7723, 11:54am ‘ Sp on Parliament (Part-I) | 03 Nov 2021 Introduction + Supreme Legislative Body: The Parliament isthe legislative organ of a Union government and the Parliament of India is its supreme legislative body. ©. Troccupies a pre-eminent and central position in the Indian democratic political system due 10 the adoption of the Parliamentary form of Government (‘Westminster’ model of government), «+ First Parliament: The first general elections under the new Constitution of India were held during the year 1951-52 and the first elected Parliament came into existence in April, 1952. * Constitutional Provisions: 10 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the tion, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges and powers of the Parliament oy jed on the Bri pattern for Parliament rather than the American pattern. © The President is not an integral part of the legislature in the USA, however, in India, itis. Organs of Parliament © ..aaiya Sabha (The Counc , Se About Ivis the Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) and it represents the states and_union territories of the Indian Union + The Rajya Sabha is called the permanent House of the Parliament as it is never fully dissolved. « The IV Schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the allocation of seats in the Rajya ~Sabturto the states-and- UTs.— a E © Composition: The maximum strength of Rajya Sabha is 250 (out of which 238 members are _ a representatives of the states & UTs (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the SZ _ President) ms See ae eh ee a oe “ “©. >Current strength of the houses 484229 ‘members represent the states, 4 members ee “represent the UTs-and |2aré nominated by the president. aon 3 oo © Election of Representatives: The representatives of states are elected by the members of state 4 SS ca legislative assemblies. oa aa The representatives of enc UT]in the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by members of ‘an electoral college specially constituted Tor the purpose: es Sa Iya ee eniral cee ‘and Jammu & Kashmir) have representation By in Rajya Sabha (others don’t have enough poputation). - ara oo 4e The members nominated by the President are those who-have special knowledge or practical éxperience in art, literature, science and social service. a ‘—s-The rationale is to provide eminent persons a place inrthe house Without going through elections. Rajya Sabha has an important role of reviewing i ws initiated by ik Sabha, ~@ Tecan also initiate legislation and a bill is required to pass through the Rajya Sabha in order to become a law. State Related Matters: The Rajya Sabha provides representation to the States. Therefore, any matt cts tie STATES d twit forits consentantt approval moveltransfer a matter from the State list, the Sabha is necessary India a le. i ~o Tomposition: The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at $50 out of which 530 ‘members are o be the representatives of the states and 20 oF he UTS. oO ama giehtttale CS) ‘© About: It is the Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House and it represents the people of27123, 11:54 AM tps Awww diahtas convto-he-points/Paper2ipartament-part/print manually «The current strength of Lok Sabha is $43, out of which 530 members represent the “Glates and 13 represent the UTs “ > _# Earlier, the President also nom: ated two members from the Anglo-Indian community, but lid till 2020 only. yh OV by the 98!".Aim 20009, this provision was v LY A Beatin at Representatives) The representatives of slates are directly elected by the people *\from the territorial constituencies in the stites: 260, "hy the Union Territories (Direct Flection to the House of the People) Act, 1965, the AD * jnemiers of Lok Sabha from the UTs.are chosen by direct election. i *srthe most important functions of the Lok Sabha is to select the executive, » / 0 Punetions? One he imptensent the Iaws made by the Parliament. ‘Froup of persons who work together, 7 ts (Srv ti'mind when we use the term government. YB eae Ths executive is often what we Rav i - =e é ss sons In Joint Sitting Any onlinary law Reeds (6 be pasted by both the Houses. \t_~ "« However, in case of any difference between thetiwo Houses! the final decision is -Staken by calling agoint sessiob of both the Holises ‘Due to a Tanger strength, the view of the Lok Sabha is likely to prevail in such » vgs ct y MattersiFok Saba Wercses more powers in money matters) Once Den ihe Lok Sabha passes the budfetof the government or any other money related law the , oy 5 kannot reject it. e clay it by 14 days or suggest changes in it, however, the a can only ‘OF may not accept these changes. —— + (Pawer over Counell of Mintsters) The Lok Sabha controls the Council of k sir the majority of the Lok Sabha members say they have “no confidence” in the ‘Council of Ministers, all ministers including the Prime Minister, have fo quit «ThE Rajya Sabha does not have this power. “About: The President of India is not a member of either of tt Parliament to attend its meetings but s/he is an integral part of the Parliamen SHe is the head of the state and is the highest form: thori Appointment: The elected Members of Parliamient (MPs) and the elected Members of the __ ative Assemblies (MLAS) elect the President of India. 