jbp123/hello · Datasets at Hugging Face

instruction stringlengths 1 84	input stringlengths 1 85	output stringlengths 1 83
21 Cabinet Committees	FEATURES OF CABINET COMMITTEES	The following are the features of Cabinet Committees:
1. They are extra-constitutional in emergence. In other words,	they are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the	Rules of Business provide for their establishment.
2. They are of two types–standing and ad hoc. The former are	of a permanent nature while the latter are of a temporary	nature. The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to
time to deal with special problems. They are disbanded after	their task is completed.1	3. They are set up by the Prime Minister according to the
exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation.	Hence, their number, nomenclature, and composition varies	from time to time.
4. Their membership varies from three to eight. They usually	include only Cabinet Ministers. However, the non-cabinet	Ministers are not debarred from their membership.
5. They not only include the Ministers in charge of subjects	covered by them but also include other senior Ministers.	6. They are mostly headed by the Prime Minister. Some times
other Cabinet Ministers, particularly the Home Minister or the	Finance Minister, also acts as their Chairman. But, in case	the Prime Minister is a member of a committee, he invariably
presides over it.	7. They not only sort out issues and formulate proposals for the	consideration of the Cabinet, but also take decisions.
However, the Cabinet can review their decisions.	8. They are an organisational device to reduce the enormous	workload of the Cabinet. They also facilitate in-depth
LIST OF CABINET COMMITTEES	In 1994, there were the following 13 Cabinet Committees:	1. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
2. Cabinet Committee on Natural Calamities	3. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs	4. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
5. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation	6. Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment	7. Cabinet Committee on Drug Abuse Control
8. Cabinet Committee on Prices	9. Cabinet Committee on Minority Welfare	10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
11. Cabinet Committee on Trade and Investment	12. Cabinet Committee on Expenditure	13. Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure
In 2013, the following 10 Cabinet Committees were in existence:	1. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs	2. Cabinet Committee on Prices
3. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs	4. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet	5. Cabinet Committee on Security
6. Cabinet Committee on World Trade Organisation (WTO)	Matters	7. Cabinet Committee on Investment
8. Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of	India (UIDAI) related issues	9. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
10. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation	At present (2019), the following 8 Cabinet Committees are	functional:
1. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs	2. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs	3. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
4. Cabinet Committee on Security	5. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs	6. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
FUNCTIONS OF CABINET COMMITTEES	The following four are the more important cabinet committees:	1. The Political Affairs Committee deals with all policy matters
pertaining to domestic and foreign affairs.	2. The Economic Affairs Committee directs and coordinates	the governmental activities in the economic sphere.
3. Appointments Committee decides all higher level	appointments in the Central Secretariat, Public Enterprises,	Banks and Financial Institutions.
4. Parliamentary Affairs Committee looks after the progress of	government business in the Parliament.	The first three committees are chaired by the Prime Minister
and the last one by the Home Minister. Of all the Cabinet	Committees, the most powerful is the Political Affairs Committee,	often described as a “Super-Cabinet”.
GROUPS OF MINISTERS	In addition to cabinet committees, several Groups of Ministers	(GoMs) are constituted to look into different issues / subjects.
Some of these GoMs are empowered to take decisions on behalf	of the Cabinet whereas the others make recommendations to the	Cabinet.2
The institution of GoMs has become a viable and effective	instrument of coordination among the ministries. These are ad hoc	bodies formed to give recommendations to the cabinet on certain
emergent issues and critical problem areas. Ministers heading the	concerned ministries are inducted into the relevant GoMs and	when the advice is crystallised they are disbanded.3
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005–2009)	made the following observations and recommendations with	respect to the working of the GoMs4 :
1. The Commission observed that the constitution of a large	number of GoMs has resulted in many GoMs not being able	to meet regularly to complete their work thus leading to
significant delays on many major issues.	2. The Commission felt that more selective use of the	institution of GoMs would perhaps lead to more effective
coordination particularly if they are empowered to arrive at a	decision on behalf of the Cabinet with time limits that are	prescribed for completing the work entrusted to them.
3. The Commission recommended that there is need to ensure	that the existing coordination mechanism of GoMs function	effectively and helps in early resolution of issues. Selective,
but effective use of GoMs with clear mandate and prescribed	time limits would be helpful.	NOTES AND REFERENCES
2. Second Administrative Reforms Commission,	Government of India, Report on Organizational	Structure of Government of India, 2009, P.136. This
commission was headed by Veerappa Moily, a senior	Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister.	3. Ramesh K. Arora and Rajni Goyal, Indian Public
Administration, New Age International Publishers, Third	Edition, 2013, pp. 238–239.	4. Second Administrative Reforms Commission,
Government of India, Report on Organisational	Structure of Government of India, 2009, pp. 136–137	and 140.
22 Parliament	T	he Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union
government. It occupies a pre-eminent and central position	in the Indian democratic political system due to adoption of	the parliamentary form of government, also known as
‘Westminster’ model of government1 .	Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the	organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures,
ORGANISATION OF PARLIAMENT	Under the Constitution, the Parliament of India consists of three	parts viz, the President, the Council of States and the House of
the People. In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok	Sabha’ were adopted by the Council of States and the House of	People respectively. The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House
(Second Chamber or House of Elders) and the Lok Sabha is the	Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House). The former	represents the states and union territories of the Indian Union,
while the latter represents the people of India as a whole.	Though the President of India is not a member of either House	of Parliament and does not sit in the Parliament to attend its
meetings, he is an integral part of the Parliament. This is because	a bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament cannot become	law without the President’s assent. He also performs certain
functions relating to the proceedings of the Parliament, for	example, he summons and pro-rogues both the Houses, dissolves	the Lok Sabha, addresses both the Houses, issues ordinances
when they are not in session, and so on.	In this respect, the framers of the Indian Constitution relied on	the British pattern rather than the American pattern. In Britain, the
Parliament consists of the Crown (King or Queen), the House of	Lords (Upper House) and the House of Commons (Lower House).	By contrast, the American president is not an integral part of the
legislature. In USA, the legislature, which is known as Congress,	consists of the Senate (Upper House) and the House of	Representatives (Lower House).
The parliamentary form of government emphasises on the	interdependence between the legislative and executive organs.	Hence, we have the ‘President-in-Parliament’ like the ‘Crown-in-
Parliament’ in Britain. The presidential form of government, on the	other hand, lays stress on the separation of legislative and	executive organs. Hence, the American president is not regarded
COMPOSITION OF THE TWO HOUSES	Composition of Rajya Sabha	The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of
which, 238 are to be the representatives of the states and union	territories (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the	president.
At present, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229	members represent the states, 4 members represent the union	territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.
The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the	allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and union	territories2 .
1. Representation of States	The representatives of states in the Rajya Sabha are elected by	the elected members of state legislative assemblies. The election
is held in accordance with the system of proportional	representation by means of the single transferable vote. The seats	are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of
population. Hence, the number of representatives varies from	state to state. For example, Uttar Pradesh has 31 members while	Tripura has 1 member only. However, in USA, all states are given
equal representation in the Senate irrespective of their population.	USA has 50 states and the Senate has 100 members–2 from	each state.
2. Representation of Union Territories	The representatives of each union territory in the Rajya Sabha are	indirectly elected by members of an electoral college specially
constituted for the purpose. This election is also held in	accordance with the system of proportional representation by	means of the single transferable vote. Out of the nine union
union territories are too small to have any representative in the	Rajya Sabha.	3. Nominated Members
The president nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from	people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art,	literature, science and social service. The rationale behind this
principle of nomination is to provide eminent persons a place in	the Rajya Sabha without going through the process of election. It	should be noted here that the American Senate has no nominated
members.	Composition of Lok Sabha	The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of
this, 530 members are to be the representatives of the states, 20	members are to be the representatives of the union territories and	2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-
Indian community3 .	At present, the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530	members represent the states, 13 members represent the union
territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by the	President4 .	1. Representation of States
The representatives of states in the Lok Sabha are directly elected	by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states. The	election is based on the principle of universal adult franchise.
Every Indian citizen who is above 18 years of age and who is not	disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution or any law is	eligible to vote at such election. The voting age was reduced from
21 to 18 years by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.	2. Representation of Union Territories	The Constitution has empowered the Parliament to prescribe the
manner of choosing the representatives of the union territories in	the Lok Sabha. Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the	Union Territories (Direct Election to the House of the People) Act,
1965, by which the members of Lok Sabha from the union	territories are also chosen by direct election.	3. Nominated Members
The president can nominate two members from the Anglo-Indian	community if the community is not adequately represented in the	Lok Sabha. Originally, this provision was to operate till 1960 but
SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS TO LOK SABHA	The various aspects related to the system of elections to the Lok	Sabha are as follows:
Territorial Constituencies	For the purpose of holding direct elections to the Lok Sabha, each	state is divided into territorial constituencies. In this respect, the
Constitution makes the following two provisions:	1. Each state is allotted a number of seats in the Lok Sabha in	such a manner that the ratio between that number and its
population is the same for all states. This provision does not	apply to a state having a population of less than six millions.	2. Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in such a
manner that the ratio between the population of each	constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is the	same throughout the state.
In brief, the Constitution ensures that there is uniformity of	representation in two respects: (a) between the different states,	and b) between the different constituencies in the same state.
The expression ‘population’ means the population as	ascertained at the preceding census of which the relevant figures	have been published.
Readjustment after each Census	After every census, a readjustment is to be made in (a) allocation	of seats in the Lok Sabha to the states, and (b) division of each
state into territorial constituencies. Parliament is empowered to	determine the authority and the manner in which it is to be made.	Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the Delimitation
Commission Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose.	The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 froze the allocation of seats	in the Lok Sabha to the states and the division of each state into
year 2026) by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, with the same	objective of encouraging population limiting measures.	The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 also empowered the
government to undertake readjustment and rationalisation of	territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the	population figures of 1991 census. Later, the 87th Amendment Act
of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis	of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done	without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the
Lok Sabha.	Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs	Though the Constitution has abandoned the system of communal
representation, it provides for the reservation of seats for	scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha on the	basis of population ratios5 .
Originally, this reservation was to operate for ten years (ie, up	to 1960), but it has been extended continuously since then by 10	years each time. Now, under the 95th Amendment Act of 2009,
this reservation is to last until 2020.	Though seats are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled	tribes, they are elected by all the voters in a constituency, without
any separate electorate. A member of scheduled castes and	scheduled tribes is also not debarred from contesting a general	(non-reserved) seat.
The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 provided for refixing of the	reserved seats on the basis of the population figures of 1991	census as applied to rationalisation of the general seats. Later, the
87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the refixing of the	reserved seats on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census.	First-Past-The-Post System
Though the Constitution has adopted the system of proportional	representation in the case of Rajya Sabha, it has not preferred the	same system in the case of Lok Sabha. Instead, it has adopted
Under territorial representation, every member of the legislature	represents a geographical area known as a constituency. From	each constituency, only one representative is elected. Hence such

