Parliament of India: The history of parliament was initiated long before the freedom of India. In January 1927, the seat was established as the Imperial Legislative organ by the British East India company.
The parliament was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. Their idea was to build a new administrative capital of India.
It took five years to build the parliament building and Bhupendra Nath Mitra (Member of the Governor General's Executive Council) invited Lord Irwin to the inauguration of the building during his period as the Viceroy of India.
This legislative part of Indian society plays a great role in the formation and execution of rules and regulations. Articles 79-122 of Part V of the Indian constitution deal with the provisions and limitations of the parliament.
According to the constitution, the parliament is divided into three parts or houses, which are known as the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and the President. Before 1954, these houses were knowns as The House of the People, the Council of States, and the President respectively.
As the members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of the Lok Sabha, it is also known as the Upper House, while Lok Sabha is more powerful as it contains the members who are directly elected by the people.
The Rajya Sabha represents the states and Union territories, while the Lok Sabha represents the people.
The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is 250 members, out of which 238 represent the states and union territories and the other 12 are specially nominated by the President.
Currently, there are 245 members in total. Out of these 229 are representing the states and 4 are representing union territories, and the other 12 are recruited by the President.
The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is 552. Out of which 530 represent states, 20 members represent the union territories, and the other two are the members of the Anglo-Indian community (Coalition of Indian leaders with British officWhy rajya sabha is known as ials).
In 2020, the reservation of seats in the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha was abolished after the request of Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who cited the 2011 census with the counting of only 296 Anglo Community members in the country.
At present, we have 543 members in the Lok Sabha. Of these 543 members, 530 represent the states, while 13 represent the union territories.
Constitution has abandoned this concept of reservation, yet still we have some seats reserved for SCs and STs. Under the 95th amendment act of 2009, the reservation of SCs and STs is extended till 2030.
The Rajya Sabha was created in 1952 and cannot be dissolved, but two third of its members get retired every second year and can be appointed back after three years of their retirement. The constitution has not fixed its tenure, but the parliament takes it as 6 years.
Unlike the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha is not a permanent body and can be dissolved by the President after 5 years or before.
No one can challenge this decision in the court and the term can also be extended by the President, which usually occurs in times of national emergency.
The Head of the Lok Sabha is known as Speaker, whereas the head of the Rajya Sabha is known as Chairman.
The current Speaker of the Lok Sabha is Om Birla since 19 June 2019 and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is Jagdeep Dhankhar since 11 August 2022.
The session of the Parliament refers to the summoning of the members of the organization in one place to discuss the events and plans for the county.
There occurs three sessions of the parliament in a year.
Budget Session- February to May
Monsoon Session- July to September
Winter Session- November to December
The 1st hour of each session is the time when the opposition asks questions from the ruling party and suggests corrections in their way of ruling.
There is another term called "Zero Hour", which refers to the time when anyone can questions to different ministers of the council.
Which Articles of the constitution deal with the provisions of the parliament?
Articles 79-122 of Part V of the Constitution deal with the provisions and the restrictions of the parliament.
How many divisions of the parliament are there?
The parliament is divided into three parts called The President, The Rajya Sabha, and The Lok Sabha
Who is the speaker of Lok Sabha?
Om Birla, a politician, agriculturist, and social worker is made the speaker of the Lok Sabha on the 9th of June 2019.
Who is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha?
Jagdeep Dhankhar is an Indian politician and a Lawyer, who is serving the nation as the 14th Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from the 11th of August 2022.
