Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Years before India was under the British Imperialists and no Rights to the citizens in the process
of decision making or no Right to vote . The Nationalists who struggled for independence
demanded the British to give participation in decision making and Right to Vote. But they never
cared about this .Finally India became independent in 1947 and we became our own rulers. Our
constitution makers also give importance to Democracy as a Basic ideal along with Socialism,
Secularism, Federalism and Sovereignty.

India is a parliamentary democracy with two houses Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Hence we
have a bicameral legislature.. As India is the second largest populated country of the world we
cannot accept Direct Democracy. The 140 crores people all together taking decisions are not
possible, so we are following representative democracy. The parliament is the most important
symbol of representative democracy. An important constitutional right is the right to vote. This is
based on the principles of democracy of Equality and universal adult franchise.

Democracy means citizens of a country must elect their representatives to govern them.
Universal adult franchise means every adult citizen has a right to vote regardless of their gender
or religion.

Lok Sabha:
India is divided into 543 parliamentary constituencies. Candidates contest the election mainly
based on political parties. Our country follows a multi-party system. We have a number of
National Parties and State Parties whom can appoint their candidates to contest and the one
who gains majority of votes will be elected as the representative of that constituency. Citizens
must stand for election from each constituency but only one can be elected. The citizens elected
to parliament are called Members of Parliament or MPs. The MPs you elect must enjoy your
approval on all the work that they do. A person must be a nationalized citizen of India and over
18 years of age. The party which gains majority can form the government is called Ruling Party.
Its leader will be elected as the Prime Minister. And he will select other members mostly from his
own political party as other Ministers.Party which gains next majority is called Opposition Party
and its leader will be the Opposition leader.
Formations of all levels of Government follow the same system. We have Central, State and
Local levels of Government. So same area may have Different Lok Sabha and Legislative
Assembly Constituencies. Local level elections are based on areas divided in to Wards.

Rajya Sabha:
Members elected to State Legislative Assemblies will elect members to Rajya Sabha hence it is
called as States House. Total 250 members can be present of which 238 are elected and 12 are
nominated by President of India from Personalities who are from Science, Literature, Art,
Cinema, Social Work etc

The Lok Sabha is the house of the people to which you elect members of parliament. The MPs
perform three main functions: 1)select the national government,2) control, guide and inform the
government, and3) make laws.

1)Select The National Government:

Political party which gains majority of seatscan from the National Government. If no one party is
able to get the 272 seats required to form a government, they must invite other like-minded
parties to join them. This is called a coalition government. The Prime Minister is the leader of the
ruling party or coalition government.

2) Control ,Guide and Inform The Government:

This mainly takes place at the Question hour during the sessions of the Parliament. The
Opposition plays a critical role in the healthy functioning of a democracy. They provide feedback
to the executive and control, guide and inform the government. It is only through the active
participation of the executive and The Opposition that the laws can meet public approval and
ensure that everyone is represented.

3) Law Making:
Parliament is the Law making Body of our country. Hence Law making is a very important
responsibility .The laws introduced in either house of Parliament in the form of Bills and majority
should support the bill through voting in both houses.. Then it will send for the final signature of
President .

Who are People in Parliament

The General elections of our political system is a very Complicated procedure as we are
following Democracy. India still continues as the largest Democracy of the World. But we can
see that 67% is the maximum turnout of voters in the 17 th election of our Country. Around 33%
are not using their Right to vote means away from Decision making Process. Similarly Out of the
elected Representatives the percentage of SC and ST is respectively only 15% and 8% .
Women who consist of 50% of Total population have only 14% representation in the house.
These are necessary to be changed to improve participation in decision making and Equality.
Similarly the 104th Amendment of constitution abolishes the reservation or Nomination of Anglo
Indian Community in the Parliament. India have to continue as the largest Democracy of the
World so it should be more representative and people should develop faith in the system.
Improvement of the system is your responsibility as you are the future Citizens.