The Union Legislature is chapter of ICSE board class 8 civics subject. This chapter discusses that India is a big country with huge population which cannot be governed by a single government.
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| The Union Legislature ICSE Class 8 (J K Online Classes) |
The Union Legislature
➡️For the administrative convenience, India has been divided into number of states and union territories. The government is divided into Central Government and State Government.
The Central Government governs the whole country from Delhi while the State Government takes care of a particular state from the Capital.
➡️Both the central and state governments have three distinct bodies or organs called the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The legislature make the laws for the people, the executive makes the law working and the judiciary interprets the laws of the land.
➡️All of the functions of the government is managed by Parliamentary form of government which was established by Indian Constitution both at the Centre and State level. The parliament is the Supreme body of the people's representatives. These representatives make laws. All this means that at the centre there is the Union Legislature or Parliament and at the state level there is State Legislature. The work of both the legislatures is to make laws.
➡️Both the legislatures are entitled to make laws, and to remove any kind of disputes between the two law making bodies, separate lists of subjects have been provided by our constitution for the legislatures to make laws. The various subjects have been given in Union list, State list and the Concurrent list.
➡️The Union list contains all the subjects of national importance like defence, foreign affairs, finance, railways, banking, posts and telegraph, currency, etc. And only Union legislature has the power to make laws mentioned in Union list.
The State list includes subjects which are important to states like agriculture, public health, sanitation, education, water supply and irrigation, markets, and fairs, etc.
The Concurrent list includes the subjects which are important to central as well as for states like electricity, education, labour, economic and social planning.
The Indian Parliament
The Indian Parliament consists of two houses:
(i) The Lok Sabha
(ii) The Rajya Sabha
(i) The Lok Sabha
➡️It is the lower house of the Indian Parliament. It is also known as the House of the People. It has many members who are directly elected by the adult citizens of our country. The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is 552. Out of the 552, 530 are elected from different states of our country, 20 are elected from various union territories and 2 are nominated by the President. It is to be noted that the number of seats allotted to each state and union territory depends on their respective populations.
➡️The Lok Sabha has a fixed term of five years. however it can be dissolved earlier too by the president on the advice of council of ministers if it looses the people's confidence. It's term can also be extended by the president in case of emergency.
➡️The members of the Lok Sabha are elected by the people of the country. They are elected via the general elections which are held after every five years. During elections, the entire country is divided into number of constituencies and one member is elected from each constituency.
🟡Eligibility Criteria to become a member of Lok Sabha:
1. Should be a Indian National.
2. Should be 25 years of age or above.
3. Should not be proclaimed offender.
4. Should not be insolvent.
5. Should not hold any office of profit under the government.
6. Should have name in the electoral list.
➡️After the result declaration of general election, the leader of the political party which won maximum number of seats is asked to form the government by the President. The other political parties which lost the election forms the opposition.
In a situation when there is no majority to any political party, a group of same-minded parties come together and form a coalition government.
🟡Speaker
The speaker is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha. He looks after the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, the maintenance of discipline, the duty of impartiality conducting the business of the house, irrespective of the political party. G.V Mavlankar was the first speaker of the Lok Sabha.
➡️The speaker is elected by all the members of the House for a term of five years. In the absence of speaker, the deputy speaker conducts the business of the House. The Deputy speaker is also elected by the members of the House.
➡️The speaker of the House can be removed by passing a resolution in the Lok Sabha by an effective majority of the House as per the Articles 94 and 96.
(ii) The Rajya Sabha
➡️It is the upper house of the Parliament also known as the Council of States. Unlike the Lok Sabha, it is a permanent house whose members are elected by the adult citizens of the country. The Rajya Sabha has a maximum strength of 250 members. Out of 250, 12 are nominated by the President of the country who have excelled in various fields such as art, science, literature, social service, etc. The rest 238 members are elected by the members of the various State Legislative Assemblies.
➡️The members of the Rajya Sabha represent the different states and union territories of India. The number of members representing a state or the union territory depends upon the population of that place. For example, Uttar Pradesh has maximum population, so maximum members are from this state.
➡️The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house, which means it cannot be dissolved. One-third of the members are retired after every two years and are replaced by new members. Every member is elected for a term of six years.
🟡Eligibility Criteria to become a member of Rajya Sabha:
1. Should be an Indian National.
2. Should be 30 years of age or above.
3. Should not be a proclaimed offender.
4. Should not be insolvent.
5. Should not hold any office of profit under the government.
6. Should have name in the electoral list.
Functions of the Parliament
The Parliament of the Union Legislature makes laws for the people of the country. It is highest law-making body in our country. It can make laws or can make modifications in the existing laws.
