabinet by passing no
confidence motion are two examples relevant here.
2. In certain
areas Rajya Sabha has been vested with exclusive powers. It does not share
these powers with the Lok Sabha. For example, it can declare a subject in state
as a matter of national importance and facilitate a central legislation.
3. In several
areas, both the Houses enjoy equal powers. The examples are adoption of bills
other than money bills, approval of proclamation of emergency, moving of adjournment
and other types of motions.
Members of
both houses of Parliament get Rs. 2 Crore per annum from the Members of Parliament
Local Development Fund. This fund is not directly allotted to the MP but to the
respective district headquarters and the MP can use it for development projects
in his area.
What
You Have Learnt
1. Describe
the composition of Rajya Sabha and method of election of its members?
2. Describe
powers of the Speaker of Lok Sabha?
3. Discuss the
functions of Parliament?
4. Describe
the law-making procedure in India?
5. Analyse the
relationship between the two Houses of the Parliament?
6. Write short
notes on the following: -
a.
Qualification for membership of Rajya Sabha
b. Second
reading
c. The Budget
Answers
1. 250
2. 12
3. Members of
State Assemblies
4. 6 years --
1/3 entire every 2 years
5. 30 years
6. The
Vice-President
1. 550
2. Uttar
Pradesh
3. Two
4. Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes
5. All the
Indian citizens of 18 years of age and above
6. President
7. Members of
Lok Sabha
1. Union List
2. State
Legislatures
3. Two or more
State Legislatures
4. The
Parliament
1. A bill
moved by a Minister in the Government is a Government bill.
2. A bill
moved by Member of Parliament but not a minister, is called Private member’s
bill.
3. Private
Member’s bills are discussed only on Fridays.
4. Money bills
cannot be introduced in Rajya Sabha.
5. Joint
Sitting of the two Houses is held to remove the deadlock between the two
Houses over a
non-money bill.
6. One-tenth
of the strength of a House.
1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. Rs. 2 crore
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