·
Parliament is
the supreme legislative body of India.
·
The Indian
Parliament comprises
1. The President of India
2. Lok Sabha (House
of the People)
3. Rajya Sabha (Council
of States).
·
The
President has the power to summon and prorogue either House of Parliament or
to dissolve Lok Sabha.
·
India's
government is bicameral; Rajya Sabha is the upper house and
Lok Sabha is the lower house.
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The
two houses meet in separate chambers in the Sansad
Bhavan
Lok Sabha:
·
Lok
Sabha is also known as the "House of the People" or the lower house
·
The
Constitution provides that the maximum strength of the House be 552 members.
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Up
to 530 members represent of the territorial constituencies in States, up to 20
members represent the Union Territories and no more than two members from Anglo-Indian community
can be nominated by the President of India if he or she feels that
the community is not adequately represented. House seats are apportioned among
the states by population .
·
It
has a current strength of 543 members.
·
To
be eligible for membership in the Lok Sabha, a person must be a citizen of
India and must be 25 years of age or older, mentally sound, should not be
bankrupt and should not be criminally convicted.
·
The Women's Reservation Bill proposes
reserving 33% of the seats in Lok Sabha for women.
Rajya Sabha:
·
The
Rajya Sabha is also known as "Council of States " or the upper house.
·
Rajya
Sabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution; instead one third
of the members retire every second year, being replaced by newly elected
members.
·
Each
member is elected for a term of six years.
·
Its
members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the States
·
The
Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members in all.
·
238
members are to be elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are to be
nominated by the President of India and shall consist of
persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such
matters as the following, namely literature, science, art and social service.
·
The
minimum age for a person to become a member of Rajya Sabha is 30 years.
