1

PARLIAMENTARY FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY

DEMOCRACY: DEFINITION AND MEANING

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—eitherdirectly or indirectly through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation oflaws. It encompasses social, religious, cultural, ethnic and racial equality, justice, and liberty. It canbe defined as government of the people, by the people and for the people.

PARLIAMENTARY FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY

Our constitution provides for parliamentary form of government. We have borrowed theconstitutional features of several democratic countries. But our parliamentary model ispredominantly based on the British system. The Head of Government in our system, the PrimeMinister, can hold office only so long as he commands the confidence of the Lok Sabha. Confidenceof the House is reflected in existence/continuance of majority support - whether it be of a singleparty or of a coalition of parties. This feature can, and does, cause instability in governance. InPresidential democracies, the Head of Government, the President is directly elected by the peopleand cannot be removed from office except in circumstances of high crimes and misdemeanourestablished through impeachment process. Hence, Presidential democracies provide stablegovernance. In our parliamentary system, we have had changes of government through midtermelections or political realignments. Changes in government undoubtedly bring about disruptions inimplementation of policies, development programmes and schemes.

CENTRAL LEVEL

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. The Parliamentof India consists of two houses: The Lok Sabha or House of the People and the Rajya Sabha orCouncil of States. Lok means "people" and Sabha means "assembly" in Sanskrit. The Lok Sabha meetsin the Lok Sabha Chambers, Sansad Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi.

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people from 543 constituencies, chosen bydirect election on the basis of adult suffrage. A total of 131 seats (18.42%) are reserved forrepresentatives of Scheduled Castes(84) and Scheduled Tribes(47) only. The maximum strength ofthe House envisaged by the Constitution of India is 552, which is made up by election of up to 530members to represent the States, up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not morethan two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President of India, if, inhis/her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House. The total electivemembership is distributed among the States in such a way that the ratio between the number of

2

seats allotted to each State and the population of the State is, so far as practicable, the same for allStates.[2][3]

STATE LEVEL

The Vidhan Sabha or the 'Legislative Assembly' is the lower house (in states with bicameral) or thesole house (in unicameral states) of the provincial (state) legislature in the different states of India.The upper house in the six states with a bicameral legislature is called the Legislative Council, orVidhan Parishad. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are direct representatives of the people of theparticular state as they are directly elected by an electorate consisting of all citizens above the age of18 of that state. Its maximum size as outlined in the Constitution of India is not more than 500members and not less than 60 members. However, the size of the Vidhan Sabha can be less than 60members through an Act of Parliament, such is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim and Mizoram.The Governor can appoint 1 member to represent minorities, e.g. the Anglo-Indian community, if hefinds that minority to not be adequately represented in the House. Those elected or nominated (bythe Governors) to Vidhan Sabha are referred to as members of Legislative Assembly or MLAs. TheVidhan Parishad is the upper house.

PANCHAYAT RAJ

Panchayat Raj is a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units ofadministration. It has 3 levels: Gram (village, though it can comprise more than one village), Janpad(taluka or block) and Zilla (district).

Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each villageis responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India's political system. The term for such avision was Gram Swaraj ("village self-governance").

GRAM PANCHAYAT

Their functions include administrative, social, economic and judicial functions like

Public works, maintenance, repair and construction of village roads, tracks etc. Sanitation and health Providing primary education Arranging agricultural facilities Registration of births and deaths Maintaining records of property transactions Constructions of guest houses, libraries, marriage halls etc. Organization of regular village melas, fairs, exhibitions etc. Planting of trees, parks, gardens and playgrounds Solving of disputes

3

Block panchayat

A block panchayat (panchayat samiti) is a local government body at the tehsil or taluka level inIndia. This body works for the villages of the tehsil or taluka that together are called a DevelopmentBlock. The panchayat samiti is the link between the gram panchayat and the district administration.In general, the block panchayat is a form of the Panchayati raj but at a higher level.

Functions

Implementation schemes for the development of agriculture. Establishment of primary health centres and primary schools. Supply of drinking water, drainage and construction/repair of roads. Development of cottage and small-scale industries, and the opening of cooperative societies. Establishment of youth organisations. District level panchayat

The governing system at district level in Panchayat Raj is also popularly known as "Zila Parishad".

Functions:

Provide essential services and facilities to the rural population Supply improved seeds to farmers. Inform them of new farming techniques Set up and run schools and libraries in the rural areas Start Primary Health Centers and hospitals in villages. Start vaccination drives against

epidemics Execute plans for the development of the scheduled castes and tribes. Run ashramshalas for

adivasi children. Set up free hostels for them Encourage entrepreneurs to start small-scale industries and implement rural employment

schemes Construct bridges, roads & other public facilities and their maintenance Provide employment