2019 – Posted in: Daily News

SPEAKER OF 17th LOK SABHA

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered: Speaker’s Roles, Responsibilities, Powers, Functions and Terms

News Flash

Om Birla, a two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Rajasthan, was elected Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha.

Selection Process

The Speaker is one of the members of the Lok Sabha and on the first meeting of a newly-constituted Lok Sabha, the Speaker is elected.
The process of election is a simple majority of the members present and voting.

Role of the Speaker

Indian arrangement of government pursues the Westminster Model, the Parliamentary procedures of the country are headed by a presiding officer who is known as a Speaker.
The Speaker of the two houses of the Parliament is in charge of guaranteeing the smooth working/ functioning of the House.
The Lok Sabha (highest legislative body in the nation) picks its Speaker who directs the everyday working of the House.
In the Rajya Sabha, the role of the Speaker is completed by the Vice President of the country. His role is similar to that of the Lok Sabha Speaker, despite the fact that the nomenclature is varied.
The Speaker assumes the vital job of ensuring that the Parliament carries forward its role of legislation gently, keeping up amicability in the Houses of Parliament and taking crucial procedural decisions of the House.
The Speaker is considered the true guardian of the Indian Parliamentary democracy.
He/ She is holding the complete authority of the Lok Sabha.

Powers of the Speaker

According to the Constitution of India, a Speaker is vested with immense administrative and discretionary powers, some of which are enumerated below:

The Speaker presides over the meetings in the House. In other words, the business in the House is conducted by the Speaker, ensuring discipline and decorum amongst its members.
Speaker in the house guards the rights and privileges of the members of the two Houses, deciding who should speak at what time, the questions to be asked, the order of proceedings to be followed, among others.
In order to resolve a deadlock, a Speaker uses his/her power to vote.
It is the duty of the Speaker to adjourn the House or to suspend any meeting, until the quorum is met.
The Speaker decides the agenda that must be discussed in a meeting of the Members of the Parliament.
The Speaker is invested with the immense powers of interpreting the Rules of Procedure.
The Speaker ensures that MPs are punished for unruly behaviour.
A Speaker can also disqualify a MP from the House on grounds of defection.
It is in the power of a Speaker, to permit the various parliamentary procedures such as the motion of adjournment, the motion of no confidence, the motion of censure, among others.
The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
Once a Money Bill is transmitted from the Lower House to the Upper House, the Speaker is solely responsible for endorsing his or her certificate on the Bill.
The Speaker has under his or her jurisdiction, a number of Parliamentary Committees such as the Rules Committee, the Business Advisory Committee and the General Purposes Committee.
The Speaker is also the ‘ex-officio’ President of the Indian Parliamentary Group.
As part of the Speaker’s administrative role, he or she is the head of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, maintaining absolute security surveillance in the Parliament.

Term of the Speaker

The Speaker holds office during the life of the House.
Once the House is dissolved, the Speaker’s term of office ends.
The Speaker’s office may terminate earlier than the expiry of the House due to the following reasons:
When the Speaker ceases to be a Member of the House.
When the Speaker resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker.
When the Speaker is removed from office by a resolution which is passed by a majority of all the members of the House.

Source: Indian Express / Elections

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