PARLIAMENT OF INDIA: The House of the People(Lok Sabha)

The Lok Sabha is the popular house of the parliament because its members are directly elected by the common electorates of India. All the members of this House are popularly elected, except not more than two from the Anglo-Indian community, who can be nominated by the President . In the Constitution, the strength of the Lok Sabha is provisioned under Art. 81 to be not more than 552 (530 from the States, 20 from the Union Territories and 2 may be nominated from the Anglo-Indian community). Recently again, the Govt. has extended this freeze in the Lok Sabha seats till the year 2026 by Constitution (84th Amendment Act, 2001).

Special Powers of the Lok Sabha:

There are certain powers, which are constitutionally granted to the Lok Sabha and not to the Rajya Sabha. These powers are-

1. Money and Financial Bills can only originate in the Lok Sabha.

2. In case of a Money Bill, the Rajya Sabha has only the right to

make recommendation and the Lok Sabha may or may not accept

the recommendation. Also, a Money Bill must be passed by the

Upper House within a period of 14 days. Otherwise, the Bill shall

be automatically deemed to be passed by the House. Thus, the

Lok Sabha enjoys exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the

passage of the Money Bills.

3. The Council of Ministers are responsible only to the Lok Sabha

and hence the Confidence and No-confidence motions can be

introduced in this House only.

4. Under Art. 352, the Lok Sabha in a special sitting can

disapprove the continuance of a national emergency proclaimed

by the President, even if the Rajya Sabha rejects such a

resolution.

Tenure of the Lok Sabha:

The normal tenure of the Lok Sabha is five years. But the House can be dissolved by the President even before the end of the normal tenure. Also, the life of the Lok Sabha can be extended by the parliament beyond the five-year term during the period of national emergency proclaimed under Art. 352.Qualifications for the membership of Lok SabhaTo become a member of the Lok Sabha, the person must:

1. be a citizen of India.

2. be not less than 25 years of age.

3. be a registered voter in any of the Parliamentary constituencies

in India.

4. should not hold any office of profit

Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha:

The Speaker is the chief presiding officer of the Lok Sabha. The Speaker presides over the meetings of the House and his rulings on the proceedings of the House are final. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker may be removed from their offices by a resolution passed by the House by an effective majority of the House after a prior notice of 14 days to them. The Speaker, to maintain impartiality of his office, votes only in case of a tie i.e to remove a deadlock and this is known as the Casting Vote.Special powers of the Speaker There are certain powers which belong only to the Speaker of Lok Sabha while similar powers are not available to his counterpart in tine upper house, i.e. the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. These are- 

1. Whether a Bill is Money Bill or not is certified only by the Speaker and his decision in this regard is final and binding.

2. The Speaker, or in his absence, the Deputy Speaker, presides over the joint-sittings of the parliament.

3. The committees of parliament function essentially under the Speaker and their chairpersons are also appointed or nominated by him.

4. If the Speaker is a member of any committee, he is the ex-officio chairman of such a committee.

Special position of the Speaker

The Constitution has given a special position to the office of the Speaker.

1. Though he is an elected member of the Lok Sabha, he continues to hold his office even after the dissolution of the

2. House till a new Lok Sabha is constituted. This is because he not only presides and conducts the parliamentary proceedings but also acts as the Head of the Lok Sabha Secretariat which continues to function even after the House is dissolved.

3. The Speaker presides over the joint sitting of the two Houses of the Parliament

4. Speaker certifies a Bill as Money Bill and his decision is final in this regard.

5. The Speaker is ex-officio President of Indian Parliamentary Group which in India functions as the national group of Inter-parliament Union.