Lok Sabha
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The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house of Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are direct representatives of the people of India as they are directly elected by the electorate consisting of all adult citizens of India. Its maximum size as outlined in the Constitution of India is 552 members made up of up to 530 members representing people of the states of India, upto 20 members representing people from the Union Territories, and 2 members appointed by the President of India to represent the Anglo-Indian community if he or she finds that community to not be adequately represented in the House.
The minimum age qualification for membership of the Lok Sabha is twenty-five years.
Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five year term after which it automatically dissolves unless extended by a Proclamation of Emergency which may extend the term in one year increments. The Fourteenth Lok Sabha was formed in May, 2004.
The membership of Lok Sabha is distributed among the states and union territories so as to ensure proper representation of the population of the states. The current allocation of membership is as follows: (545 members: 543 elected + 2 nominated)
States:
- Andhra Pradesh - 42
- Arunachal Pradesh - 2
- Assam - 14
- Bihar - 40
- Chhatisgarh - 11
- Goa - 2
- Gujarat - 26
- Haryana - 10
- Himachal Pradesh - 4
- Jammu and Kashmir - 6
- Jharkand - 14
- Karnataka - 28
- Kerala - 20
- Madhya Pradesh - 29
- Maharashtra - 48
- Manipur - 2
- Meghalaya - 2
- Mizoram - 1
- Nagaland - 1
- Orissa - 21
- Punjab - 13
- Rajasthan - 25
- Sikkim - 1
- Tamil Nadu - 39
- Tripura - 2
- Uttar Pradesh - 85
- Uttaranchal - 5
- West Bengal - 42
Union Territories
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 1
- Chandigarh - 1
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli - 1
- Daman and Diu - 1
- Delhi - 7
- Lakshadweep - 1
- Pondicherry - 1
The members of the Lok Sabha elect a Speaker of Lok Sabha who is responsible for the conduct of business of the body, and also a Deputy Speaker to preside during the Speaker's absence.
On normal business days the Lok Sabha assembles from eleven o'clock in the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon and two o'clock in the afternoon to six o'clock in the evening. The first hour of every sitting is the Question Hour during which members' questions may be assigned to government Ministries to be answered at a fixed date in the future.
The Lok Sabha holds equal legislative power with the Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, except in the area of Money Bills in which case the Lok Sabha has the ultimate authority. If conflicting legislation is enacted by the two Houses, a joint sitting is held to resolve the differences. In such a session, the members of the Lok Sabha would generally prevail, since the Lok Sabha includes more than twice as many members as the Rajya Sabha.
Lok Sabha since Independence
See also
- List of Members of the 14th Lok Sabha
- Politics of India
- Indian general elections 1951-1971
- Indian general elections 1977-1999
- Indian general elections, 2004
External links
- Description of Lok Sabha on website of Parliament of India (http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/introls.htm)
- Website of Lok Sabha (http://loksabha.nic.in/)de:Lok Sabha