1. Introduction to the Parliament of India:
Article 79 of the Constitution of India provides that there shall be Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be respectively known as the Council of States and the House of the People.
Thus, the Constitution has stipulated a bicameral system of legislature in which Indian Parliament consists of two Houses. Whereas the Rajya Sabha is Upper House, the Lok Sabha is Lower House of Parliament. The former is a permanent House in the sense that it cannot be dissolved, unlike latter i.e., the Lok Sabha, which has a fixed term of five years unless dissolved earlier.
The Lok Sabha consists of representatives directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise, except of course in the case of Anglo-Indian community, whose two representatives can be nominated in that House, when the President is satisfied that that community has not been properly represented. This nomination has so far been made in the case of all the ten Lok Sabhas.
2. The Rajya Sabha:
Its Composition:
The Rajya Sabha, as already mentioned, is Upper House of Indian Parliament. Article SO of the constitution provides that the Council of States shall consist of 12 members to be nominated by the President in accordance with the provisions of clause (3) and not more than two hundred and thirty-eight representatives of the states and of the Union Territories.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
It is also provided that allocation of seats in the Council of States to be filled in by the representatives of states and Union Territories shall be as contained in the Fourth Schedule to the constitution.
Clause (3) of the constitution also, provides that the members to be nominated by the President shall be those who have special know ledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social services.
The constitution also provides that the representatives of each state in the Council of States shall be elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the state in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
The composition of the Rajya Sabha, in term of number of seats to each state has been changing, because from time to time the states have been reorganised. Members from the Union Territories are chosen in such a manner as the Parliament may decide by law. The basis of the composition, i.e., number of representatives to be elected from each State has been fixed keeping in view the population of each Slate.
Explanation:
