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5. How has the system of parliamentary committee Ans.
affected the overseeing and appraisal of legislation
by the Parliament? [NCERT]
Ans. The system of parliamentary committee has influenced
the overseeing and appraisal of legislation by the
Parliament, as most of decisions regarding the technical
points of legislation are referred to these committees.
The Parliament rarely rejects any of the suggestions
made by the committee. There are over twenty standing
committees related to various departments that works
on the issue of budget and its expenditure related to
their respective departments. These committees also
supervise the bills related to their department that
comes in the house. The Joint Parliamentary
Committees investigate financial irregularities.
Thus, parliamentary committees have reduced the
burden on the legislature and saved time, as the
Parliament meets only for a limited time during its
sessions. However, on most occasions, the Parliament
makes only minor alterations to the draft of the bills,
while it approves them. This has diluted the
Parliament’s appraisal of legislation to a large.
l Case Based Questions
1. Read the passage and answer the questions that
follow.
The legislature in parliamentary system ensures
executive accountability during policy making,
implementation of law or policy through various
devices which are Deliberation and Discussion
The members of the legislature get an opportunity
to deliberate on the policy direction of the
executive during law making process. Apart from
deliberating on bills, control may also be exercised
during general discussions in the House. The
Question Hour is held every day during the
sessions of Parliament, where ministers have to
respond to questions raised by members. Zero
Hour where members are free to raise any matter
that they think is important, Half an Hour
discussion on matters of public importance and
adjournment motion are some of the instruments
of exercising control. Among the various
instruments of exercising control over executive,
the question hour is proved to be the most
prevalent and effective as the issue of public
interest such as price rise, availa- bility of food
grains, atrocities on weaker sections, ryots, black
marketing, etc. are questioned.
(i) What are the instruments of Parliamentary Control?
(ii) What is Question Hour?
(iii) What is Zero hour?
CBSE Term II Political Science Class 11th
(i) Adjournment motion, Questions Hour, Zero Hour,
No-Confidence Motion are some of the instruments of
exercising control.
(ii) The Question Hour is scheduled for the first hour
every day during the sessions of Parliament, where
ministers have to respond to questions raised by
members .
(iii) Zero hour is the time when Member of Parliament can
raise issues of urgent public importance.
2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the
questions that follow.
Parliamentary Officials Speaker In our parliamentary
democracy, the Speaker’s Office plays a critical role.
The Speaker’s Office has been defined as representing
the full authority of the House of Commons, while
members of Parliament represent individual
constituencies. Speakers serve from the date of their
election until the first meeting of the Lok Sabha after
the dissolution of the one to which they were elected.
He or she is eligible for re-election. The Speaker’s
position is a constitutional one.
The Speaker is bound by the provisions of the
constitution as well as the Rules of Procedure and
Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
While the Speaker ceases to be a member of the
House when the Lok Sabha is dissolved, he or she
does not vacate his or her office. The Speaker can
resign at any time by writing to the Deputy Speaker
under his or her hand. Only a resolution of the
House passed by a vote of all members of the House
at the time will remove the Speaker from office. The
Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the
lower House of the Indian Parliament are elected
from among its members by a simple majority of
members present and voting in the House. As a
result, there are no specific qualifications for being
Speaker.
(i) What is the tenure of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
(ii) Which type of majority is required for the election of
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
(iii) What is the election procedure to appoint Deputy
Speaker of the Lok Sabha?
Ans. (i) Speakers serve from the date of their election until the
first meeting of the Lok Sabha after the dissolution of
the one to which they were elected. He or she is
eligible for re-election.
(ii) The Deputy Speaker of the lower house are elected
from among its memeber by a simple majority of
members present and voting in the House.
(iii) The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower
House of the Indian Parliament are elected from
among its membrs by a simple majority of members
present and voting in the House.