21 Cabinet Committees

FEATURES OF CABINET COMMITTEES

The following are the features of Cabinet Committees:

1. They are extra-constitutional in emergence. In other words,

they are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the

Rules of Business provide for their establishment.

2. They are of two types–standing and ad hoc. The former are

of a permanent nature while the latter are of a temporary

nature. The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to

time to deal with special problems. They are disbanded after

their task is completed.1

3. They are set up by the Prime Minister according to the

exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation.

Hence, their number, nomenclature, and composition varies

from time to time.

4. Their membership varies from three to eight. They usually

include only Cabinet Ministers. However, the non-cabinet

Ministers are not debarred from their membership.

5. They not only include the Ministers in charge of subjects

covered by them but also include other senior Ministers.

6. They are mostly headed by the Prime Minister. Some times

other Cabinet Ministers, particularly the Home Minister or the

Finance Minister, also acts as their Chairman. But, in case

the Prime Minister is a member of a committee, he invariably

presides over it.

7. They not only sort out issues and formulate proposals for the

consideration of the Cabinet, but also take decisions.

However, the Cabinet can review their decisions.

8. They are an organisational device to reduce the enormous

workload of the Cabinet. They also facilitate in-depth

LIST OF CABINET COMMITTEES

In 1994, there were the following 13 Cabinet Committees:

1. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs

2. Cabinet Committee on Natural Calamities

3. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs

4. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet

5. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation

6. Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment

7. Cabinet Committee on Drug Abuse Control

8. Cabinet Committee on Prices

9. Cabinet Committee on Minority Welfare

10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

11. Cabinet Committee on Trade and Investment

12. Cabinet Committee on Expenditure

13. Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure

In 2013, the following 10 Cabinet Committees were in existence:

1. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

2. Cabinet Committee on Prices

3. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs

4. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet

5. Cabinet Committee on Security

6. Cabinet Committee on World Trade Organisation (WTO)

Matters

7. Cabinet Committee on Investment

8. Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of

India (UIDAI) related issues

9. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs

10. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation

At present (2019), the following 8 Cabinet Committees are

functional:

1. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs

2. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

3. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet

4. Cabinet Committee on Security

5. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs

6. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation

FUNCTIONS OF CABINET COMMITTEES

The following four are the more important cabinet committees:

1. The Political Affairs Committee deals with all policy matters

pertaining to domestic and foreign affairs.

