संसद भाग -2 PARLIAMENT with tricks | indian polity by laxmikant in hindi...

PRESIDING  OFFICERS   OF  PARLIAMENT

Each House of Parliament has its own presiding officer. There is a Speaker

and  a  Deputy  Speaker  for  the  Lok  Sabha  and  a  Chairman  and  a  Deputy

Chairman for the Rajya Sabha. A panel of chairpersons for the Lok Sabha

and a panel of vice-chairpersons for the Rajya Sabha is also appointed.

Speaker of Lok Sabha

deputy speaker of lok sabha

Election  and  Tenure

1. if he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha;

2. if he resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker; and

3. if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members

of the Lok Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days advance notice.

Role, Powers and Functions

Independence and Impartiality As the office of the Speaker is vested

with  great  prestige,  position  and  authority,  independence  and  impartiality

becomes its sine qua non

Speaker Pro Tem

As provided by the Constitution, the Speaker of the last Lok Sabha vacates

his  office  immediately  before  the  first  meeting  of  the  newly-elected  Lok

Sabha. Therefore, the President appoints a member of the Lok Sabha as the

Speaker Pro Tem. Usually, the seniormost member is selected for this. The

President himself administers oath to the Speaker Pro Tem.

The Speaker Pro Tem has all the powers of the Speaker. He presides over

the  first  sitting  of  the  newly-elected  Lok  Sabha.  His  main  duty  is  toadminister oath to the new members. He also enables the House to elect the

new Speaker.

When the new Speaker is elected by the House, the office of the Speaker

Pro Tem ceases to exist. Hence, this office is a temporary office, existing for

a few days

Secretariat of Parliament

Each  House  of  Parliament  has  separate  secretarial  staff  of  its  own,  though

there can be some posts common to both the Houses. Their recruitment and

service conditions are regulated by Parliament. The secretariat of each House

is headed by a secretary-general. He is a permanent officer and is appointed

by the presiding officer of the House.

L EADERS   IN  P ARLIAMENT

Leader of the House

Under the Rules of Lok Sabha, the ‘Leader of the House’ means the prime

minister, if he is a member of the Lok Sabha, or a minister who is a member

of the Lok Sabha and is nominated by the prime minister to function as the

Leader  of  the  House.  There  is  also  a  ‘Leader  of  the  House’  in  the  Rajya

Sabha. He is a minister and a member of the Rajya Sabha and is nominated

by the prime minister to function as such. The leader of the house in either

House  is  an  important  functionary  and  exercises  direct  influence  on  theconduct of business. He can also nominate a deputy leader of the House. The

same functionary in USA is known as the ‘majority leader’.

Leader of the Opposition

In  each  House  of  Parliament,  there  is  the  ‘Leader  of  the  Opposition’.  The

leader of the largest Opposition party having not less than one-tenth seats of

the total strength of the House is recognised as the leader of the Opposition in

that  House.  In  a  parliamentary  system  of  government,  the  leader  of  the

opposition has a significant role to play. His main functions are to provide a

constructive  criticism  of  the  policies  of  the  government  and  to  provide  an

alternative government. Therefore, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha

and the Rajya Sabha were accorded statutory recognition in 1977. They are

also entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of

a cabinet minister. It was in 1969 that an official leader of the opposition was

recognised for the first time. The same functionary in USA is known as the

‘minority leader’.

The British political system has an unique institution called the ‘Shadow

Cabinet’. It is formed by the Opposition party to balance the ruling cabinet

and  to  prepare  its  members  for  future  ministerial  offices.  In  this  shadow

cabinet,  almost  every  member  in  the  ruling  cabinet  is  ‘shadowed’  by  a

corresponding member in the opposition cabinet. This shadow cabinet serves

as the ‘alternate cabinet’ if there is change of government. That is why Ivor

Jennings  described  the  leader  of  Opposition  as  the  ‘alternative  Prime

Minister’. He enjoys the status of a minister and is paid by the government.

Whip

Though  the  offices  of  the  leader  of  the  House  and  the  leader  of  the

Opposition are not mentioned in the Constitution of India, they are mentioned

in the Rules of the House and Parliamentary Statute respectively. The office

of ‘whip’, on the other hand, is mentioned neither in the Constitution of India

nor in the Rules of the House nor in a Parliamentary Statute. It is based on the

conventions of the parliamentary government.

Every political party