The Union Legislature

(A) and (R) are independent of each other

Explanation — The Lok Sabha represents the people of India directly, hence it is called the House of the People. The normal term of the Lok Sabha is indeed five years unless dissolved earlier.

P and Q

Both (1) and (2)

Replacement of Ballot Paper system

He should not be less than 30 years of age

Statement (I) is correct and statement (II) is incorrect.

It is the Prime Minister who presides over the working of the Lok Sabha.

Concurrent List

The Parliament

constituency

The two Houses of the Parliament are —

1. Lok Sabha (or House of the People)
2. Rajya Sabha (or Council of States)

The Lok Sabha can have a maximum strength of 550. Out of these, 530 members are elected from the states and upto 20 members represent the Union territories. The members of this House are elected directly by the citizens. The whole country is divided into several territorial constituencies.

• Candidates are elected through a secret ballot.
• Every adult citizen of the age 18 years and above has a right to vote. This is called universal adult franchise.
• No distinction is made on grounds of religion, colour, caste, creed, etc.
• The elections are organised by the Election Commission of India.

A bicameral legislature is a law-making body that has two separate Houses. The Indian Parliament is bicameral because it has two Houses — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The essential qualifications required for a person to be a member of the Lok Sabha are:

1. He must be a citizen of India.
2. He should not be less than 25 years of age.
3. He should be mentally sound.
4. He should not be an insolvent, i.e., he should not be in debt and should have the ability to meet his financial commitments.
5. He should not hold an office of profit under the central or state government.
6. He should not be a member of some other legislature at the same time.

The strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245 members. Of these, 233 are elected by the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies. The remaining 12 members are nominated by the President of India from among men of repute in various spheres of life, e.g., science, technology, art, literature and social work.

The functions of the Lok Sabha are given below:

1. Legislative Functions: They pass bills and make laws. Any bill regarding subjects in the Union or the Concurrent List of the Constitution may be moved in this House.
2. Financial Powers: The House of People controls the treasury. No budget or government expenditure can be made without the permission of the House. A money bill has to be moved only in the Lok Sabha.
3. Control over the Council of Ministers: The Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha. It may remain in power only so long as it enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha.

The law making functions of the Parliament are given below:

1. It frames new laws and amends or cancels them, if necessary, on all the 99 subjects of the Union List and all the remainder subjects which have not found a place in any of the Lists — called the Residuary list.
2. In certain cases, it can make laws on the subjects of the State List also.
3. The Parliament along with the State Legislature can pass laws on the 47 subjects of the Concurrent List.
4. The Union Parliament has the sole right to amend the Constitution, although in certain cases, these amendments need to be ratified by a majority of the states.

The most important function of the Parliament is to exercise control over the government.

1. The government is directly responsible to the Parliament for its acts of omission and commission. The government can be voted out of office by passing a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister or the Ministry or any of its members.
2. The Members of the Parliament can also move adjournment motions. An adjournment motion is tabled when there is an urgent matter that needs the immediate attention of the government. If admitted, a time is set aside from normal business of the house for discussing the matters of urgent public importance.
3. The members can ask any question relating to the administration of the state and the ministers are obliged to answer them. In this way, they can keep a check on the functioning of the various departments under different ministers.
4. The Parliament can also hold the strings of the government tight by voting a cut in the annual budget.

Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are correct but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).

Explanation — The President of India is the constitutional head of the country, and a part of the Parliament. However, the fact that the President is part of Parliament does not explain that they are the head of state.

Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are correct but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).

Explanation — India has a parliamentary government, where the executive is accountable to the legislature. The Parliament is bicameral, with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Though both statements are true, having two Houses does not explain why India follows a parliamentary system.