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UPPCS Polity Gap Sheet: Parliament: Houses, Bills, Motions, Committees.

UPPCS has asked 25 of these. 1 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.

First, the concept

The Lok Sabha controls the government and the money; the Rajya Sabha represents the States and is permanent. So money bills and no-confidence motions belong to the Lok Sabha, while Articles 249 and 312 give special powers to the Rajya Sabha.

Parliament works through its committees. The three money committees (Public Accounts, Estimates, Public Undertakings) are UPPCS's favourites.

✅ Already asked (25)

The two Houses

  • Lok Sabha: 543 elected (maximum 550) · Seats frozen on the 1971 census till after 2026; Anglo-Indian seats ended (104th)
  • Rajya Sabha: maximum 250, 12 nominated · One-third retire every two years; members serve six years
  • Minimum age: 25 for Lok Sabha, 30 for Rajya Sabha · Same for Assembly (25) and Council (30)
  • Quorum: one-tenth of the House · Article 100
  • Pro tem Speaker · Senior member who swears in new members
  • First Speaker G. V. Mavalankar; first woman Speaker Meira Kumar · First Deputy Speaker M. A. Ayyangar
  • Leader of the Opposition · Party with at least one-tenth of the seats; statutory since 1977

Bills and the Budget

  • Money Bill (Article 110) · Only in the Lok Sabha; Rajya Sabha can hold it 14 days; Speaker certifies
  • Financial Bills (Article 117) · Need the President's recommendation
  • Joint sitting (Article 108) · Presided by the Speaker; not for money or amendment bills; held three times (1961, 1978, 2002)
  • Cut motions · Policy cut (to ₹1), economy cut, token cut (₹100)
  • Vote on account; guillotine · Advance grant before the budget passes; all pending demands put to vote at once
  • Pocket veto · President keeps a bill pending indefinitely; used by Zail Singh (Postal Bill, 1986)

Devices and motions

  • Question Hour and Zero Hour · Zero Hour is an Indian innovation (1962), not in the rules
  • No-confidence motion · Lok Sabha only; needs 50 members; no reason needed
  • Adjournment motion · Lok Sabha only; urgent public matter; needs 50 members
  • Calling attention motion · Indian innovation (1954)
  • Privilege motion; censure motion · Censure must state reasons
  • Prorogation, adjournment, dissolution · President prorogues and dissolves; presiding officer adjourns

Committees

  • Public Accounts Committee · 22 members (15 LS + 7 RS); chaired by the Opposition since 1967; examines CAG reports
  • Estimates Committee · 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha; the largest
  • Committee on Public Undertakings · 22 members (15 LS + 7 RS)
  • Departmentally Related Standing Committees · 24 committees since 1993; 31 members each
  • Business Advisory and Rules Committees · Chaired by the Speaker
  • Committee on Subordinate Legislation; Ethics Committee · Ethics: Rajya Sabha 1997, Lok Sabha 2000

❌ Not asked yet (1)

Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.

🔒 1 items not asked yet

Devices and motions: 1

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⚠️ The Estimates Committee has only Lok Sabha members; the Public Accounts Committee has both Houses. The Speaker, not the Vice-President, presides over a joint sitting. A no-confidence motion needs no reason; a censure motion must give one.

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