OUR PARLIAMENT
Parliament is
the supreme legislative body of a country. Our Parliament comprises of the
President and the two Houses—Lok Sabha
(House of the People) and Rajya
Sabha (Council of States). The President has the power to summon and
prorogue either House of Parliament or to dissolve Lok Sabha.
The
Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. The first general
elections under the new Constitution were
held during the year 1951-52 and the first elected Parliament came into
being in April, 1952, the Second Lok
Sabha in April, 1957, the Third Lok Sabha in April, 1962, the Fourth Lok
Sabha in March, 1967, the Fifth Lok Sabha in March, 1971, the Sixth Lok
Sabha in March, 1977, the Seventh Lok Sabha in January, 1980, the Eighth Lok
Sabha in December, 1984, the Ninth Lok Sabha in December, 1989, the Tenth
Lok Sabha in June, 1991, the Eleventh Lok
Sabha in May, 1996, the Twelfth Lok Sabha in March, 1998 and Thirteenth Lok
Sabha in October, 1999.
LOK SABHA
Lok Sabha, as
the name itself signifies, is the body of representatives of the people. Its
members are directly elected, normally once in every five years by the adult
population who are eligible to vote. The minimum qualifying age for
membership of the House is 25 years. The present membership of Lok Sabha is
545. The number is divided among the different States and Union Territories
as follows:
(1) Andhra
Pradesh 42
(2) Arunachal
Pradesh 2
(3) Assam 14
(4) Bihar 40
(5)
Chhattisgarh 11
(6) Goa 2
(7) Gujarat
26
(8) Haryana
10
(9) Himachal
Pradesh 4
(10) Jammu
& Kashmir 6
(11)
Jharkhand 14
(12)
Karnataka 28
(13) Kerala
20
(14) Madhya
Pradesh 29
(15)
Maharashtra 48
(16) Manipur
2
(17)
Meghalaya 2
(18) Mizoram
1
(19) Nagaland
1
(20) Orissa
21
(21) Punjab
13
(22)
Rajasthan 25
(23) Sikkim 1
(24) Tamil
Nadu 39
(25) Tripura
2
(26)
Uttaranchal 5
(27) Uttar
Pradesh 80
(28) West
Bengal 42
(29) Andaman
& Nicobar Islands 1
(30)
Chandigarh 1
(31) Dadra
& Nagar Haveli 1
(32) Daman
& Diu 1
(33) NCT of
Delhi 7
(34)
Lakshadweep 1
(35)
Pondicherry 1
(36)
Anglo-Indians (if nominated 2 by the President under Article 331 of the
Constitution)
RAJYA SABHA
Rajya Sabha
is the Upper House of Parliament. It has not more than 250 members. Members
of Rajya Sabha are not elected by the people directly but indirectly by the
Legislative Assemblies of the various States. Every State is allotted a
certain number of members. No member of Rajya
Sabha can be under 30 years of age.
Twelve of
Rajya Sabha members are nominated by the President from persons who have
earned distinction in the fields of literature, art, science and social
service.
Rajya Sabha
is a permanent body. It is not subject to dissolution but one-third of its
members retire every two years. Rajya Sabha was duly constituted for the
first time on April 3, 1952 and it held its first sitting on May 13, that
year.
There are at
present 245 members in Rajya Sabha, distributed among different States and
Union Territories as follows:
(1) Andhra
Pradesh 18
(2) Arunachal
Pradesh 1
(3) Assam 7
(4) Bihar 16
(5)
Chhattisgarh 5
(6) Goa 1
(7) Gujarat
11
(8) Haryana 5
(9) Himachal
Pradesh 3
(10) Jammu
& Kashmir 4
(11)
Jharkhand 6
(12)
Karnataka 12
(13) Kerala 9
(14) Madhya
Pradesh 11
(15)
Maharashtra 19
(16) Manipur
1
(17)
Meghalaya 1
(18) Mizoram
1
(19) Nagaland
1
(20) Orissa
10
(21) Punjab 7
(22)
Rajasthan 10
(23) Sikkim 1
(24) Tamil
Nadu 18
(25) Tripura
1
(26)
Uttaranchal 3
(27) Uttar
Pradesh 31
(28) West
Bengal 16
(29) NCT of
Delhi 3
(30)
Pondicherry 1
(31)
Nominated by the President under 12 Article 80(1)(a) of the Constitution
Presiding
Officers
Lok Sabha
elects one of its own members as its Presiding Officer and he is called the
Speaker. He is assisted by the Deputy Speaker who is also elected by
Lok Sabha. The conduct of
business in Lok Sabha is the responsibility of the
Speaker.
The
Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya
Sabha. He is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of
members of both Houses of Parliament. Rajya Sabha also elects one of its
members to be the Deputy Chairman.
Functions of
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
The main
function of both the Houses is to pass laws. Every Bill has to be passed by
both the Houses and assented to by the President before it becomes law. The
subjects over which Parliament can legislate are the subjects mentioned
under the Union List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Broadly speaking, Union subjects are those important subjects which for
reasons of convenience, efficiency and security are administered on
all-India basis. The principal Union subjects are Defence, Foreign Affairs,
Railways, Transport and Communications, Currency and Coinage, Banking,
Customs and Excise Duties. There are numerous other subjects on which both
Parliament and State Legislatures can legislate.
Under this
category mention may be made of economic and social planning, social
security and insurance, labour welfare, price control and vital statistics.
Besides
passing laws, Parliament can by means of resolutions, motions for
adjournment, discussions and questions addressed by members to Ministers
exercise control over the administration of the country and safeguard people’s
liberties.
Difference
between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
(1) Members
of Lok Sabha are directly elected by the eligible voters. Members of Rajya
Sabha are elected by the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies in
accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single
transferable vote.
(2) The
normal life of every Lok Sabha is 5 years only while Rajya Sabha is a
permanent body.
(3) Lok Sabha
is the House to which the Council of Ministers is responsible under the
Constitution. Money Bills can only be introduced in Lok Sabha. Also it is Lok
Sabha which grants the money for running the administration of the country.
(4) Rajya
Sabha has special powers to declare that it is necessary and expedient in
the national interest that Parliament may make laws with respect to a matter
in the State List or to create by law one or more all-India services common
to the Union and the States.
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