Introduction:

This article is about the Indian parliament and its important terms that are used in following and debating a bill. This topic deals with the definition of various terms and includes the list of all important terms used in Indian parliament.

List of Important Terms in Parliament

1) Bill- A piece of legislation proposed by a Member 

Constituent Assembly- The body that created India 

2) History Day -Celebrates historical events including those celebrated on Republic Day, Independence Day, and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday every year on October 2nd 

3) Lok Sabha (House)- The lower house of Parliament consisting of 543 members elected for five years at an election held once every five years. 

4) Rajya Sabha (House)- The upper house of parliament consisting of 245 (233 Elected + 12 Nominated) members elected for six years and not more than two-thirds of its members retiring in any given year. 

5) Proportional- A system for election where the political parties are allocated seats according to the proportion of popular votes received by them. 

6) Single-Member Constituency- Constituency in which only one seat is allotted to each constituency. 

7) State Assembly -The legislative body in India with maximum membership strength, making it the largest democratic body and voting power. They are elected through a first past the post system at an interval of five years.

8) Term of Parliament -The time period allotted by the Constitution to a party or an individual Member of Parliament to hold office in the House 

9) Urgent Business -Urgent business refers to the business related to crucial issues which are required to be taken up during a sitting of parliament. It is meant for passage of bills in longer than 3 hours. 

10) Work Period -Time when members can be called on by the Speaker, Prime Minister or Vice President or any other authority as per rules and precedents. 

11) Winter Session- The session is held during winter months between November and February, whereas summer session is held in March & April. 

12) Budget Session- It starts in the first week of November and ends in the last week of January. It is a period when the presentation of the budget is made and it lasts for about six weeks.

13) Ordinary Session -The official session held once or twice a year to transact business of parliament.

14) Election -It is the process through which Members of Parliament are elected by means of universal adult suffrage. A person who has been at least 18 years old for at least six months can apply for membership as a Member of parliament in India. 

15) Constituency -Legislative assembly of a state where people are elected from one constituency instead of from multi-member constituencies.

16) Chairperson -The person who represents the party which has the confidence of its members and is designated by the party as its leader. 

17) Listing -In an election, any person not belonging to any political party who votes for its candidate is said to be at a ‘listing’. In case of lotus position (first in line), it means that no vote can be allotted to anybody other than that person 

18) Vote- It is expressed in plurality of votes.

19) Ad-Hoc Committee- It is a temporary committee formed by the Indian Parliament.

20) Nomination- In an election, the process of “nomination” is the nomination of candidates before the election date by contesting parties.

21) Attendance- Members are required to attend the parliament during its sessions and it is one of the criteria to cancel their seat in parliament if they fail to attend at least 50% of working days in a financial year. 

22) Constituency Wise-It means that all elected Members from a state leave for their constituency after winning elections and are not present in parliament unless required.

23) Privileges-Members of Parliament have certain types of privileges which include the right to speak in parliament without any time limit. 

24) Retirement-Members of Parliament can retire from their seats in the parliament either by accepting voluntary retirement or on retirement.

25) Prorogation-In an election, the process of prorogation is the adjournment or suspension of a sitting of Parliament.

26)  Representation-A member representing a political party to a constituency. It involves formation and nomination of candidates for election to a legislative body and also for popularly elected members in India. 

Conclusion:

This article was based on the questions frequently asked by many students, the author has attempted to provide answers to all the questions in a very simple and clear manner. We have tried to include all important terms of parliament so that it could be helpful while preparing for competitive exams such as UPSC/SSC/Bank exams.