Important parliamentary terms, points, motions, bills, questions and Committees

1. The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months.
2. The President summons and prorogues the two houses of parliament.
3. Quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present in the House before transaction of any business. It is one-tenth of the total number of members in each House including the presiding officer. It means that there must be at least 55 members present in the Lok Sabha and 25 in the Rajya Sabha.
4. Every minister and the attorney general of India have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of either House, any joint sitting of both the Houses and any committee of Parliament of which he is a member, without being entitled to vote.
5. Lame-Duck session refers to the last session of the existing Lok Sabha, after a new Lok Sabha has been elected.
6. Question Hour is the first hour of every parliamentary sitting.
7. A starred question (distinguished by an asterisk) requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow.
8. An unstarred question, on the other hand, requires a written answer and hence, supplementary questions cannot follow.
9. A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less than ten days. It is answered orally.
10. The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (that is, regular business of the House) is taken up. In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour. It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence since 1962.
11. Adjournment Motion It is introduced in the Parliament to draw attention of the House to a definite matter of urgent public importance, and needs the support of 50 members to be admitted. Rajya Sabha isn’t permitted to make use of this device and the discussion should last for not less than two hours and thirty minutes.
12. No-Confidence Motion Article 75 of the Constitution says that the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. It means that the ministry stays in office so long as it enjoys confidence of the majority of the members of the Lok Sabha. In other words, the Lok Sabha can remove the ministry from office by passing a no-confidence motion. The motion needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.
13. A bill is a proposal for legislation and it becomes an act or law when duly enacted. It could be classified as a private member bill or a public bill. A public bill is the one introduced by any minister and a private bill is the one which is otherwise.
14. Bills can be ordinary, money or financial and constitutional amendment bills. Money bills are the ones which are concerned with taxation, money matters which are specifically mentioned in article 110. Financial bill are also concerned with such matters though with slight differences and are mention in articles 117(1) and 117(3). Constitution amendment bills, which are concerned with the amendment of the provisions of the Constitution.
15. The Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend a money bill. It can only make the recommendations. It must return the bill to the Lok Sabha within 14 days, wither with or without recommendations. The decision of the speaker is final in deciding a bill is money bill or not. Also, every such bill is deemed to be a public bill.
16. The provision of joint sitting is applicable to ordinary bills or financial bills only and not to money bills or Constitutional amendment bills. In the case of a money bill, the Lok Sabha has overriding powers, while a Constitutional amendment bill must be passed by each House separately.
17. The term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. It is the popular name for the ‘annual financial statement’ that has been dealt with in Article 112 of the Constitution.
18. The Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget in 1921 on the recommendations of the Acworth Committee. From the year 2017, the railway budget and the main financial budget were again merged and in 2017 the budget was presented on the 1st February, 2017.
19. Consolidated Fund of India - It is a fund to which all receipts are credited and all payments are debited. In other words, (a) all revenues received by the Government of India; (b) all loans raised by the Government by the issue of treasury bills, loans or ways and means of advances; and (c) all money received by the government in repayment of loans forms the Consolidated Fund of India. Mentioned in article 266.
20. Public Account of India - All other public money (other than those which are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Government of India shall be credited to the Public Account of India.
21. Contingency Fund of India - The Constitution authorised the Parliament to establish a ‘Contingency Fund of India’, into which amounts determined by law are paid from time to time. Accordingly, the Parliament enacted the contingency fund of India Act in 1950. This fund is placed at the disposal of the president, and he can make advances out of it to meet unforeseen expenditure pending its authorisation by the Parliament.
22. Public Accounts Committee - It consists of 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha). Term of members – 1 year. A minister cannot be elected as a member of the committee. The chairman of the committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst its members. Until 1966–67, the chairman of the committee belonged to the ruling party. However, since 1967 a convention has developed whereby the chairman of the committee is selected invariably from the Opposition. The function of the committee is to examine the annual audit reports of the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG), which are laid before the Parliament by the president.
23. Estimates Committee – The largest committee of the Parliament. Present number of members is 30. All the thirty members are from Lok Sabha only. The term of office is one year. A minister cannot be elected as a member of the committee. The chairman of the committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst its members and he is invariably from the ruling party.
24. Committee on Public Undertakings – Present number of members is 22 (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha). The term of office of the members is one year. A minister cannot be elected as a member of the committee. The chairman of the committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst its members who are drawn from the Lok Sabha only.