Composition of Parliament

Introduction
The origin of the concept of Parliament traces to European nations since
medieval ages, it has been an indispensable part of the Indian democratic
structure since the inception of democracy in India. Parliament, which is a
platform to do a discussion on issues having social and civic importance in any
popular democracy, is a cornerstone of democratic values in any representative
democracy.
Parliament may be perceived as a political institution to ensure the realization
of what Mahatma Gandhi once envisaged that, Democracy essentially is the art
and science of mobilizing and utilizing the entire physical, economic and
immaterial & metaphysical resources for the common good of all the people.
The stalwarts of Indian freedom struggle, legal experts and other members of
the Constituent Assembly, arrived at a conclusion of endorsing a parliamentary
system of government after an extensive and in-depth study of the
Constitution of other nation-states. After the first general election in the year
1952, both the houses of parliament came into existence.
In the following paragraphs, we’ll be discussing the composition of parliament,
knowing how the bodies and divided and in what sense their groupings
contribute in smooth and efficient law-making processes.
Article 79 to Article 122 of the Indian Constitution deals with the parliament.
According to Article 79, there shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall
consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as
the Council of States or Rajya Sabha and the House of the People or Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House that represents the states and union
territories of the Indian Union and the Lok Sabha is the Lower House that
represents the people of India as a whole.
The President
The President of India is elected by an electoral college composed of elected
members of both chambers of parliament and elected members of the
legislative assemblies (people’s houses) of the states. Although the President of
India is part of the Parliament, he does not sit or participate in discussions in
either chamber. There are certain constitutional functions that they must
perform in relation to Parliament. From time to time, the President convenes
and prophesies the two houses of Parliament. While the Rajya Sabha is a
continuing body, the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha is vested in the President.
His approval is necessary for a bill to be passed by both houses of parliament.
When Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that
circumstances exist which require him to take immediate action, the President
may promulgate ordinances having the same force and effect as laws passed by
Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. This house is
permanent in nature as it can never be dissolved. This is because every
member elected to the Rajya Sabha serves for a term of 6 years and one-third
of members do retire biennially, while the other members continue their
tenure. It’s like an election in different batches but the retired members are
subject to re-election.
This house consists of 250 members out of which, 238 members are elected by
means of a single transferable vote. 12 members are nominated by the
President on the advice of the council of ministers. The members nominated by
the President are those who have special knowledge or practical experience in
art, literature, science and social service.
The representatives of each UT in the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by
members of an electoral college specially constituted for the purpose.
The method of election of these members is listed in Article 80(1) of the Indian
Constitution. It says that the members would be elected by the elected
members of respective state assemblies in accordance with proportionate
representation of every state. This provision thus reflects the federal nature of
the Council of States, where every state is represented proportionally.
However, the number of members representing each state varies from 1 to as
large as 31 as in case of Uttar Pradesh.
Article 84 of the Indian constitution provides for the qualification to become a
member of Rajya Sabha, i.e., one must have the nationality of India, doesn’t
hold any office of profit and must have completed 30 years of age. He/she need
to comply with other such qualifications as prescribed in any law by the Indian
Parliament.
Article 102 of the Indian constitution provides for conditions on which one can
be disqualified from either of the houses. It says that one must be disqualified
as a member of the house if, he/she holds any office of profit, is of unsound
mind, is discharged insolvent is not a citizen of India and has voluntarily
accepted the nationality of other nations. He/she is disqualified under any law
made by the Parliament.
Speaker
In Rajya Sabha, the Vice-President of India presides of its sessions and is ex-
officio chairperson of the house. However, to take care of its day-to-day affairs,
and to preside over the sessions in the absence of the Chairperson, i.e., the
Vice-President, a member of the house itself is chosen internally by the Rajya
Sabha as Deputy Chairperson of the house.
The Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, as the name itself suggests, is composed of representatives of
the people elected by direct election based on adult suffrage. The provisions
of Article 331 of the Indian Constitution, provides for the existence of the
house of the people with the maximum limit of 552 and shall consist of 530
chosen members from different states, not more than 20 members to be
chosen from the Union Territories. If President feels that there is a lack of
representation of the Anglo-Indian Community in parliament, he may nominate
two members of the Anglo-Indian Community.
Some seats are also reserved for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled tribes
communities especially laid aside for them all over the country. The
representation is allocated to the states and the Union Territories according to
the Representation of the people’s Act passed by the Parliament of India in
1951. The total number of elected members of the House is divided among the
states in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allocated to
each state and the population of the state is, as far as practicable, the same for
all states.
The members elected by Universal Adult Suffrage serve their offices for a
tenure of five years. However, if devoid of a popular majority, the government
can fall and the house can dissolve midway any time before the completion of
five years.
Qualifications are necessary for becoming a member of parliament is provided
in Article 84 of the Indian Constitution. To become a member of Lok Sabha, one
should be a citizen of India, should have completed 25 years of age and need to
comply with other such qualifications as prescribed by any law by the Indian
Parliament.
Speaker
To preside over sessions of the house, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is elected
among the sitting members of the house. He/she is generally elected in the first
meeting of the Lok Sabha and serves a tenure of 5 years along with that
particular Lok Sabha. And as normally practiced, the Speaker is a member of
the ruling party or alliance.
One of the main functions of a Speaker is to decide upon whether a bill is a
money bill or not. His/her function also includes maintaining decorum and
discipline in the house and punishing those who are not complying with his
guidelines. Also, in the order of precedence, he/she is ranked 6th, parallel to
the Chief Justice of India.
The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha serves as a Number-Two, who in the
absence of the Speaker carries forward his roles and functions. He/she also has
a tenure of 5 years and can leave the post midway if he/she ceases to be a
member of parliament.
Dissolution
The power to dissolve the Lok Sabha is placed with the President of India in
accordance with Article 85 of the Indian Constitution. In two cases, dissolution
of the Lok Sabha is possible; one when the term of the Lok Sabha, i.e., 5 years
complete and is dissolved by the leader of the ruling party. And when the
government loses the majority and floor test is about to happen, in that case,
the president can dissolve the house.
And, it is completely different from adjournment or prorogation as Dissolution
means the end of the term of that particular Lok Sabha.
Conclusion
Parliament has a central role in our democracy as the representative body that
checks the work of the government. It is also expected to examine all legislative
proposals in detail, understand the nuances and implications of the provisions,
and decide on the appropriate way forward. In order to fulfil its constitutional
mandate, it is important that Parliament functions effectively. This will require
making and following processes such as creating a system of research support
to Members of Parliament, providing sufficient time for MPs to examine issues,
and requiring that all Bills and budgets are examined by committees and public
feedback is taken.
In sum, Parliament needs to ensure sufficient scrutiny over the proposals and
actions of the government