Indian parliment

INDIAN PARLIMENT

Our Democratic Heritage full-fledged parliamentary system of government with its concomitant institutional framework is a gift of the epublican Constitution of 1950. However, representative institutions and democratic traditions have all along been an integral part of India’s rich heritage. The roots of our democratic institutions date back to the Vedic period, about 3000 B.C., when popular assemblies and elective monarchies were prevalent. The tradition of republicanism flourished in various parts of the country for nearly sixteen centuries from 1000 B.C. to 600 .. Popular assemblies like the Samiti, an assembly of people’s representatives, and the Sabha, a smaller selected body of elders, functioned for disposing of public business through consultation, discussion and debate. emocracy at the grassroots thrived in the form of Panchayats and Gram Sabhas which continued to flourish through the ancient and medieval periods till the advent of the British ule and even thereafter, in one form or the other. Development of Parliamentary Institutions The growth of modern parliamentary institutions in India can be traced to our struggle against foreign rule and the urge for establishing democratic institutions. The democratic foundations dating back to several millennia, the democratic norms and ethos that evolved over those centuries, and above all, the inherent faith of the people in democratic functioning have greatly facilitated the adoption of parliamentary democracy through a gradual process. The Charter ct of 1833, for the first time, provided that the Governor-General’s Government may be known as the Government of India and his Council as the Indian Council and introduced centralization in the legislative sphere. There was, however, no legislative body distinct from the xecutive until 1853. The Charter ct of 1853 provided some sort of a separate ‘egislature’ in the form of a 12-member egislative Council which included the Governor-General, four members of his xecutive Council, the Chief Justice and another Judge of the Supreme Court and others. The First War of Independence in the year 1857 represented a watershed event in the history of modern India, as it shook the foundations of the century-old British ule and compelled them to usher in legislative reforms and establish closer contact with the people of the country. 

The Government of India ct, 1919 which gave effect to the ontague-Chelmsford eforms, was a landmark in the constitutional history of India as it introduced a bicameral egislature at the Centre and introduced some elements of responsible Government in the Provinces. The Central egislature consisted of the Governor-General and the two ouses—the egislative ssembly and the Council of State. The first egislative ssembly constituted under the 1919 ct came into being at the Centre in 1921. ven after the enactment of the Government of India ct, 1935, which introduced federal features and provincial autonomy in the system and also made provisions for the distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and the Provinces, the constitution of the Central Government in India, by and large, remained what it was under the ct of 1919 since the federal part of the 1935 ct never came into operation. The Central egislature continued to function for over a quarter century from 1921 to 1947.

The Constituent Assembly

The Constituent ssembly, the first representative body of the people of India, which was entrusted to function as the Constitution-making body for independent India, commenced the momentous task on 9 ecember 1946. The members of the Constituent ssembly were chosen through indirect election by the members of the Provincial egislative ssemblies. The Indian Independence ct of 1947 enacted by the British Parliament declared the Constituent ssembly to be a fully sovereign body and the Central egislative ssembly and the Council of States ceased to exist from 14 ugust 1947. With the dawn of Independence on the midnight of 14-15 ugust 1947, the Constituent ssembly assumed full powers and took over as the egislative ssembly of Independent India. The two functions of the Constituent ssembly, that is Constitution-making and egislation, were clearly separated and the Constituent ssembly (egislative) commenced functioning from 17 ovember 1947. 

ELECTROAL SYSTEM 

India, a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of Government, is committed to holding regular, free and fair elections. The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Parliament and to the State egislatures and of elections to the Offices of the President and the Vice-President are vested in the lection Commission by the Constitution. The lection Commission, an independent electoral machinery, consists of the Chief lection Commissioner and two lection Commissioners. The Parliament, from time to time, makes provisions with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to the Parliament and the State egislatures, including the preparation of electoral rolls, the delimitation of constituencies and all other matters necessary for securing the due constitution of the ouses. The epresentation of the People ct, 1950 incorporates extensive provisions, especially relating to disqualification of electors, and the epresentation of the People ct, 1951 deals with the overall conduct of elections, including provisions and procedure for disqualification of elected representatives on certain specified grounds. The electoral pattern of first-past-the-post system based on adult franchise ensures that direct elections, held every five years, are truly participatory in both form and content. For the ok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 parliamentary constituencies and the electors (18 years and above) cast one vote each for the candidate of their choice.

THE PRESIDENT 

The President of the epublic is directly elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both the ouses of Parliament and the elected members of the egislative ssemblies of the States for a period of five years and is eligible for re-election to that office. The President is the Constitutional ead of State and in the discharge of all functions, the President acts on the aid and advise of the Prime inister and the Council of inisters, which is responsible to the ouse of the People, that is, the ok Sabha. Though the President is a constituent part of the Parliament, the President does not sit or participate in the discussions in either of the two ouses. s part of the constitutional functions with respect to the Parliament, the President summons and prorogues the two ouses from time to time and also has the power to dissolve the ok Sabha. t the commencement of the first Session after each General lection to the ok Sabha and at the commencement of the first Session of Parliament each year, the President addresses members of both the ouses assembled together in the Central all of Parliament  house.

Rajya Sabha

The ajya Sabha, the Council of States, is an indirectly elected ouse consisting of not more than 250 members, out of which 238 members represent the States and the Union territories while the remaining 12 are nominated by the President for their special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. The members of the ajya Sabha from each State are elected by the elected members of the egislative ssembly of the respective State in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. ach State is, however, represented by at least one member. The members of the Union territories in the ajya Sabha are chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law prescribe. The ajya Sabha at present consists of 245 members, out of which 233 represent the States and Union territories and 12 are nominated members. The minimum qualifying age for the membership of ajya Sabha is 30 years. The ajya Sabha is a permanent body not subject to dissolution but one-third of its members retire rotationally after every two years and are replaced by newly-elected members. The term of an individual member of the ajya Sabha is six years. The ajya Sabha was constituted for the first time on 3 pril 1952 and the first sitting of the ouse was held on 13 ay 1952.