2. The Economic Affairs Committee directs and coordinates

the governmental activities in the economic sphere.

3. Appointments Committee decides all higher level

appointments in the Central Secretariat, Public Enterprises,

Banks and Financial Institutions.

4. Parliamentary Affairs Committee looks after the progress of

government business in the Parliament.

The first three committees are chaired by the Prime Minister

and the last one by the Home Minister. Of all the Cabinet

Committees, the most powerful is the Political Affairs Committee,

often described as a “Super-Cabinet”.

GROUPS OF MINISTERS

In addition to cabinet committees, several Groups of Ministers

(GoMs) are constituted to look into different issues / subjects.

Some of these GoMs are empowered to take decisions on behalf

of the Cabinet whereas the others make recommendations to the

Cabinet.2

The institution of GoMs has become a viable and effective

instrument of coordination among the ministries. These are ad hoc

bodies formed to give recommendations to the cabinet on certain

emergent issues and critical problem areas. Ministers heading the

concerned ministries are inducted into the relevant GoMs and

when the advice is crystallised they are disbanded.3

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005–2009)

made the following observations and recommendations with

respect to the working of the GoMs4 :

1. The Commission observed that the constitution of a large

number of GoMs has resulted in many GoMs not being able

to meet regularly to complete their work thus leading to

significant delays on many major issues.

2. The Commission felt that more selective use of the

institution of GoMs would perhaps lead to more effective

coordination particularly if they are empowered to arrive at a

decision on behalf of the Cabinet with time limits that are

prescribed for completing the work entrusted to them.

3. The Commission recommended that there is need to ensure

that the existing coordination mechanism of GoMs function

effectively and helps in early resolution of issues. Selective,

but effective use of GoMs with clear mandate and prescribed

time limits would be helpful.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

2. Second Administrative Reforms Commission,

Government of India, Report on Organizational

Structure of Government of India, 2009, P.136. This

commission was headed by Veerappa Moily, a senior

Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister.

3. Ramesh K. Arora and Rajni Goyal, Indian Public

Administration, New Age International Publishers, Third

Edition, 2013, pp. 238–239.

4. Second Administrative Reforms Commission,

Government of India, Report on Organisational

Structure of Government of India, 2009, pp. 136–137

and 140.

22 Parliament

T

he Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union

government. It occupies a pre-eminent and central position

in the Indian democratic political system due to adoption of

the parliamentary form of government, also known as

‘Westminster’ model of government1 .

Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the

organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures,

ORGANISATION OF PARLIAMENT

Under the Constitution, the Parliament of India consists of three

parts viz, the President, the Council of States and the House of

the People. In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok

Sabha’ were adopted by the Council of States and the House of

People respectively. The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House

(Second Chamber or House of Elders) and the Lok Sabha is the

Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House). The former

represents the states and union territories of the Indian Union,

while the latter represents the people of India as a whole.

Though the President of India is not a member of either House

of Parliament and does not sit in the Parliament to attend its

meetings, he is an integral part of the Parliament. This is because

a bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament cannot become

law without the President’s assent. He also performs certain

functions relating to the proceedings of the Parliament, for

example, he summons and pro-rogues both the Houses, dissolves

the Lok Sabha, addresses both the Houses, issues ordinances

when they are not in session, and so on.

In this respect, the framers of the Indian Constitution relied on

the British pattern rather than the American pattern. In Britain, the

Parliament consists of the Crown (King or Queen), the House of

Lords (Upper House) and the House of Commons (Lower House).

By contrast, the American president is not an integral part of the

legislature. In USA, the legislature, which is known as Congress,

consists of the Senate (Upper House) and the House of

Representatives (Lower House).

The parliamentary form of government emphasises on the

interdependence between the legislative and executive organs.

Hence, we have the ‘President-in-Parliament’ like the ‘Crown-in-

Parliament’ in Britain. The presidential form of government, on the

other hand, lays stress on the separation of legislative and

executive organs. Hence, the American president is not regarded

COMPOSITION OF THE TWO HOUSES

Composition of Rajya Sabha

The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of

which, 238 are to be the representatives of the states and union

territories (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the

president.

At present, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229

members represent the states, 4 members represent the union

territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.

