Civics: Chapter 6- The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive

18th Lok Sabha

Constituted in June 2024.

Indian Parliament

Composed of the President, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha.

Maximum number of members envisaged by the Constitution in the Lok Sabha

550.

Federalism

Distribution of power across different levels of government by dividing the country into states.

Speaker

An elected member of the Lok Sabha who presides over sessions.

Vice President

Presides over the Rajya Sabha and acts as chairperson.

Sengol

A gold-plated, silver sceptre handed symbolically to Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 14 August, 1947. Now placed near the the Speaker’s chair in new Lok Sabha and was handed to Chola rulers as a reminder of righteousness, with Nandi on top symbolizing justice.

Parliamentary Discussion Translations

In Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Urdu, and Sanskrit to ensure accessibility and inclusion of all.

Union Executive

Consists of the President, Vice President, Council of Ministers, and the Prime Minister.

Legislative functions of the Parliament

Constitutional functions, Lawmaking, Executive accountability, and Financial accountability.

Constitutional functions of the Parliament

Ensuring the implementation of universal adult suffrage, separating the powers of Legislature, executive and judiciary, ensuring federalism, and upholding fundamental rights/Directive Principles of State Policy through the framing of laws and policies.

Bill

A draft of a proposed law that needs to be approved by the Parliament before it can be enacted into law.

Act

The instrument through which laws are generally brought into force.

Right to Education Act (RTE Act)

Introduced with the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, which mandated- as per Article 21A- that the state should provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14 years, tables as a bill in Rajya Sabha 6 years later, passed in August 2009 after elections.

Process of lawmaking

Bill in either house - Reading of bill - Referred to standing committee - Considered and passed - Clause-by-clause discussion and amendment voting - Voting - Process repeated in other house - Presidential assent - Gazette Notification.

Standing committee

A permanent committee consisting of MPs (which may change, but the structure remains) that scrutinise government activities, makes recommendations, and asks questions on actions taken by the government.

Gazette

An official government publication that announces legal documents and official information.

Money Bills

A bill concerned with financial matters and an example of a draft law that can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha through prior recommendation of President.

Executive accountability

Prime Minister and Council of Ministers are answerable to the Lok Sabha (through Question Hour, forcing ministers to justify actions), which is the Parliament’s duty.

Financial Accountability

Approving and monitoring of government expenditure by Parliament.

President

Head of state and nominal head of executive, appoints Prime minister and other ministers, summons Parliament, assents to bills, and can exercise discretionary practices during political crises.

Prime Minister

The de facto executive authority and is the leader of the majority party/coalition in Lok Sabha. They lead the council of ministers, coordinate work with different ministers, advise the president, and shape national policies.

Civil Servants

A permanent group of officials that help in implementing laws and policies. Also known as administrators/bureaucrats.

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Former Railway Minister who resigned after a train accident in 1956 despite not being at fault due to his belief that a minister must take moral responsibility for anything that happens in their ministry. Offered resignation to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who refused at first, but accepted with further insistence.

Judiciary

The branch of government that is responsible for interpreting and applying the laws of the land, including in specific cases of disputes. It functions primarily through its courts.

Union List

Contains topics on which only the central government can draft laws or policies.

Concurrent List

Contains topics on which both the central and state government can draft laws. If the central government has drafted a law on a topic in this list, state governments MUST follow.

State List

Contains topics on which only the state government can draft laws.

Unicameral states

State Legislatures containing only the legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha).

Bicameral states

State Legislatures containing both the Legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and the legislative council (Vidhan Parishad). Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Productivity

Measured by the number of hours either the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha actually functioned against the time it was scheduled to in a parliamentary context.