Parliament: structure, functioning, committees
UPSC-tuned lesson on Parliament's structure, sessions and procedures, money vs ordinary bills, and the committee system under Articles 79-122.
The constitutional foundation
Article 79 constitutes the Parliament of India as the President plus two Houses: the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). The President is an integral part of Parliament though he sits in neither House: no bill becomes law without assent under Article 111, and the President summons, prorogues and may dissolve the Lok Sabha (Article 85).
Composition of the two Houses
The Lok Sabha (Article 81) has a maximum strength of 552 — 530 from states, 20 from Union Territories, and formerly up to 2 Anglo-Indians nominated under Article 331 (abolished by the 104th Amendment Act, 2019, effective 25 January 2020). Its current effective strength is 543 elected members chosen by direct election on the basis of universal adult suffrage. The normal term is five years (Article 83), extendable by one year at a time during a Proclamation of Emergency — used once, from 1976 to 1977 during the 1975 Emergency.
The Rajya Sabha (Article 80) has a maximum of 250 members: up to 238 representing states and UTs, elected indirectly by elected members of State Legislative Assemblies through the single transferable vote system of proportional representation, plus 12 nominated by the President for distinction in literature, science, art and social service. It is a permanent House (Article 83(1)) — not subject to dissolution — with one-third of members retiring every second year. Seats are allotted by population, so Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members while many small states send one.
Presiding officers
The Lok Sabha elects a Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Article 93); the Speaker certifies Money Bills under Article 110(3) and decides disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, a power held subject to judicial review after Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992). The Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Article 89); the House elects a Deputy Chairman.
Sessions, quorum and devices
Article 85 requires that the gap between two sessions not exceed six months, yielding three customary sessions: Budget, Monsoon and Winter. The quorum is one-tenth of the total membership (Article 100). The procedural devices a candidate must retain include the Question Hour and Zero Hour (the latter an Indian innovation, not in the rules), and motions — Adjournment Motion, Calling Attention, No-Confidence Motion (Article 75: the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha), and the Censure Motion. A joint sitting (Article 108), summoned to resolve a deadlock on an ordinary bill, has occurred only three times: the Dowry Prohibition Bill (1961), the Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill (1978), and the Prevention of Terrorism Bill (2002).