The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the

allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and union

territories2 .

1. Representation of States

The representatives of states in the Rajya Sabha are elected by

the elected members of state legislative assemblies. The election

is held in accordance with the system of proportional

representation by means of the single transferable vote. The seats

are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of

population. Hence, the number of representatives varies from

state to state. For example, Uttar Pradesh has 31 members while

Tripura has 1 member only. However, in USA, all states are given

equal representation in the Senate irrespective of their population.

USA has 50 states and the Senate has 100 members–2 from

each state.

2. Representation of Union Territories

The representatives of each union territory in the Rajya Sabha are

indirectly elected by members of an electoral college specially

constituted for the purpose. This election is also held in

accordance with the system of proportional representation by

means of the single transferable vote. Out of the nine union

union territories are too small to have any representative in the

Rajya Sabha.

3. Nominated Members

The president nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from

people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art,

literature, science and social service. The rationale behind this

principle of nomination is to provide eminent persons a place in

the Rajya Sabha without going through the process of election. It

should be noted here that the American Senate has no nominated

members.

Composition of Lok Sabha

The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of

this, 530 members are to be the representatives of the states, 20

members are to be the representatives of the union territories and

2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-

Indian community3 .

At present, the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530

members represent the states, 13 members represent the union

territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by the

President4 .

1. Representation of States

The representatives of states in the Lok Sabha are directly elected

by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states. The

election is based on the principle of universal adult franchise.

Every Indian citizen who is above 18 years of age and who is not

disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution or any law is

eligible to vote at such election. The voting age was reduced from

21 to 18 years by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.

2. Representation of Union Territories

The Constitution has empowered the Parliament to prescribe the

manner of choosing the representatives of the union territories in

the Lok Sabha. Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the

Union Territories (Direct Election to the House of the People) Act,

1965, by which the members of Lok Sabha from the union

territories are also chosen by direct election.

3. Nominated Members

The president can nominate two members from the Anglo-Indian

community if the community is not adequately represented in the

Lok Sabha. Originally, this provision was to operate till 1960 but

SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS TO LOK SABHA

The various aspects related to the system of elections to the Lok

Sabha are as follows:

Territorial Constituencies

For the purpose of holding direct elections to the Lok Sabha, each

state is divided into territorial constituencies. In this respect, the

Constitution makes the following two provisions:

1. Each state is allotted a number of seats in the Lok Sabha in

such a manner that the ratio between that number and its

population is the same for all states. This provision does not

apply to a state having a population of less than six millions.

2. Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in such a

manner that the ratio between the population of each

constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is the

same throughout the state.

In brief, the Constitution ensures that there is uniformity of

representation in two respects: (a) between the different states,

and b) between the different constituencies in the same state.

The expression ‘population’ means the population as

ascertained at the preceding census of which the relevant figures

have been published.

Readjustment after each Census

After every census, a readjustment is to be made in (a) allocation

of seats in the Lok Sabha to the states, and (b) division of each

state into territorial constituencies. Parliament is empowered to

determine the authority and the manner in which it is to be made.

Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the Delimitation

Commission Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose.

The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 froze the allocation of seats

in the Lok Sabha to the states and the division of each state into

year 2026) by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, with the same

objective of encouraging population limiting measures.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 also empowered the

government to undertake readjustment and rationalisation of

territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the

population figures of 1991 census. Later, the 87th Amendment Act

of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis

of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done

without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the

Lok Sabha.

Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs

Though the Constitution has abandoned the system of communal

representation, it provides for the reservation of seats for

scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha on the

basis of population ratios5 .

Originally, this reservation was to operate for ten years (ie, up

to 1960), but it has been extended continuously since then by 10

years each time. Now, under the 95th Amendment Act of 2009,

this reservation is to last until 2020.

Though seats are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled

tribes, they are elected by all the voters in a constituency, without

any separate electorate. A member of scheduled castes and

scheduled tribes is also not debarred from contesting a general

(non-reserved) seat.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 provided for refixing of the

reserved seats on the basis of the population figures of 1991

census as applied to rationalisation of the general seats. Later, the

87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the refixing of the

reserved seats on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census.

First-Past-The-Post System

Though the Constitution has adopted the system of proportional

representation in the case of Rajya Sabha, it has not preferred the

same system in the case of Lok Sabha. Instead, it has adopted

Under territorial representation, every member of the legislature

represents a geographical area known as a constituency. From

each constituency, only one representative is elected. Hence such