Levels of Government-Part B

We have covered the lower levels of the hierarchy in the Levels of Government-Part A

Now, let's dig deeper in to how it works in the district, state and national level.



Basically, districts are collection of Blocks or ULBs(Urban Local Bodies). Collection of districts is a State. Number of districts in a state differ depending on the size and population of the state.

Many states are divided on language basis(tamilnadu-tamil, karnataka-kannada, kerala-malayalam etc.,) however, it was NOT how Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru envisioned the division of states to happen. Post-independence, the division was based on the already existing kingdoms. For e.g., Madras state of 1947 A. D consisted most parts of present Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Due to the local demand for division of state on language basis, Mr. Nehru was left with no choice but to do so. Punjab was bifurcated in to Punjab and Haryana on 1st, November 1966 to separate Haryanvi speaking people of now Haryana. Andhra Pradesh was reorganized as a separate state on November 1st, 1956 following several protests for bifurcation. Recently, Andhra Pradesh was further bifurcated in to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (Rest of the state) on 2nd June, 2014 following prolonged protests against the existing Congress govt. India presently has 29 states.

Union Territories are those pieces of land which are:

1. Too small to be given status of an independent state.
2. Too unique to be merged with existing states.
3. Geographically separated, which demands direct protection and support(both economic and otherwise).

For more info on Union Territories, please read Union Territories.

I. District Level: Zilla Parishad or District Council or District Panchayat or Zilla panchayat:

• Head: President and Vice-President elected by the members of the Zilla parishad. Administrative head will be an IAS officer designated as the CEO. CEO supervises the divisions of the district and executes the development schemes.
• Members:  Minimum of 50 to maximum of 75 members. Includes Chairpersons of the Mandals(Blocks) under that District + Councillors of the Urban Local Bodies of the District + Members of the Zilla Parishad elected by the public of that District + Members of the State Legislature having jurisdiction in that District + Members of the Legislative Parliament having jurisdiction in that District.
• Sources of Income:
• Taxes on water, pilgrimage, markets, etc.
• Fixed grant from the State Government in proportion with the land revenue and money for works and schemes assigned to the Parishad.
• The Zila Parishad can collect some money from the panchayats with the approval of the govrnment.
• It gets a share from the income from local taxes.
• Functions: 
• Provide essential services and facilities to the rural population and the planning and execution of the development programmes for the district.
• Supply improved seeds to farmers. Inform them of new techniques of training. Undertake construction of small-scale irrigation projects and percolation tanks. Maintain pastures and grazing lands.
• Set up and run schools in villages. Execute programmes for adult literacy. Run libraries.
• Start Primary Health Centres and hospitals in villages. Start vaccination drives against epidemics and family welfare campaigns.
• Construct bridges and roads.
• Execute plans for the development of the scheduled castes and tribes. Run ashramshalas for adivasi children. Set up free hostels for scheduled caste students.
• Encourage entrepreneurs to start small-scale industries like cottage industries, handicraft, agriculture produce processing mills, dairy farms, etc. Implement rural employment schemes.
• They construct roads,schools,& public properties.And they take care of the public properties.
• They even supply work for the poor people.(tribes,scheduled caste,lower caste).

II. State Level- Two Houses:

1. Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha or State Legislative Assembly
2. State Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad

Only Seven out of 29 states as of now has two houses. In those seven states, Legislative Council shall act as the Upper House and the Legislative Assembly as the Lower House. This is called Bicameral Arrangement of State legislature. In Bicameral Legislatures, usually any bill is first introduced in the Lower House and if it gets a 2/3 majority, it shall be proceeded to the Upper House. If the bill gets minimum of 2/3 majority in Upper House as well, it shall then be taken to the Governor for final approval. After Governor's consent, the bill shall become an 'Act'. However a bill can be introduced in the Upper House as well except for Money Bills in which case only Lower House can introduce.

In other 22 states, there shall be only one house: Legislative Assembly. This is Unicameral Arrangement of the State Legislature. In Unicameral Legislatures, usually any bill is first introduced in the House and if it gets a 2/3 majority, it shall be proceeded to the Governor for final approval. After Governor's consent, the bill shall become an 'Act'.

First lets get in to the details of S.L.A and S.L.C. Then lets know why only few of the states have S.L.C, functions of S.L.C and its need in the Legislation process.

