SPL(VIII)- LESSON-3 WHY DO WE NEED A PARLIAMENT? (LESSON NOTES)

SPL(VIII)- LESSON-3

WHY DO WE NEED A PARLIAMENT?

(LESSON NOTES)

___________________________________________________________________________________

v INTRODUCTION

Ø We in India pride ourselves on being a democracy. Here we will try and understand the relation between the ideas of participation in decision-making and the need for all democratic governments to have the consent of their citizens.

Ø The lesson focuses on these issue and need of parliament. We also learn more about parliament.

v STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AND DEMAND FOR RIGHTS

Ø In the freedom struggle of India people participated from different backgrounds. They were greatly inspired by the ideas of freedom, equality and participation in decision-making.

Ø During the British government no one criticize of their decisions even if they did not agree with them.

Ø But during the freedom movement the nationalists began to openly criticise the British government and make demands.

§  They demanded that there should be elected members in the legislature .

§  They should have right to discuss about the budget and ask questions.

Ø And after that the Government of India Act 1909, allowed for some elected representation.

Ø However, all adults were not allowed to vote. Also people could not participate in decision making under the British rule.

Ø But the nationalists wanted that all persons in independent India would be able to participate in making decisions.

Ø Therefore, when India got freedom, the dreams and aspirations of the freedom struggle were made concrete in the Constitution. The Constitution of Independent India laid down the principle of universal adult franchise. Now, all adult citizens of the country have the voting right.

v ELECTION PROCESS

Ø In India elections are held in every five years for Lok sabha (central government) and vidhan sabha (State government). In present time election are held by EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), earlier Ballot papers were used.

Ø For the election purpose the country divided into different areas from where a person is elected by the people of that area are known as Constituency. It is based on the population.

Ø In India total number of Lok sabha constituencies is 543 and Rajya sabha is 233.

Ø Numbers of legislative constituencies are different in the states as Highest in UP-403 and Lowest in Sikkim-32.

Ø In the election candidate can participate in election through political parties or Independent.

Ø Once elected, these candidates become Members of Parliament, also known as MPs. These MPs together form the Parliament.

v POLITICAL PARTIES

Ø A group of persons who come together to participate in the election and to form the government is called as political parties. There are different political parties as INC, BJP, AAP, RJD, BSP, SP, etc.

Ø RULING PARTY

§  A political party or an alliance which have the majority (at least half or more member’s e.i 272) in the election is known as Ruling party.

SEE THE RESULT OF THESE 2 LOKSABHA ELECTIONS AND FIND WHO FORM THE GOVERNMENT. IS THAT A COALITION GOVERNMENT

§  The Prime Minister of India is the leader of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha.

§  The Prime Minister selects ministers to work with her to implement decisions. These ministers then take charge of different areas of government functioning like health, education, finance etc.

Ø OPPOSITION PARTY

§  The political party which secures second position in the election is known as opposition party. It may join by other political parties also.

§  The Opposition parties play a critical role in the healthy functioning of a democracy.

§  They highlight drawbacks in various policies and programmes of the government and mobilise popular support for their own policies.

v COALITION GOVERNMENT:

Ø When one party does not get a clear majority, a group of political parties
form a coalition and elect and forms a government, known as a coalition government. NDA (National Democratic Alliance of BJP and UPA (United Progressive Alliance) is the alliance of Congress party.

v PARLIAMENT

Ø The legislative body of the government in India is called as parliament (Sansad)

Ø The Indian Parliament was formed after 1947 to enable the citizens of India to participate in decision making and control the government.

Ø The Parliament is made up of elected representatives of different political parties and has a lot of power.

Ø The Parliament consists of total of 543 representatives. They are called Members of Parliament.

v CONSIST OF PARLIAMENT

Ø Indian Parliament consists of President and two houses Lokasabha and Rajya sabha.

v DIFFERENCE IN LOKSABHA AND RAJYASABHA

BASIS	LOKASABHA	RAJYASBHA
Members	Maximum -552 At present-545	Total-250 At present-245
Other name	Lower house	Upper house
Tenure	5 year	Permanent
Election	In every five year	In every 2 year for 1/3 members
Members elected for	5 years	6 years
Elected by	Directly, by citizens	Indirectly, by Vidhan sabha members
Chairmen	Loksabha Speaker,	Vice president
Age to be a member	Minimum 25 year	Minimum 30 year
Nominated by President	2 members of Anglo Indian	12 members from different background
Representative	Representative of people	Representative of states

 

v FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT

Ø The important function of Parliament is making laws for the nation.

Ø Parliament also control , guide and inform the government.

Ø The Parliament keeps a check on the ministers and their work. MPs have the right to question the ministers about the working of their departments. This is usually done during the question hour.

Ø Parliament’s also control all the matters dealing with finances and passed the budget.

v SESSION OF PARLIAMENT

Ø The meeting of Loksabha and Rajya sabha is known as the session of Parliament. Usually three session are held yearly.

Ø First hour of session is known as question hour as during this time the MP can ask the question to the particular minister.

Ø There are three types of questions:

§  Starred question- Answer of these question to given in oral.

§  Unstarred question- Answer may given in written

§  Short Notice questions- Can ask on very short notice.

v PEOPLE IN THE PARLIAMENT

Ø At present in Parliament people belongs from different background.

Ø There has also been an increase in political participation from the Dalit and backward castes and the minorities.

Ø Some seats are reserved in the Parliament for SCs and STs.

Ø It has also been suggested that there should be reservation of seats for women. However, this issue is still debated.

v TERMS

Ø EVM: It stands for Electronic Voting Machine. These were used for the first time in 2004 General Election throughout our country.

Ø Approval: It refers to the formal consent through elected representatives that Parliament has.

Ø Representative: The person who is elected by the people is known as the people’s representative.

Ø Universal Adult Franchise: All adult citizens of the country enjoy the right to vote.

Ø Unresolved: It refers to the situations in which there are no easy solutions to problems.