Indian Parliament's sessions - the system

Let us learn more about the Indian Parliament's sessions.

 Indian Parliament's sessions - the system

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• The story: In July 2021, the Monsoon session of Parliament began, after the reshuffling of the Council of ministers and the Cabinet committees. The years 2020 and 2021 have not been too propitious for the parliamentary sittings, due to Covid-19.
• Sessions of Parliament: The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution. The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the Government.

1. The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs (Members of Parliament) are summoned to meet for a session.
2. India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. By convention (i.e. not provided by the Constitution), Parliament meets for three sessions in a year. Sadly, the number of sessions per year have been going down over time, and the seriousness of parliamentary processes stands eroded.
3. The longest, Budget Session (1st session), starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April or first week of May. The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August. The Winter Session (thirs one) is held from November to December.

• Summoning of Parliament: The "summoning" is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet. The President summons each House of the Parliament from time to time. The gap between two sessions of the Parliament cannot exceed 6 months, which means the Parliament meets at least two times in one year.
• Adjournment: This terminates the sitting of the House which meets again at the time appointed for the next sitting. The postponement may be for a specified time such as hours, days or weeks. If the meeting is terminated without any definite time/date fixed for the next meeting, it is called Adjournment "sine die" (indefinitely).  The power of adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) of the House.
• Prorogation: This is the end of session and not the dissolution of the house (in case of Lok Sabha, as Rajya Sabha does not dissolve). It is done by the President of India. Remember that there has been only one Rajya Sabha so far in Indian history, while the present Lok Sabha is the 17th to have been constituted.
• Quorum: It refers to the minimum number of the members required to be present for conducting a meeting of the house. The Constitution has fixed one-tenth strength as quorum for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. To conduct a sitting of Lok Sabha, there should be at least 55 members present while to conduct a sitting of Rajya Sabha, there should be at least 25 members present.
• Joint Session of Parliament (Article 108): The Constitution of India provides for the joint sitting of the Parliament’s two Houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, in order to break any deadlock between the two. The joint sitting is called by the President. Such a session is presided over by the Speaker, and in his/her absence, by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha. In the absence of both, it is presided over by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. If any of the above are not present, any other member of the Parliament can preside by consensus of both the Houses.
• Summary: Indian parliament has had a brilliant tradition of upholding the democratic promise of India. But serious attention needs to be now paid to - (i) rejuvenation of Committee culture, (ii) serious debating on issues of concern instead of pushing bills through by force, (iii) due respect to members of opposition in terms of concerns on constitutional issues, and (iv) sending a message of positive harmony to entire India.

 

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