1. State Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha: 

• Speaker: Two members of the House shall be elected as the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House. Since it is a election among the members of the house, members of the majority party will hold the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
• Members: Must contain minimum of 40 members and a maximum of 500 members. All the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) who are directly elected by the public for their respective constituencies are the members.
• Leader of the House: Chief Minister of the State.
• Leader of the Opposition: Usually the head of the political party with second highest majority. In other cases, head choses a Leader of Opposition from among his party MLAs.
• Special Powers: 
• A money bill can only be introduced in Vidhan Sabha. In bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the Vidhan Sabha, it is sent to the Vidhan Parishad, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days. Unless a by the Finance Minister of the state in the name of the Governor of that state.
• In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting(Like at the Centre). In such cases, Legislative council can delay the legislation by maximum 4 months (3 months in first visit and 1 month in the second visit of the bill). This shows that S.L.C doesn't hold as much much as Rajya Sabha holds at the centre. However, it helps in keeping a check on the state assembly's decision making freedom from affecting the greater goal of the Republic.
• A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the Vidhan Sabha. If it is passed by a majority vote, then the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers must collectively resign. 
• Term: 5 years.

2. State Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad: 

• Speaker: Two members from the members of the house shall be elected as the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House. 
• Members: 
• Must contain minimum of 40 members(Except for Jammu & Kashmir where it is 36, as an Act of Parliament) and a maximum of one-third of S.L.A members. Members are elected as:
• One-third are elected by members of local bodies such as corporations, municipalities, and Zila Parishads.
• One-third are elected by members of Legislative Assembly from among the persons who are not members of the Assembly.
• One-twelfth are elected by persons who are graduates of three years' standing residing in that state.
• One-twelfth are elected by persons engaged for at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than secondary schools, including colleges and universities.
• One-sixth are nominated by the governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social service.
• Leader of the House: Chief Minister of the State or head of the party choses a Leader of House from among his party MLCs.
• Leader of the Opposition: Usually the head of the political party with second highest majority or head choses a Leader of Opposition from among his party MLCs.
• Special Powers: 
• Powers of MLC is same as MLA except in case of money bills. MLC play consultant's role.
• In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting(Like at the Centre). In such cases, Legislative council can delay the legislation by maximum 4 months (3 months in first visit and 1 month in the second visit of the bill). This shows that S.L.C doesn't hold as much much as Rajya Sabha holds at the centre. However, it helps in keeping a check on the state assembly's decision making freedom from affecting the greater goal of the Republic.
• Term: 6 years. With terms staggered such that one-third members of the house shall retire/expire for every two years.
• Additional details: The existence of a Legislative Council has proven politically controversial. A number of states that have had their Council abolished have subsequently requested its re-establishment; conversely, proposals for the re-establishment of the Council for few states have also met with opposition. Proposals for abolition or re-establishment of a state's Legislative Council require a bill to be passed in S.L.A, if it gets a 2/3 majority the same bill shall be passed in the Parliament of India. If the bill gets 2/3 majority and is duly signed by the President of India, it shall be enacted and Legislative Council can be then formed in the state.

III. Union Level: Parliament Of The Republic Of India.

• Parliament: The Constitution of India provides us with a Bicameral Parliament consisting of a President and two houses: Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and House of the People (Lok Sabha).

1. President of India
2. Lok Sabha- Lower House
3. Rajya Sabha- Upper House

Rajya Sabha(RS) or the Council Of States:

• Chairperson: Vice-President is the Ex-Officio chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson is elected from the members of the House.
• Members: RS has maximum of 250 members consisting of 238 members from the States and Union Territories, and 12 members elected specially by the President Of India from among the people who have special knowledge or practical experience in fields of literature, science, arts or social service. Number of members to each state are allocated based on the population of the states.
• Election of Members: Members of RS(Members of the State) are elected by the members of the legislative assembly of that state where he/she submitted the nomination.
• Leader of the House: Besides the Chairperson, the leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition are present in RS. Leader of the house is a cabinet minister- Prime Minister or any other nominated minister.
• Leader of the Opposition: Besides the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition has been recognized by the Government in the ' Salaries and Allowances for the Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament Act' in 1977. The Leader of opposition will be head of the next highest majority party or his nominated member.
• Term: 6 years. With terms staggered such that one-third members of the house shall retire/expire for every two years.
• Secretariat: Meaning = a permanent administrative office or department, especially a governmental one. 
•   The Secretariat of Rajya Sabha was set up pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 98 of the Constitution. The said Article, which provides for a separate secretarial staff for each House of Parliament, reads as follows:

• 'Secretariat of Parliament -Each House of Parliament shall have a separate secretarial staff: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as preventing the creation of posts common to both Houses of Parliament. Parliament may by law regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to the secretarial staff of either House of Parliament.'

• The Rajya Sabha Secretariat functions under the overall guidance and control of the Chairman. The main activities of the Secretariat inter alia include the following :
• Providing secretarial assistance and support to the effective functioning of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
• Preparing research and reference material and bringing out various publications;
• Servicing the various Parliamentary Committees;
• Recruitment of manpower in the Sabha Secretariat and attending to personnel matters; and
• Preparing and publishing a record of the day-to-day proceedings of the Rajya Sabha and bringing out such other publications, as may be required concerning the functioning of the Rajya Sabha and its Committees.
• In the discharge of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha is assisted by the Secretary-General, who holds the rank equivalent[8] to the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India. The Secretary-General, in turn, is assisted by senior functionaries at the level of Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary and other officers and staff of the SType of body: Permanent and cannot be dissolved in mid-term.

