Lok Sabha

Coordinates: 28°37′3″N 77°12′30″E / 28.61750°N 77.20833°E / 28.61750; 77.20833

Lok Sabha (House of the People) लोक सभा
15th Lok Sabha
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of India
Leadership
Speaker	Meira Kumar, (INC) Since 3 June 2009[1]
Deputy Speaker	Kariya Munda, (BJP) Since 8 June 2009[2]
Leader of the House	Sushilkumar Shinde, (INC) Since 2 Aug 2012[3]
Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha)	Sushma Swaraj, (BJP) Since 21 December 2009[4]
Structure
Seats	545 (543 elected + 2 appointed)[5]
Political groups	UPA (226) NDA (156) Third front (77) Fourth Front (26) Others (55)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	April–May, 2009
Motto
धर्मचक्रपरिवर्तनाय॥ – To transform the cycle of dharma.
Meeting place
Lok Sabha Chambers, Sansad Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi
Website
loksabha.gov.in

The Lok Sabha (Hindi: लोक सभा) or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult franchise. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India. The Constitution limits the Lok Sabha to a maximum of 552 members, including no more than 20 members representing people from the Union Territories, and two appointed non-partisan members to represent the Anglo-Indian community (if the President feels that the community is not adequately represented).

Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five-year term, after which it is automatically dissolved, unless extended by a proclamation of emergency. In such cases, the term may be extended by one-year increments. The 15th Lok Sabha was formed in May 2009 and is the latest.

An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies' boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001. This exercise, which was supposed to be carried out after every census, was suspended in 1976 following a constitutional amendment to avoid adverse effects of the family planning program which was being implemented.^[6] Today, the Lok Sabha has its own TV channel, Lok Sabha TV, head-quartered within the premises of Parliament.

History [edit]

Ist Lok Sabha [edit]

The country got its debut Lok Sabha in April 1952, after the first General Elections were successfully concluded. The Indian National Congress (INC) stormed into power in the first Lok Sabha elections with 245 seats in its kitty. With this, India's grand old party managed to secure 45 per cent of the total votes polled. An electoral participation of 44.87 per cent was reported from across India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first elected Prime Minister of the country, his party clearly beating rivals by winning 75.99% (47,665,951) of the votes cast. The Lok Sabha, which was constituted on April 17, 1952, lasted its full term till April 4, 1957.

Non-Congress Governments [edit]

In most of the elections, the Indian Congress won a majority of Lok Sabha seats,but in the following elections the party had lost its majority. The non-Congress government consisted of coalition of Opposition parties .

7th Lok Sabha [edit]

The Janata Party came into power riding the public anger against the Congress and the Emergency but its position was weak. The party held 270 seats in the Lok Sabha and it never quite had a firm grip on power. The Janata Party consisted of Congress (O), Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal as well as defectors from the Congress (R). However ,it had only a tenure of three years.

9th Lok Sabha [edit]

The National Front came into power .The Bofors scandal, rising terrorism in Punjab, the civil war between LTTE and Sri Lankan government lost the credibility of Congress government led by Rahul Gandhi. The National Front consisted of Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok Dal and Congress (S), in order to bring together all the parties opposed to the Rajiv Gandhi government. Soon, many regional parties rallied around the Janata Dal including the DMK, TDP, and AGP and formed the National Front. The five-party National Front jumped into the electoral fray in 1989 after joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the two communist parties - the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). However the government was dissolved 16 months after its formation.

12th and 13th Lok Sabha [edit]

The Bharatiya Janata Party came to power. However , the government was shortlived as AIADMK party withdrew support and the government lost no-confidence party by a single vote,the closest defeat in a no-confidence motion in the history of Lok Sabha.

But in the 13th Lok Sabha, the same government came to power and formed stable majority. It is the first Non-Congress government to have completed its full tenure of five years in its history.

Qualifications [edit]

As per Article 84 of Indian Constitution, the Qualification for being a member of Lok Sabha is that he should be a citizen of India and has taken an oath given under Third Schedule of the Constitution. Also he must be at least 25 years of Age.

However ,as per Article 102 of Indian Constitution ,a member can be disqualified for being a member of parliament:-

• if he holds office of profit;
• if he is an undischarged insolvent;
• if he is of unsound mind;
• if he gives up as a citizenship of India or under allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
• if he is violating party discipline(as per Tenth schedule of the constitution).

Also under Representation of People Act 1951, he should not be criminally convicted, which would lead to disqualification otherwise.

Election [edit]

The members of lok Sabha are directly elected by their constituencies through direct election by First past the post system.