2 Pee ee ———— “Assent for Passing a Bill: A bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament cannot become + Assent for Passing a Bil Taw without the President's assent. © Summoning and Prorogation of Houses: He has the power to summon and prorogue oth the Houses, dissolve the Lok Sabha anq{issue ordinances vhen the Houses are not e in seston = Oraaness nen the How _insession. Membership of Parliament = Qialifications: © Rajya Sabha: S/He should be a citizen of India and at least 30 years of age. ‘© S/He should make an oath or affirmation stating that s/he will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India, _" + According to the Representation of People Act, 1951, s/he should be registered as a voter in the State from which s/he is seeking election to the Rajya Sabha. SSS ©. However, in 2003, a provision Wi faring, any Indian citizerr can contest 4 the Rajya Sabhe elections irrespective of the State in which s/he resides Lok Sabha: S/He should be not less than 25 years of a aes ‘S/He should declare through an oath or affirmation that s/he has true faith and Si fe Const me It 5 aT up Sovereignty and integrity of lia. © S/He must ossns such other qualiic tient a may be laid Sov by the Parliament by law and must be Fegistered as a voter in any constituency in India, «+ Person contesting from the reserved seat should belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe as the casé may be. — nps:/www drishtias.comio-he-points!Paper2/parlament-pati/prnt_ manuallyisqualifications: © On Constitutional Grounds: + If she holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a | minister or any other office exempted by Parliament). + Ifs/he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court. i © If s/he is an undischarged insolvent + If he is not (or not anymore) a citizen of India + If she is disquatified under any law made by Parliament. © On Statutory Grounds (Representation of People Act, 1951): Found guilty of certain election offences/corrupt practices in the elections. * Convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years (detention under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification). ‘+ Has been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State + Convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of bribery + Punished for preaching and practising social crimes such as untouchability, dowry and sati = Tenure - mA G w) ~~e Rajya Sabha: Every member of Rajya Sabha enjoys a fafe tenure of six years. #- * One-third of its members retire after every two years. They aré entitled to contest again for the membership, e e_Lok Sabha: The normal term of Lok Sabha is five years. But the President, on the advice of the aS ee it before the expiry Offive years) 4 = 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. a Sabha: The Vice-President of Indi officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha)S/He_ pissides over ne ‘of Rajya Sabha. = PE nibs: cep Chaar fie cies fon eee fer the meeting of the House ae © Lok Sabha: Thetpeesiding officer of Lok Sabharis known as Speakers -—+"S/He remains the Speaker even after Lok Sabha i3 disso] solved fil the n next House elects a new Speaker in her/his place. + In the'speaker’s absence, a Deputy Speaker (elected by the House) presides over the meetings. Powers/Functions © riczisiative Functions: Only Parliament can make laws on the subjects of the Union List. Along with the State Legislatures, the Parliament is empowered to make laws on the Concurrent List. In a subject not mentioned in any list, the residuary powers are vested with the Parliament. 7 Fins Funetions: It is the custodian of the public money. The Government can neither impose ny tax on the public nor spend the money without the approval of the Parliament, ae © The budget is approved by the Parliament every year. Electoral Fu ; It participates in the election of the President of India and also elects the Vice President. — ae a. itsGpeakBhand puty Speaks} and the Rajya Sabhielects its Deputy — “ower of Removal: Certain high functionaries may be removed from office on the initiative of the varliameni Ce senere tae Eaten Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts f calling attention notice, adjournment motion ele. ntps:/ www dish. convio-the-points/Paper2ipariament-partiprint_manualyyea 'tps:/Awww drishiias.comito-the-point/Paper2/parliament-partv/print_ manually . Z © 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.Oe W273 sa50M tips ww cishas comosthepoints/Paperdipertament-pertprin manually Parliament (Part-I) | 10 Nov 2021 Parliament (Part-I) Leaders in Parliament the ‘Leader of the House’ means the Prime Jha and is nominated by the PM to functior * Leader of the House: Under the Rules of Lok Sabhi Minister (or another minister who is a member of Lok $ as the Leader of the House) © There is also a ‘Leader of the House’ in the Rajya Sabha who is a minister the Rajya Sabha and is nominated by the PM to function as such © S/He exercises direct influence on the conduct of business. © The office of leader of the house is not mentioned in the Const House. = Leader of the Opposition: The leader of the largest Opposition party having