• Additional:

• Money bills can only be introduced in Lok Sabha and not in RS.
• Motion of no-confidence against the Government can be passed/introduced only in Lok Sabha and not in RS.
• The number of members in Rajya Sabha is 250 and that of Lok Sabha is 545. So if a bill passed by the Lok Sabha is rejected by Rajya Sabha, then in the following Joint sitting the bill is more likely to pass due to the majority of Lok Sabha. Till now, only three such Joint sittings took place, latest one being conducted on 2002 on 'Prevention of Terrorism Act'.

Lok Sabha(LS) or the House of the People:

• Speaker: Speaker is the elected by the members of the House. So is the case with the Deputy speaker. The procedure is same as that goes with the state assemblies. To know the procedure of election of speaker/deputy speaker of State Legislative Assembly click here. 
• Members: LS has maximum of 552 members consisting of 530 members from the States and  20 members from the Union Territories, and 2 members specially nominated by the President of India from the Anglo-Indian Community, only in case he feels they are not adequately represented. 
• Election of Members: The (530+20) members are elected from their respective constituencies of the state or Union Territory by the public of that constituency by Universal Adult Franchise. Other 2 members are nominated by the President.
• Leader of the House: The Leader of the house is a cabinet minister- Prime Minister or any other nominated minister.
• Leader of the Opposition: Besides the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition has been recognized by the Government in the ' Salaries and Allowances for the Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament Act' in 1977. The Leader of opposition will be head of the next highest majority party or his nominated member.
• Term: 5 years. In case of emergency this term could be extended. In case the motion of no-confidence is passed the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers(Cabinet) shall resign.
• Special Powers:
• Motions of no confidence against the government can be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha. If passed by a majority vote, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers resigns collectively. The Rajya Sabha has no power over such a motion, and hence no real power over the executive. However, the Prime Minister may threaten the dissolution by the Lok Sabha and recommend this to the President, forcing an untimely general election. The President normally accepts this recommendation unless otherwise convinced that the Lok Sabha might recommend a new Prime Minister by a majority vote. Thus, both the executive and the legislature in India have checks and balances over each other.
• Money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha, and upon being passed, are sent to the Rajya Sabha, where it can be deliberated on for up to 14 days. If not rejected by the Rajya Sabha, or 14 days lapse from the introduction of the bill in the Rajya Sabha without any action by the House, or recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha are not accepted by the Lok Sabha, the bill is considered passed. The budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister in the name of the President of India.
• In matters pertaining to non-financial (ordinary) bills, after the bill has been passed by the House where it was originally tabled (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha), it is sent to the other house, where it may be kept for a maximum period of 6 months. If the other House rejects the bill or a period of 6 months elapses without any action by that House, or the House that originally tabled the bill does not accept the recommendations made by the members of the other house, it results in a deadlock. This is resolved by a joint session of both Houses, presided over by the speaker of the Lok Sabha and decided by a simple majority. The will of the Lok Sabha normally prevails in these matters, as its strength is more than double that of the Rajya Sabha.
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing any Bill for Constitutional Amendment (by a majority of the total membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the President (by two-thirds of the membership of the House).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the judges of the Supreme Court and the state High Courts (by a majority of the membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a resolution declaring war or national emergency (by two-thirds majority) or constitutional emergency (by simple majority) in a state.
• If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before or after the declaration of a National Emergency, the Rajya Sabha becomes the sole Parliament. It cannot be dissolved. This is a limitation on the Lok Sabha. But there is a possibility that president can exceed the term to not more than 1 year under the proclamation of emergency and the same would be lowered down to six-month if the said proclamation ceases to operate.

President of India:

The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The President is the formal head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of India and is the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
The President is indirectly elected by the people through elected members of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) as well as of the Legislative Assemblies in States of India (Vidhan Sabha) and the each Union Territories, i.e. Delhi, Puducherry etc.; and serves for a term of five years.Historically, ruling party (majority in the Lok Sabha) nominees (for example, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee) have usually been elected unanimously. Incumbent presidents are permitted to stand for re-election. A formula is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state and the number of votes assembly members from a state can cast, and to give an equal balance between State Assembly members and the members of the Parliament of India. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, then there is a system by which losing candidates are eliminated from the contest and their votes are transferred to other candidates, until one gains a majority. The oath of the President is administered by the Chief Justice of India, and in his absence, by the most senior judge of the Supreme Court.