However, two Anglo-Indians are nominated to the Lok Sabha , if the President of India feels that there is lack of representation of Anglo-Indians. But, they are not entitled to vote in Presidential elections as per Article 55 of Indian Constitution.

Powers [edit]

Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha.

• Motions of no confidence against the government can only be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha. If passed by a majority vote, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers resigns collectively. The Rajya Sabha has no power over such a motion, and hence no real power over the executive. However, the Prime Minister may threaten the dissolution by the Lok Sabha and recommend this to the President, forcing an untimely general election. The President normally accepts this recommendation unless otherwise convinced that the Lok Sabha might recommend a new Prime Minister by a majority vote. Thus, both the executive and the legislature in India have checks and balances over each other.
• Money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha, and upon being passed, are sent to the Rajya Sabha, where it can be deliberated on for up to 14 days. If not rejected by the Rajya Sabha, or 14 days lapse from the introduction of the bill in the Rajya Sabha without any action by the House, or recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha are not accepted by the Lok Sabha, the bill is considered passed. The budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister in the name of the President of India.
• In matters pertaining to non-financial (ordinary) bills, after the bill has been passed by the House where it was originally tabled (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha), it is sent to the other house, where it may be kept for a maximum period of 6 months. If the other House rejects the bill or a period of 6 months elapses without any action by that House, or the House that originally tabled the bill does not accept the recommendations made by the members of the other house, it results in a deadlock. This is resolved by a joint session of both Houses, presided over by the speaker of the Lok Sabha and decided by a simple majority. The will of the Lok Sabha normally prevails in these matters, as its strength is more than double that of the Rajya Sabha.
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing any Bill for Constitutional Amendment (by a majority of the total membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the President (by two-thirds of the membership of the House).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the judges of the Supreme Court and the state High Courts (by a majority of the membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a resolution declaring war or national emergency (by two-thirds majority) or constitutional emergency (by simple majority) in a state.
• If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before or after the declaration of a National Emergency, the Rajya Sabha becomes the sole Parliament. It cannot be dissolved. This is a limitation on the Lok Sabha. But there is a possibility that president can exceed the term to not more than 1 year under the proclamation of emergency and the same would be lowered down to six month if the said proclamation ceases to operate.

Sessions and working hours [edit]

The first hour every sitting is called the Question Hour, during which questions posed by members may be assigned to specific government ministries, to be answered at a fixed date in the future.

If conflicting legislation is enacted by the two Houses, a joint sitting is held to resolve the differences. In such a session, the members of the Lok Sabha would generally prevail, since the Lok Sabha includes more than twice as many members as the Rajya Sabha.

Three sessions of Lok Sabha take place in a year:

• Budget session: February to May.
• Monsoon session: July to September.
• Winter session: November to December.

Officers [edit]

As per Article 93 of Indian Constitution , the Lok Sabha has a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. By convention, they are elected by a resolution passed by simple majority. The 15th Lok Sabha elected Meira Kumar as the speaker on 3rd June 2009, which is its first woman speaker to date. ^[7]

The Lok Sabha has also a seperate non-elected Secretariat staff.^[8]

Salary, Allowances and Pension [edit]

The Salary ,Allowances and Pension of Member of Parliament Act 1954, as amended in December 2010, provides the provisions for salary, allowances and pension for a member of Parliament.^[9]

Salary [edit]

Previously, the salary for a member of Parliament was Rs 16,000, but was hiked to Rs 50,000 by amending the above Act in December 2010.^[10]

Allowances [edit]

Travelling Allowance [edit]

It is paid to every member when attending session of parliament or when performing duties as a member. He is also entitled to travel freely by Railways.

Constituency allowance and amenities [edit]

The member is also entitled to constituency allowance and amenities such as water, electricity , housing etc.

Pension [edit]

The pension for person who served as member of Parliament is Rs 25000 per month.

Composition by states and territories [edit]

Previous Lok Sabha general elections [edit]

Lok Sabha is constituted after the general election as follows:

Number of members by party in Lok Sabha [edit]

Present members of Lok Sabha by political party and alliance up to 14 February 2013:^{[12][13][14][15]}

See also [edit]

• Rajya Sabha
• Lawmaking procedure in India
• Politics of India
• List of Indian constituencies
• Indian general elections 1951–1971
• Indian general elections 1977–1999
• Indian general elections 2004
• Indian general elections 2009
• List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha of India
• List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha (by state)
• PRS Legislative Research

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lok Sabha

• All Lok Sabha Members – Current and Previous
• Description of Lok Sabha on website of Parliament of India
• Lok Sabha website

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