not less than one-tenth seats of the total strength of the House is recognised as the leader of the Opposition in a House © S He provides constructive criticism of the government policies and to provide an alternative government © The leader of Opposition in both the Houses were accorded st e are entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equi minister. © The office of leader of the opposition is not mentioned in the Constitution but in the Parliamentary Statute. = Whip: Every political party, whether ruling or opposition has its own whip in the Parliament. © S/He is appointed by the political party to serve as an assistant floor leader, charged with the responsibility of ensuring the attendance of his party members in large numbers and securing their support in favour of or against a particular issue. © He regulates and monitors their behaviour in the Parliament and the members are supposed to follow the directives given by the whip. ‘© The office of ‘whip’ is mentioned neither in the Indian Constitution nor in the other two statues mentioned above. It is based on the conventions of the parliamentary government. ‘and a member of tution but in the Rules of the 1977 and Sessions of Parliament = Summoning: e ‘© Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet « The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution, © The President summons each House of the Parliament from time to time. ‘* However, the maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. © Sessions: © India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. By convention, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year. ‘+ Budget Session: Longest session, starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April + Monsoon Session: Second session, usually begins in July and finishes in August ‘+ Winter Session: Third session, held from November to December. = Adjournment: ‘© An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks. © When the meeting is terminated without any definite time/date fixed for the next meeting, it is called Adjournment sine die, © The power of adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) of the House = Prorogation: © Unlike adjournment, Prorogation terminates a sitting as well us the session of the House. https www dishtlas.com/o-the-points/Paper2ipariament-psrWprint_manualy27723, 1145. AM tps /www drishtias comfoshe-points/Paper2/pariament-par-w/print_manvaly © Itis done by the President of India © Prorogation is different from the dissolution (of Lok Sabha) = Quorum: © Quorum refers to the minimum number of the members required to be present for conducting a meeting of the house © The Constitution has fixed one-tenth strength as quorum for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha = Joint Session of Parliament: ‘© The Constitution of India, under Article 108, provides for the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, in order to break any deadlock between the two. © The joint sitting is called by the President and is presided over by the Lok Sabha Speaker. + In the speaker's absence, the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over the meeting. + In the absence of both, it is presided over by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. ‘= Lame Duck Session: It refers to the last session of the existing Lok Sabha, after a new Lok Sabha has been elected ‘© Those members of the existing Lok Sabha who could not get re-elected to the new Lok Sabha are called lame-ducks. Devices of Parliamentary Proceedings @ = Question Hour: © The first hour of every parliamentary the Rules of Procedure of the House. © During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers. The questions are of three types: + Starred questions: These are distinguished by an asterisk and require oral answers. Hence supplementary questions can follow. ‘* Unstarred questions: It requires a written answer and hence, supplementary questions cannot follow. ‘+ Short notice questions: The matters of public importance and of urgent character are considered under this type of questions. These are asked by giving a notice of less than ten days and are answered oral is termed as Question hour. It is mentioned in = Zero How © A Zero Hour is an Indian parliamentary rules book. ‘+ Under this, the Members of Parliament (MPs) can raise matters without any prior notice. e@ © The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (regular business of the House) is taken up. ‘* In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour. * Half-an-Hour Discussion: ‘© It is meant for discussing a matter of sufficient public importance, which has been subjected to a lot of debate and the answer to which needs elucidation on a matter of fact © The Speaker can allot three days in a week for such discussions. There is no formal motion or voting before the House. * Short Duration Discussion: © It is also known as two-hour discussion as the time allotted for such a discussion should not exceed two hours. ‘© The members of the Parliament can raise such discussions on a matter of urgent public importance. © The Speaker can allot two days in a week for such discussions. There is neither a formal motion before the house nor voting. © This device