Parliament: UPSC Previous Year Questions (Polity)

Explanation

For a candidate to stand for election to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian Parliament), certain eligibility criteria must be met, as stipulated by the Section 33 of Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Constitution of India such as:

1. The candidate must be a citizen of India

2. The age of the candidate should not less than 25 years of age

3. The candidate must be registered as an elector for a parliamentary constituency.

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Indian constitution adopts the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system of elections where a candidate is declared elected if he/she gets a plurality of the votes, not necessarily 50 percent of the total votes polled. This means that the candidate with the highest number of votes among all contenders is declared the winner, even if they do not achieve an absolute majority.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Under Article 93, Speaker and Deputy speaker are elected by the house. This is a convention (not constitutional provision) that usually the Speaker’s post goes to the majority party and the Deputy Speaker’s to the Opposition. This is an established convention to maintain a balance of power and ensure that the ruling party does not control both the key positions.

Explanation

The Parliament of India exercises control over the Council of Ministers (including the Prime Minister and other ministers) through various mechanisms such as:

Adjournment Motion is introduced to draw attention of the House to a definite matter of urgent public importance which is definite, factual, urgent, matter of recent occurrence. It needs the support of 50 members to be admitted. It involves an element of censure against the government and hence Rajya Sabha is not permitted to make use of this device. Question Hour is a crucial tool used by the members of Parliament to question the Council of Ministers regarding their decisions, actions, and the functioning of their departments. During Question Hour (usually the first hour of every sitting in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), members can ask both oral and written questions on any matter within the jurisdiction of the government. In addition to the ministers, the questions can also be asked to the private members. It has been mentioned in the Rule of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. Supplementary questions are follow-up questions asked by members of Parliament after the initial answer provided by the Minister during Question Hour. These allow for further probing and clarification on issues raised in the original question. This process enables greater scrutiny and oversight of the functioning of the Council of Ministers. Three types of Question are asked namely:- Starred Question: Require oral answer and Supplementary question can be asked. Unstarred Question: Require written answer and Supplementary question cannot be asked. Short Notice Question: Answered orally and asked on short notice of less than 10 days.

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect: A Private Member bill can be introduced by any member of the Parliament other than a minister. A bill introduced by a Minister in the Parliament is generally called a government bill. A Private member bill generally reflects the stand of the opposition party on public matters. There is less likelihood that the Parliament will adopt it. Its rejection by the House has no implication on the parliamentary confidence in the government or its resignation A 1-month notice is required before introducing the Bill. They are discussed only on Fridays in both Houses of Parliament during Private Members’ Business hours. Constitutional Amendment can be moved by Private member bill.

Statement 2 is incorrect: As of now around 14 private member’s bills have been passed since independence in Indian Parliament. Examples: The Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Bill 1956, The Orphanages & Other Charitable Homes (Supervision & Control) Bill 1960. Marine Insurance Bill 1959 etc. None have been passed in both Houses since 1970.