Chapter 6: The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive (Political Science)

Look up your state in this table (seats fixed for the present Parliament):

Smaller states and UTs:

• Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura have 2 Lok Sabha seats and 1 Rajya Sabha seat each.
• Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Puducherry have 1 of each.
• Ladakh, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have 1 Lok Sabha seat each and no Rajya Sabha seat.

You can check the current names of your MPs on the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites.

See the table, e.g. Uttar Pradesh 80 (Lok Sabha) and 31 (Rajya Sabha); Maharashtra 48 and 19; Tamil Nadu 39 and 18; Kerala 20 and 9.

Why it is the voice of the people:

• The Lok Sabha is elected directly by all adult citizens, and the Rajya Sabha represents the states.
• MPs come from every region, language, religion and community, including reserved seats for SCs and STs (and, from the coming elections, for women).
• It makes laws, controls the budget, and holds the government to account on behalf of the people.

How different opinions are heard:

• Debates and discussion on every bill, often in both Houses.
• Question Hour and Zero Hour, when MPs question ministers and raise urgent public issues.
• The Opposition criticises and offers alternatives. The Leader of the Opposition has a recognised role.
• Parliamentary committees study bills in detail and invite experts and the public to give their views.
• Voting, including on motions of no-confidence, and free speech for members in the House.

It is elected by and represents the whole people and all the states; debates, Question Hour, Zero Hour, an active Opposition, committees and voting let every viewpoint be heard.

In a parliamentary system, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (the Executive) come from Parliament and stay in office only as long as they have the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Constitution made the Executive responsible to the Legislature:

• To keep the government answerable to the people: MPs, who are elected by the people, can question, criticise and, through a no-confidence motion, remove the government.
• To prevent misuse of power: ministers must explain their actions daily, through Question Hour, debates and committee reports.
• To control public money: the government cannot spend money or impose taxes without Parliament's approval (the budget).
• To keep the system flexible: a government that loses support can be changed without waiting five years, as happened in 1979 and 1999.

So that the government stays answerable to the people's elected representatives, who can question it, control its spending and remove it by a no-confidence vote, preventing misuse of power.

• Federal balance: India is a union of states. The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) represents the states, so their interests are heard in making national laws. The Lok Sabha represents the people directly.
• Careful law-making: a bill must pass both Houses, so hasty or poorly drafted laws can be reviewed, debated again and improved.
• Experience and expertise: the Rajya Sabha includes 12 nominated members with special knowledge of literature, science, art and social service. Its members serve longer, staggered terms, and it is never dissolved, which gives continuity.
• Diversity of views: two Houses, chosen in different ways, bring more perspectives into Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha represents the states in a federal country, a second House allows bills to be reviewed so laws are made carefully, and it adds experience, expert members and continuity.

A sample, using the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 (the Women's Reservation Bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), which became the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act:

• Introduced in: the Lok Sabha, on 19 September 2023, during a special session (the first bill introduced in the new Parliament building).
• Lok Sabha: debated and passed on 20 September 2023 by 454 votes to 2.
• Rajya Sabha: debated and passed on 21 September 2023, unanimously (214–0).
• Debates: members broadly supported it. The main disagreements were over when it would take effect (only after a new census and delimitation) and demands for sub-quotas for OBC women.
• President's assent: 28 September 2023, when it became law.
• Time taken: about ten days in this final round, though similar bills had been introduced since 1996.

You can track another bill the same way, using the PRS Legislative Research website, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sites, and newspaper archives.

E.g. the Women's Reservation Bill: introduced in the Lok Sabha on 19 September 2023, passed there on the 20th and in the Rajya Sabha on the 21st, with the President's assent on 28 September 2023.

Plan for the skit:

1. Roles: Speaker (Lok Sabha), Chairman (Rajya Sabha), the minister who moves the bill, ruling-party MPs, Opposition MPs, the Leader of the Opposition, a committee chair, the President, and a narrator.
2. Scene 1, Lok Sabha: the minister introduces the bill (first reading) and explains its aims.
3. Scene 2, debate: MPs argue for and against it, and Opposition members propose amendments. During Question Hour, ministers answer questions on related issues.
4. Scene 3, committee: the bill is sent to a committee, which hears experts and suggests changes.
5. Scene 4, voting: the Speaker puts the bill to vote. It passes, then goes to the Rajya Sabha, where the debate and vote are repeated.
6. Scene 5, Rashtrapati Bhavan: the President gives assent. The narrator announces that the bill is now an Act, published in the Gazette.

Choose a law that students relate to, such as the Women's Reservation Act or a law on digital data, so the debate is lively and real.

Assign roles (Speaker, minister, ruling and Opposition MPs, committee, President) and act out: introduction, debate and questions, committee review, voting in both Houses, and presidential assent.

It was first introduced in 1996, and introduced again several times (it passed the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but not the Lok Sabha). Possible reasons for the long delay:

• Disagreement over sub-quotas: some parties wanted separate reservation within it for OBC and minority women, and blocked the bill without it.
• Fear of losing seats: sitting MPs worried that their constituencies would be reserved for women in rotation.
• Lack of political will and consensus, and coalition governments that depended on parties opposing the bill.
• Constitutional amendment requirements: it needs a two-thirds majority in both Houses, which is hard to achieve without broad agreement.
• Social attitudes: traditional views about women in politics, and male-dominated party structures.

It needed a two-thirds majority, and parties disagreed over OBC and minority sub-quotas; sitting MPs feared losing seats; coalition politics and a lack of will stalled it for decades.

On laws:

• Bills get passed in a hurry, sometimes without debate or committee scrutiny, so laws may have gaps and mistakes and later need corrections.
• Important issues raised by citizens are not discussed.
• Question Hour is lost, so ministers escape being questioned.
• Public money is wasted, because running Parliament costs crores of rupees a day.

On trust:

• People see shouting and walkouts instead of discussion and feel their MPs are not doing their job.
• This weakens respect for Parliament, increases cynicism, and can lower voter interest.
• It sets a poor example of how disagreements should be handled in a democracy.

Disagreement is natural, but it should be expressed through debate, not disruption.

Laws get passed hastily with little debate or scrutiny, Question Hour is lost and money wasted, and people lose trust in Parliament and their representatives.

Your MP deals with matters on the Union List and national policy. Your MLA deals with matters on the State List and the state government.

Group students by interest (environment, sports, health, transport); ask MPs about national subjects (railways, national highways, central schemes) and MLAs about state subjects (state roads and buses, schools, health centres, local pollution).

The role of the judiciary:

• Protects fundamental rights: anyone can approach the courts, even the Supreme Court directly (Article 32), if their rights are violated.
• Guards the Constitution: through judicial review, courts can strike down laws or government actions that go against the Constitution.
• Settles disputes between citizens, between citizens and the government, and between the Union and the states.
• Keeps a check on the Legislature and the Executive, so that no organ of government becomes all-powerful.
• Gives justice in civil and criminal cases, and widens access to justice through public interest litigation (PIL).

Without an independent judiciary:

• Governments could pass unconstitutional laws or misuse power freely, with no one to stop them.
• People's rights could be taken away, and critics could be jailed unfairly.
• Judges could be pressured to favour the powerful, so the rich and powerful would escape the law.
• People would lose faith in the rule of law, leading towards dictatorship and disorder.

It protects rights, interprets and guards the Constitution through judicial review, settles disputes and checks the other organs. Without independence, rights could be violated, power misused and the rule of law would collapse.