2 Parliament library building
Index 1 Introduction 2 Two houses of Parliament 3 Statues in the parliament 4 Constituent assembly 5 Central hall 6 Lobbies and gallaries 7 Parliament library building 8 Half an hour discussion
3 Introduction Parliament House is one of the most magnificent buildings in New Delhi which has one of the brightest clusters of architectural gems possessed by any country in the world. Visitors to the capital invariably pay a visit to this building as the two Houses of Parliament-the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) are located within its walls.
4 FOUNDATION STONE OF SANSAD The Foundation Stone of Parliament House was laid on the 12th February, 1921 by H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught. The construction of the building took six years and the opening ceremony was performed on the 18th January, 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Lord Irwin. The cost of construction was Rs. 83 lakhs.
5 Apart from the fact that the building was built with indigenous material and by Indian labour, the architecture of the building bears a close imprint of the Indian tradition. The layout of fountains both inside and outside the building, the use of Indian symbols the "Chhajjas" which shade the walls and windows and the varied forms of "Jali" in marble are reminders of the story of the craftsmanship displayed in ancient monuments and memorials. With the ancient features of Indian art are mingled modern scientific achievements in acoustics, air-conditioning, simultaneous Interpretation and Automatic Voting etc. The building was designed by two famous architects- Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker -who were responsible for the planning and construction of New Delhi. Architectural Design
6 General Lay-out of the Building
Parliament House is a massive circular edifice 560 feet ( metres) in diameter. Its circumference is one-third of a mile metres and it covers an area of nearly six acres ( square metres). The open verandah on the first floor is fringed with a colonnade of 144 creamy sandstone columns-each 27 feet (8.23 metres) high. The building has twelve gates among which Gate No. 1 on the Sansad Marg is the main gate. The centre and focus of the building is the big circular edifice of the Central Hall. On the three axes, radiating from this centre are placed the three Chambers for Lok Sabha (House of the People), Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the erstwhile Library Hall (formerly the Princes Chamber) and between them lie garden courts. Surrounding these three Chambers is a four storeyed circular structure providing accommodation for Ministers, Chairmen, Parliamentary Committees, Party Offices, important offices of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats and also the Offices of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Size of the Building General Lay-out of the Building
7 Two Houses of the Parliament
Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha
8 Rajya Sabha The ‘Council of States’ which is also known as Rajya Sabha, a nomenclature that was announced by the chair in the House on the 23rd August, 1954 has its own distinctive features. The origin of the second Chamber can be traced to the Montague-Chelmsford Report of 1918. The Constituent Assembly, which first met on 9 December 1946, also acted as the Central Legislature till 1950, when it was converted as ‘Provisional Parliament’. During this period, the Central Legislature which was known as Constituent Assembly (Legislative) and later Provisional Parliament was unicameral till the first elections were held in 1952. Strength:- Rajya Sabha being a federal chamber enjoys certain special powers under the Constitution. However, if Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting saying that it is “necessary or expedient in the national interest” that Parliament should make a law on a matter enumerated in the State List, Parliament becomes empowered to make a law on the subject specified in the resolution, for the whole or any part of the territory of India.
9 Lok Sabha Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, which is made up by election of upto 530 members to represent the States, upto 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the Hon'ble President, if, in his/her opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House. The total elective membership is distributed among the States in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allotted to each State and the population of the State is, so far as practicable, the same for all States.
10 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (1) Members of Lok Sabha are directly elected by the eligible voters. Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. (2) The normal life of every Lok Sabha is 5 years only while Rajya Sabha is a permanent body. (3) Lok Sabha is the House to which the Council of Ministers is responsible under the Constitution. Money Bills can only be introduced in Lok Sabha. Also it is Lok Sabha which grants the money for running the administration of the country.
12 Statues in Parliament House
1. Pandit Motilal Nehru Gopal Krishna Gokhale 3. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Sri Aurobindo Ghosh 5. Mahatma Gandhi Y.B. Chavan 7. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru K. Kamaraj 9. Babu Jagjivan Ram Birsa munda 11. Smt. Indira Gandhi S. Satyamurti 13. Netaji Subhas Chandra A.K. Gopalan Bose
15 Central Hall The Central Hall is circular in shape and its dome which is 98 ft. (29.87 metres) in diameter is stated to be one of the most magnificent domes in the world. The Central Hall is a place of historical importance. The transfer of power on the 15th August, 1947 from British to Indian hands took place in this Hall. The Central Hall was originally used as the Library of the erstwhile Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of States. At present, the Central Hall is used for holding Joint Sittings of the two Houses. At the commencement of the first session after each general elections to Lok Sabha and at the commencement of the first session of each year, the President addresses both the Houses of Parliament assembled together in the Central Hall.
17 Constituent Assembly The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December, 1946 in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House. Decorated elegantly for the occasion, the Chamber wore a new look on that day with a constellation of bright lamps hanging from the high ceilings and also from the brackets on its walls. Overwhelmed and jubilant as they were, the hon'ble members sat in semi-circular rows facing the Presidential dias. The desks which could be warmed electrically were placed on sloping green-carpeted terraces. Those who adorned the front row were Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Acharya J.B. Kripalani, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Smt. Sarojini Naidu, Shri Hare-Krushna Mahatab, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Shri Sarat Chandra Bose, Shri C. Rajagopalachari and Shri M. Asaf Ali. Occupying the Chair amidst acclamation, Dr. Sinha read out the goodwill messages received from different countries. After the Chairman's inaugural address and the nomination of a Deputy Chairman
19 Parliament Library Parliament Library, one of the richest repositories of books in India, was established in the year 1921 to assist members of the Indian Legislature. A Research and Reference Branch was also established which initially functioned independent of the Parliament Library.Parliament Library, at present has holdings of over 1.27 million volumes of printed books, reports, governmental publications, U.N. reports, debates, gazettes, other documents (including periodicals and publications brought out by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. 150 Indian and foreign newspapers and 587 periodicals in English, Hindi and other Indian languages are being received regularly in the Parliament Library.
20 Half an hour discussion
21 Half an hour discussion
Generally, the first hour of a sitting of Lok Sabha is devoted to Questions and that hour is called the Question Hour. It has a special significance in the proceedings of Parliament. The Question Hour is an interesting part of the Parliamentary proceedings. Although a question mainly seeks information and tries to elicit facts on a particular subject, there are many a time lively and quicksilver repartees between the Members asking the questions and the Ministers answering them. These repartees are sometimes coupled with flashes of wit and humour. That is why the public galleries and the press galleries are packed to capacity during the Question Hour.Where answer to a question whether Starred or Unstarred needs elucidation on a matter of fact, any member can table a notice for raising Half-an-Hour Discussion thereon. If the notice is admitted and gets priority in ballot such a discussion may be allowed by the Speaker.
22 Types of Questions Questions are of four types:-
Starred, Unstarred, Short Notice Questions and Questions addressed to private Members : A Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer in the House and which is distinguished by an asterisk mark. An Unstarred Question is one which is not called for oral answer in the House and on which no supplementary questions can consequently be asked. A Short Notice Question is one which relates to a matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with shorter notice than the period of notice prescribed for an ordinary question. The Question to a Private Member is addressed to the Member himself/herself and it is asked when the subjectmatter of it pertains to any Bill, Resolution or any matter relating to the Business of the House for which that Member is responsible.