Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and The Parliament

Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cannot be ever known before knowing its spine , which is “The Parliament.”

The Parliament

The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative of Independent India. It is a bicameral, means, dual, legislative body. It is composed of The President and the two houses.

The two houses which were earlier termed as Lower House and Upper House are now Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.

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Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Thus, let’s go through the Lower House of Parliament or Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha

The parliament consists of the two houses, out of which, the one is “House of People” which is later renamed as “The Lok sabha”.

Representatives of the Lok Sabha

The representative of the Indian people at the Lok Sabha is called “Member of Parliament” and is abbreviated as MPs.

Term or Duration of LokSabha

The Lok Sabha is not a permanent house of the parliament and hence the duration of the Lok sabha is of five years.

However, when Proclamation of Emergency (President’s rule)is in operation, the life of the house may get extended by a law of parliament.

But, the extended-term shall in no case be more than a year at a time.

Composition of the Lok Sabha

The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha provided by the constitution of Republic India is 552.

Out of 552 seats,530 members can represent the states and not more than 20 members shall represent the Union Territories.

The 2 vacant seats are allocated to the Anglo-Indian community.

Distribution of Lok Sabha Seats in Indian states

STATES.                                         SEATS

Andhra Prasesh.                  25

Aruanchal Pradesh.            2

Assam.                                    14

Bihar.                                      40

Chattisgarh.                           11

Goa.                                         2

Gujarat.                                 26

Haryana.                                10

Himachal Pradesh.              4

Jharkhand.                           14

Karnataka.                             28

Kerala.                                     20

Madhya Pradesh.                 29

Maharashtra.                        48

Manipur.                                  2

Meghalaya.                              2

Mizoram.                                  1

Nagaland.                                  1

Odhisha.                                    21

Punjab.                                       13

Rajasthan.                                  25

Sikkim.                                         1

Tamil Nadu.                              39

Telangana.                               17

Tripura.                                       2

Uttarakhand.                              5

Uttar Pradesh.                           80

West Bengal.                              42

UNION TERRITORIES.                SEATS

Andaman and Nicobar.        1

Chandigarh.                             1

Dadra and Nagra Haveli.      1

Daman and Diu.                       1

Delhi.                                           7

Lakshdweep.                             1

Puducherry.                                1

Qualification To Be A Member Of Lok Sabha

To be a member of the Lok Sabha, a candidate must be a citizen of India as well as have attended the age of 25 years.

Along with these two other qualifications mentioned by parliament should also be fulfilled by the aspirant.

Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by the process of universal adult suffrage and a first past the post system to represent their respective constituencies.

Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Lok Sabha

Members of the Lok sabha is entitled with such salaries and allowances which may vary from time to time as determined by Parliament.

Besides, they are provided with constituency allowances and an office allowance.

Presiding officer of the Lok Sabha

The speaker is the Principal presiding officer of the Lok sabha.

Election of the speaker

The speaker is elected by the house from among its member by a simple majority of members present and voting.

The constitution also provides the office of Deputy Speaker, who performs the duty of Speaker when is absent or seat is vacant.

Panel of Chairperson

If both the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is absent from a sitting, then one of the members of the house out of a panel of 6 presides the sitting.

However, the panel is chosen by the Speaker.

Powers and functions of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha

The Speaker regulates Debates and Proceedings of the house. If any question arises whether is a money bill or not, the decision of the speaker goes final. The Speaker preserves order in the house. He may name a member for suspension if he disregards the authority.

The speaker communicated the decision of the house to the concerned authorities. It is the decision of the speaker for the arrival of strangers and press correspondents.

The speaker is the ex-officio chairperson of the house and gives Business advisory committee and Rules committee. Under the anti-defection law of 1985,it is the decision of the speaker whether a member is being disqualified or not.

Speaker Position

The office of Speaker is one of great honour and responsibility.The Lok Sabha represents the nation and hence,the speakee becomes the symbol of Nation’s dignity.

Removal of the speaker

The Speaker holds office until he ceases to be a member of the house until he himself resigns the office. Besides,he can be removed from the office by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the house.

Domain powers of the Lok sabha

FINANCIAL MATTERS

A money bill can be introduced only in the Lok sabha. The Lok sabha may accept or reject all or any of the reccomendations of the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha has the power to vote on the Demands for Grants.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

The Union Council of ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

No confidence motion against the Council of Ministers can be moved only in the Lok Sabha. An adjournment motion is one of the ways through which the Loksabha exercise control over the ministers. Censure motion is also moved in Lok sabha.

Joint sitting of both houses

Since, the total membership of Rajya Sabha is less than half of the total strength of Lok Sabha, the will of Loksabha would naturally prevail at the joint sitting.

The Rajya Sabha

The Parliament consists of the two houses, out of which, the other one is “House of States” which is later renamed as “The Rajya Sabha”.

 Representatives of  The Rajya Sabha

The representative of the Indian people at Rajya Sabha is called “Member of Parliament” and is abbreviated as MPs.

TERMS AND DURATION OF THE RAJYA SABHA

The Rajya Sabha is the permanent house of the parliament.

Unlike, Lok Sabha it is not a body of dissolution.

However, one-third of its member retire at the end of every second year.

COMPOSITION OF THE RAJYA SABHA

The Rajya Sabha consists of not more than 250 members.

The members fall into two categories as Nominated and Elected.

The nominated members are twelve in number. They are nominated by the President.

The nominated people are those who have special knowledge or practical experience in matters such as literature, science, art and social services.

The principle of nomination enabled distinguished persons to have a place in the Rajya Sabha .

The remainder are representatives of the states and Union territories.

QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A MEMBER OF THE RAJYA SABHA

In order to be chosen a member of the Rajya sabha ,a person must be a citizen of India and must attend an age of 30 years.

Other than these,a person must fulfill the other qualifications which are provided under the parliament.

ELECTION OF THE MEMBER OF THE RAJYA SABHA

Representatives of States in Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of each state.

The method of election is done by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferrable voting system.

The representatives of the Union Territories shall be chosen in such a manner as Parliament may prescribe.

PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE RAJYA SABHA

The Presiding Officer of the Rajya Sabha is the Vice President of India.

But ,the Vice President is not a member of the Rajya Sabha.

He has no right to vote except to break a tie.

However,the Rajya Sabha elects a Deputy Chairman among its own member.

Deputy chairman presides the sitting when the Vice President remains absent.

Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Rajya Sabha

The salary,the daily allowance and the constituency allowance and office allowance of the member of the Rajya Sabha are the same as the member of the Lok Sabha.

Powers and Duties of the Vice-President

There is no any specific role or function is allocated to the presiding officer of the Rajya sabha or the Vice President.

Powers and Functions of Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha makes the law on the matter of State list in the National interest.

The Rajya Sabha creates one or more All India services. Undoubtedly, the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house irrelevant to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha takes part in the impeachment of the President.

It has the power to remove the judges of the Supreme court and High Court. The Rajya Sabha proclamations emergency. It may lead to the promulgation of ordinances as well as Constitutional amendments.

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