Indian Polity Facts: Lok Sabha

Friends!

Continuing with the study material for UGC NET Paper 1, here, I am presenting some useful facts about Lok Sabha of our Parliament. These facts may be useful for the questions on Indian Polity (for paper 1)->

1. The current Lok Sabha is is 16th, after sixteenth General Elections.

2. Indian Lok Sabha consist of 545 members. 543 members are elected through a democratic process organized by Election Commission of India in every 5 years. 2 Members are directly elected by President of India from Anglo Indian Community.

3. The current Lok Sabha has 543 members.

4. The first Session of the First Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952.

5. Shri G.V. Mavalankar was the first Speaker of Lok Sabha

6. Shri G.V. Mavalankar was the first Speaker of Lok Sabha

7. The Lok Sabha, as per the Constitution, consists of not more than 530 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the States, not more than 20 members to represent the Union Territories.

8. The quorum to constitute a sitting of the House is one-tenth of the total number of Members of the House under article 100(3) of the Constitution.

9. The present Speaker of the Lok Sabha is Smt. Sumitra Mahajan.

10. The Prime Minister is the leader of the House in Lok Sabha.

11. The minimum age to become a Member of the Lok Sabha is 25 years.

12. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha. 

13. If a Money Bill  passed by  the Lok Sabha and transmitted to the Rajya Sabha  is not returned to the Lok Sabha within the period of fourteen days, it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of the said period.

14. In legislative matters, both the Houses enjoy almost equal powers except in the case of Money Bills. 

15. A joint sitting of both Houses is convened by the President for resolving a deadlock situation (a situation when a Bill passed by one House is rejected by the other House.)

16. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over the joint sitting of the two Houses.

17. Normally three Sessions of the Lok Sabha are held in a year, viz.,

• Budget Session: February - May
• Autumn or Monsoon Session: July - August
• Winter Session: November - December

18. "Adjournment" is a postponement of the sitting or proceedings of the House from one time to another.

adjourned "sine die" which means the termination of a sitting of the House without any definite date being fixed for its next sitting.

19. "Prorogation" means the termination of a Session of the House by an order made by the  President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.

20. "Dissolution" of the House means the end of the life of the Lok Sabha either by an order made by the  President under article 85 (2) (b) of the Constitution or on the expiration of the period of five years.

21. A Bill is a draft legislative proposal before the House.  It becomes an Act only when passed by both the Houses of Parliament and assented to by the President.

22. `motion' in parliamentary parlance means any formal proposal  made  to the House by a Member for the purpose of  eliciting a decision of the House.