has been in existence since 1953. novation. It is not mentioned in the parliamentary Motions in Indian Parliament ‘nos www drishtias.convto-the-points/Paper2ipariamentpar-iprint_ manually 2a427123, 1145 AM [Privilege ] Motion | (Censure Motion | tps /hwew drishtias convio:the-points/Paper2/pariament-partilprint_manually It is moved by a member when he feels that a minister has committed a breach of privilege of the House or one or more of its members by withholding facts of a case or by giving wrong or distorted facts. Its purpose is to censure the concerned minister, Itcan be moved in Raj Sabha as well as Lok Sabha, * It should state the reasons for its adoption in the Lok Sabha = Itcan be moved against an individual minister or a group of ministers or the entire council of ministers. Icis moved fo censure the council of ministers for specific policies and actions. Itcan be moved only in Lok Sabha. (Call-Attention Motion e It is introduced in the Parliament by a member to call the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance, and to seek an authoritative statement from him on that matter, It can be moved in Rajya Sabha as well as Lok Sabha. | ‘Adjournment It is introduced in the Lok Sabha to draw the attention of the House to a definite Motion matter of urgent public importance. = It involves an element of censure against the government. lee It can be moved only in Lok Sabha. No-Day-Yet- It is a motion that has been admitted by the Speaker but no date has been fixed for Named Motion its discussion, It can be moved in Rajya Sabha as well as Lok Sabha. No Confidence Motion Article 75 of the Constitution says that the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. ‘© In other words, the Lok Sabha can remove the ministry from office by passing a no-confidence motion. © The motion needs the support of 50 members to be admitted. It can be moved only in Lok Sabha. ‘Motion of ‘Thanks The first session after each general election and the first session of every fiscal year is addressed by the president. © This address of the president is discussed in both the Houses of Parliament on a motion called the ‘Motion of Thanks’. This motion must be passed in the House. Otherwise, it amounts to the defeat of the government. Cut Motions ‘A cut motion is a special power vested in members of the Lok Sabha to oppose a ‘demand being discussed for specific allocation by the government in the Finance Bill as part of the Demand for Grants. If the motion is adopted, it amounts to a no-confidence vote, and if the government fails to jot up numbers in the lower House, it is obliged to resign according to the norms of the House. ‘A motion may be moved to reduce the amount of a demand in any of the following, ways: © Policy Cut Motion: It is moved so that the amount of the demand be reduced to Re.1 (represents disapproval of the policy underlying the demand). © Economy Cut Motions: It is moved so that the amount of the demand will be reduced by a specified amount. Intps:/www drishtias,convio-the-poins/Paper2/pariament-part-iprint_ manually ooPoint of Order special Mention eee nttps //www.drishtiias, PS:/lwww.drishtias.comvo-the-points/Paper2iparliament-partiiprin_ manually © Token Cut Motions: It is mi ; : joved so that the amount of th is by Rs.100 (expresses a specific grievance), paren | = It can be moved only in Lok Sabha. . a as moved by a member to cut short the debate on a matter before the * Ifthe motion is approved by the House, debate is stopped forthwith and the matter is uit to vote * There are four kinds of closure motions: ple Closure: It is one when a member moves that the ‘matter having been sufficiently discussed be now put to vote” Closure by Compartments: In this case, the clauses of a bill or a lengthy resolution are grouped into parts before the commencement of the debate. The debate covers the part as a whole and the entire part is put to vote. © Kangaroo Closure: Under this type, only important clauses are taken up for debate and voting and the intervening clauses are skipped over and taken as passed © Guillotine Closure: It is one when the undiscussed clauses of a bill or a resolution are also put to vote along with the discussed ones due to want of time. =A member can raise a point of order when the proceedings of the House do not follow the normal rules of procedure. + A point of order should relate to the interpretation or enforcement of the Rules of the House or suc! jh articles of the Constitution that regulate the business of the House and should raise a question that is within the cognizance of the Speaker. « [tis usually raised by an opposition member in order to control the government = Itis an extraordinary device as it suspends the proceedings before the House. No debate is allowed on a point of order. = A matter which is not a point of order or which cannot be raised during question hour, half-an hour discussion, short duration discussion or under adjournment motion, calling attention notice or under any rule of the House can be raised under the special mention in the Rajya Sabha. ‘= Its equivalent procedural device in the Lok Sabha is known as ‘Notice (Mention) Under Rule 377’. ‘htipe:Jwwredriahties.com/o-the-points/Paper2ipariament-pert-lprint_ manually as