Page 197 - SST Class 08

Quiz Time The chief functions of the Parliament can be
Fill in the blanks :
1. The ____________ is the supreme law-making
body in the country.
2. The government at the centre is known as the
____________ government.
3. The speaker is the Presiding Officer of the
____________.
4. The ____________ are the heads of different
departments of the government.
5. The ____________ is vested with the power to
make laws in the country.
Functioning of the Parliament
The Parliament, comprising the Lok Sabha and the
Rajya Sabha, function in the following manner.
After election, each member is required to take an
oath of faith and loyalty to the Constitution of
India. The President addresses the first session of
the Parliament every year. He can also address the
joint session of both houses.
Generally, there are three sessions of the
Parliament in a year. There cannot be a gap of
more than six months between two sessions. A
special session can also be called.
The business of the Parliament is conducted in
either Hindi or English; however, in case a
member does not know either of these two
languages, the chairman can allow him to speak
in his mother tongue; in this case, interpretation
service is made available so that all members can
understand him. The first hour of each day’s
sitting is reserved as the Question Hour . During
this time, the members can raise any issues or ask
questions from the ministers.
Info Bits
Info Bits
The time immediately following the Question Hour
has come to be known as Zero Hour. It starts at
around 12 noon hence the name and member can,
with prior notice to the Speaker, raise discussion
on important bills, the budget, and other issues of
national importance take place from 2 pm onwards.
enumerated as follows :
1. Legislation : The most important function of
the Parliament is making a law. We shall
discuss how a law is made a little later.
2. Control over National Finance : All incomes
and expenditures of the country are decided
by the Parliament. The budget can come into
force only after the Parliament has approved it.
3. Control over the Executive : The Parliament
exercises control over the executive in many
ways. The executive is responsible to the
Parliament. The members of Parliament can
ask questions from the ministers regarding any
matter. The Parliament can vote against any
bill presented by the Council of Ministers. The
Parliament can cut the annual budget in order
to reduce the powers of the executive.
4. Judicial Functions : The Parliament can
impeach the President or a judge of the
Supreme Court or a High Court if there are any
charges of misuse of powers or corruption
against them.
5. Elections to Posts : The President, the Vice
President, the Prime Minister and other
ministers are elected/chosen by the Parliament.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LOK SABHA AND RAJYA SABHA
The members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected
by the people, while the members of the Rajya
Sabha are indirectly elected. Therefore, more
powers have been vested in the Lok Sabha; for
example, both houses can ask questions from the
ministers, but if the Rajya Sabha votes against the
Council of Ministers, it does not make much
difference; however, if the Lok Sabha votes against
the Council of Ministers, it has to resign. A money
bill can be presented only in the Lok Sabha, and
the Rajya Sabha can only give suggestions to it, or
at the most, can delay it for 14 days.
In case there is a deadlock between the two
houses of Parliament, a joint session is held. As
you can guess, the number of members of the Lok
Sabha is larger, so it enjoys the upper hand.
Parliamentary Government
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