STATE ADMINISTRATION

(ASSIGNMENT)

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Research Scholar MA 2 Student
Department of Public Administration Punjabi University, Patiala

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

DATE: 17th October, 2023

STATE LEGISLATURE : STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

Chapter III of Part VI of the Indian Constitution deals with the State Legislature. It comprises the

state legislature and executives. The Legislative Assembly is a popularly elected chamber that is

the real Centre of power in a State. While the Legislature of every State shall consist of the

Governor and the State Legislature, in some of the States, the Legislature shall consist of two

Houses, namely, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, while in the rest, there

shall be only one House, namely the legislative assembly.

Bicameral Legislature

A Bicameral legislature is a legislature where the state has two houses, that is a legislative

assembly and a legislative council.

Most of the states in India have a unicameral legislature and there are only six states that have a

bicameral legislature.

The states that have two houses are Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,

and Uttar Pradesh.

COMPOSITION OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

The strength of an assembly shall not exceed 500 or its minimum strength fall below 60. The

Legislative Assembly of each State shall consist of not more than five hundred, and not less than

sixty, members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the State.

However, some of the States like Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, etc. have been allowed to

have smaller Legislative Assemblies.

COMPOSITION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS.

The total number of members in the Legislative Council of a State having such a Council shall

not exceed one-third of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly of that State:

and in no case less than 40 members. The members being drawn from various sources, the

Council shall have a variegated composition. Broadly speaking 5/6 of the total number of

members of the Council shall be indirectly elected and 1/6 will be nominated.

(a) one-third of the total number of members of the Council would be elected by electorates

consisting of members of local bodies like the municipalities and the district boards.

(b) one-twelfth of the members would be elected by electorates composed of graduates of the

standing of three years dwelling in that particular state.

(c) one-twelfth of the members would be elected by electorates consisting of teachers who have

been in the teaching profession for at least 3 years in educational institutes in that state, which

are not lower than secondary schools in the standard.

(d) one-third would be elected by members of the Legislative Assembly from amongst people

who are not Assembly members.

(e) The rest would be nominated by the Governor from persons having knowledge or practical

experience in matters like science, literature, cooperative movement, art and social service. (The

Courts can’t question the propriety or bonafide of the Governor’s nomination.)

QUALIFICATION OF A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

If a person wishes to be a member of the Legislative Assembly, he needs to stand qualified under

the following qualifications –

 1. Shall be a Citizen of India.

2. Shall be 30 yrs and above in case of the council and 25 yrs and above in case of the

assembly.

3. Must be an elector from the concerned state, belonging to any constituency.

4. Must be a resident of the respective state.

5. To contest from reserved seats, He must be an SC or ST. However, they hold the

choice to contest from unreserved seats too.

DURATION OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY & LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

The duration of the Legislative Assembly is five years. The Governor has the power to dissolve

the Assembly even before the expiry of its term. The period of five years, may, while a

proclamation of emergency is in operation, be extended by the Parliament by law for a period not

exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after

proclamation has ceased to operate (Article 172(1))

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE

The State Legislature has to fulfill some functions and is granted with several powers that can be

exercised, Some of them are listed below –

1. A Bill that is passed by the Legislative Assembly and refused by the Council, then

the Assembly has the right to reconsider it.

2. A bill approved by the Assembly and sent to the Council for the first time can be

retained for three months, but when it is sent for the second time and is kept in the

Council only for a month, the bill shall be deemed as passed.

 3. The Legislative Assembly holds superiority over the Legislative Council.

4. The State Assembly holds similar powers as that of the Lok Sabha in the case of

Money Bills.

5. Legislative assembly members hold the right to question the ministers, move

motions and resolutions, and also pass a vote of censure to drop the state

government.

6. The government ministry is accountable to the Legislative Assembly.

7. The Legislative Assembly elects its speaker and deputy speaker.

8. The assembly participates in the election of the President.

Considering the above-stated powers and functions of the Legislative Council, it can be made

that it holds a prominent role in the working of the country and is parallel to the Lok Sabha.

LIMITATIONS ON THE POWERS OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE

Some of the limitations on the power of the state legislature include the following –

1. Without a previous sanction of the parliament, certain bills are not supposed to be

moved in the state legislature.

2. Even if a certain bill has been passed by the legislature, it cannot be operated unless

it is passed by the parliament.

3. While the proclamation of emergency is in operation, the parliament can make or

amend laws for any state that is listed on the state list.

4. The parliament has been empowered by the constitution to make laws and amend for

any state or territory concerning the matters that have been listed on the state list.
 REFERENCES

1. Khosla, Madhav. (2012). The Indian Constitution.

2. Admin. (2023). State Legislature - Powers & Functions of Legislative Assembly

& Legislative Council. BYJUS. https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/the-state-legislature/

3. Team, D., Team, D., & Team, D. (2021). State Legislature – Powers and functions of Legislative

Council. DataFlair. https://data-flair.training/blogs/state-legislature-powers-and-functions/