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    Finish Line & Beyond

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    Ajay Anand
    The Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian democracy as it enables citizen participation in decision making and control of the government. People elect representatives to Parliament, who then form the government and guide it based on the will of the citizens. Key functions of Parliament include selecting the national government, controlling and informing the government through questioning. It also represents all parts of society and allows more diverse voices to be heard.

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    Finish Line & Beyond

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    Ajay Anand
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    The Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian democracy as it enables citizen participation in decision making and control of the government. People elect representatives to Parliament, who then form the government and guide it based on the will of the citizens. Key functions of Parliament include selecting the national government, controlling and informing the government through questioning. It also represents all parts of society and allows more diverse voices to be heard.

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    The Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian democracy as it enables citizen participation in decision making and control of the government. People elect representatives to Parliament, who then form the government and guide it based on the will of the citizens. Key functions of Parliament include selecting the national government, controlling and informing the government through questioning. It also represents all parts of society and allows more diverse voices to be heard.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    82 views3 pages

    Finish Line & Beyond

    Uploaded by

    Ajay Anand
    The Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian democracy as it enables citizen participation in decision making and control of the government. People elect representatives to Parliament, who then form the government and guide it based on the will of the citizens. Key functions of Parliament include selecting the national government, controlling and informing the government through questioning. It also represents all parts of society and allows more diverse voices to be heard.

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    Finish Line & Beyond

    Importance of Parliament

    We in India pride ourselves on being a democracy. There is relation between the


    ideas of participation in decision-making and the need for all democratic
    governments to have the consent of their citizens.

    It is these elements that together make us a democracy and this is best expressed in
    the institution of the Parliament. Parliament enables citizens of India to participate in
    decision making and control the government, thus making it the most important
    symbol of Indian democracy and a key feature of the Constitution.

    People Power

    India became independent on 15 August 1947. Many sections of society participated


    in the struggle. People from various backgrounds joined the struggle and they were
    inspired by the ideas of freedom, equality and participation in decision making.
    Under colonial rule, the people had lived in fear of the British government and did
    not agree with many of the decisions that they took. But they faced grave danger if
    they tried to criticise these decisions. The freedom movement changed this situation.
    The nationalists began to openly criticise the British government and make demands.
    As far back as 1885, the Indian National Congress demanded that there be elected
    members in the legislature with a right to discuss the budget and ask questions. The
    Government of India Act 1909, allowed for some elected representation. The dreams
    and aspirations of the freedom struggle were made concrete in the Constitution of
    independent India that laid down the principle of universal adult franchise, i.e. that
    all adult citizens of the country have the right to vote.

    People and their Representatives

    The take-off point for a democracy is the idea of consent, i.e. the desire, approval
    and participation of people. It is the decision of people that creates a democratic
    government and decides about its functioning. The basic idea in this kind of
    democracy is that the individual or the citizen is the most important person and that
    in principle the government as well as other public institutions needs to have the
    trust of these citizens.

    People elect their representatives to the Parliament, then, one group from among
    these elected representatives forms the government. The Parliament, which is made
    up of all representatives together, controls and guides the government. In this sense
    people, through their chosen representatives, form the government and also control
    it.

    The Role of the Parliament

    The Indian Parliament is an expression of the faith that the people of India have in
    principles of democracy. These are participation by people in the decision making
    process and government by consent. The Parliament in our system has immense

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    Finish Line & Beyond

    powers because it is the representative of the people. Elections to the Parliament are
    held in a similar manner as they are for the state legislature. The Lok Sabha is
    usually elected once every five years. The country is divided into numerous
    constituencies. Each of these constituencies elects one person to the Parliament. The
    candidates who contest elections usually belong to different political parties. Once
    elected, these candidates become Members of Parliament or MPs. These MPs
    together make up the Parliament.

    Once elections to the Parliament have taken place, the Parliament needs to perform
    the following functions:

    A. To Select the National Government

    The Parliament in India consists of the President, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok
    Sabha. After the Lok Sabha elections, a list is prepared showing how many MPs
    belong to each political party. For a political party to form the government, they
    must have a majority of elected MPs. Since there are 543 elected (plus 2 nominated)
    members in Lok Sabha, to have a majority a party should have at least half the
    number i.e. 272 members or more. The Opposition in Parliament is formed by all the
    political parties that oppose the majority party/coalition formed. The largest amongst
    these parties is called the Opposition party.

    One of the most important functions of the Lok Sabha is to select the executive. The
    executive is a group of persons who work together to implement the laws made by
    the Parliament.

    The Prime Minister of India is the leader of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha. From
    the MPs who belong to her party, the Prime Minister selects ministers to work with
    her to implement decisions. These ministers then take charge of different areas of
    government functioning like health, education, finance etc.

    The Rajya Sabha functions primarily as the representative of the states of India in
    the Parliament. The Rajya Sabha can also initiate legislation and a bill is required to
    pas through the Rajya Sabha in order to become a law. It, therefore, has an
    important role of reviewing and altering (if alterations are needed) the laws initiated
    by the Lok Sabha. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected
    members of the Legislative Assemblies of various states. There are 233 elected
    members plus 12 members nominated by the President.

    B. To Control, Guide and Inform the Government

    The Parliament, while in session, begins with a question hour. The question hour is
    an important mechanism through which MPs can elicit information about the working
    of the government. This is a very important way through which the Parliament
    controls the executive. By asking questions the government is alerted to its
    shortcomings, and also comes to know the opinion of the people through their
    representatives in the Parliament, i.e. the MPs. Asking questions of the government
    is a crucial task for every MP. The Opposition parties play a critical role in the healthy
    functioning of a democracy. They highlight drawbacks in various policies and
    programmes of the government and mobilise popular support for their own policies.

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    Finish Line & Beyond

    People in Parliament

    The Parliament now has more and more people from different backgrounds. For
    example, there are more rural members as also members from many regional
    parties. Groups and peoples that were till now unrepresented are beginning to get
    elected to the Parliament.

    There has also been an increase in political participation from the Dalit and backward
    castes and the minorities.

    GLOSSARY

    Approval: To give one’s consent to and be favourable towards something. In the


    context of this chapter, it refers both to the formal consent (through elected
    representatives) that Parliament has as well as the fact that it needs to continue to
    enjoy the people’s trust.

    Coalition: A temporary alliance of groups or parties. In this chapter, it refers to the


    alliance formed by political parties after elections when no party has been able to get
    adequate seats to form a clear majority.

    Unresolved: Situations in which there are no easy solutions to problems.

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