We will now read how a law is made in the Parliament.
➡️A bill is introduced in both the houses - the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This is the first stage of legislation. The bill is the draft form of the law. It becomes law only after being passed by either house of the Parliament and then approved by the president of the country. The member who is seeking to present the bill needs to give notice to the speaker in advance.
➡️The bills are classified as ordinary bills, money bills and constitutional amendment bills.
Ordinary bills are proposals for ordinary laws framed by the parliament. These bills can be introduced in either house.
Money bills are the bills which deal with matters related to tax, borrowing of money by the government of India, the payment of money or withdrawal of money from the consolidated fund of India. These bills can be introduced to only Lower House of the Parliament i.e. the Lok Sabha.
Constituent Amendment Bills are introduced to make amendments in the Constitution. This bill can be introduced in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.
Other functions of the Parliament
The main function of the Parliament of our country is to make laws for the people. Apart from it, it has other functions too such as controlling the finances of the government, controlling the executive, judicial functions, etc.
(a) Controlling the Finance of Government
The Government needs to seek the approval of the of the Parliament for its annual budget. The annual budget is presented by the Finance Minister every year in the month of February. The budget is a document which shows the income as well as projects its future income and expenses. The Parliament passes the budget, so the parliament can suggest changes to it or can reject it altogether.
(b) Controlling the Executive
The Parliament controls the Executive by keeping watch on the ministers and their work. It is done in following ways:
(i) Members of Parliament discuss various government policies and seek answers from the ministers. In this way they keep a check om working of the Government.
(ii) If any matter requires urgent attention, Parliament has power to move the adjourned motion in order to discuss the matter.
(iii) They have the power to eliminate a government from office by passing a vote of no-confidence against it.
(c) Judicial Functions
The Parliament has the power to remove some very important people from their office such as President, the Vice-President, and the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. If these people violate the constitution or misuse their authority, they can be removed by the Parliament through a process called impeachment.
(d) Constituent Functions
The Parliament can make amendments or revoke any provision of the Constitution. Certain parts of the Constitution can be amended by a simple majority only, whereas to make changes to certain parts, a one-third majority is needed. International treaties and trade agreements also require Parliament's approval.
(e) As an Organ of Information
The member of parliaments can seek information regarding any matter except of national security of the Country. Therefore, it also act as an Organ of Information.
The State Legislature
At present, India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories. Each state has State Government while each Union Territory is looked after by the Central Government through a Lieutenant-governor or Chief Commissioner.
Each state government has an elected legislature. The legislature can be Unicameral (having one house) or Bicameral (having two houses).
➡️The states which have unicameral legislature only have the Legislative Assembly only which corresponds to Lok Sabha at the Centre. The states which have unicameral as well as bicameral legislature have Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council corresponds to the Rajya Sabha at the centre.
➡️The legislative assembly is also called the Vidhan Sabha and the legislative council is also known as the Vidhan Parishad.
➡️The strength of a state legislature depends on the population of the state. For instance, Uttar Pradesh has more members in the State Legislature than Sikkim which has a small population. The members of State legislative assembly are elected for five years. It can however be dissolved by state governor on request of Chief Minister, if the state ministry loses the confidence of majority in the State Legislative Assembly. Its term can also be extended by President of the country in case of national emergency.
➡️Like Rajya Sabha, the Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad cannot be dissolved. Every two years, one-third of its members retire and are replaced by new members.
➡️All members of Legislative Assembly are directly elected by the people of the state. However, the members of a Legislative Council are indirectly elected by the people of the state. One-third of its members are elected by the Legislative Assembly, one-third by the local bodies like municipalities and zila parishads and the rest are nominated by the Governor.
➡️The criteria to become a member of the Legislative Council are the same as those needed for the members of the Rajya Sabha.
Functions of the State Legislature
State legislatures also performs many functions like those of Union Legislatures.
1. Bills on subjects under state and concurrent lists can be proposed and passed by both the houses of State Legislature.
2. Money bills are introduced in the Legislative Assembly as well as the annual budget containing the income and expenditure of the government.
3. The State Legislative Assembly exercises control over the Council of Ministers. The members can put questions to the ministers regarding the policies of the government.
4. If a no-confidence is passed by the Legislative Assembly against the ministry, the ministry has to resign forthwith.
5. The State Legislative Assembly participates in election process regarding the election of President as well as the members of the Rajya Sabha.
6. An adjourned motion can be moved in order to discuss a matter requiring urgent attention of the government.
*-* The End*-*
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