How a Bill becomes an Act?

Why Government is having tough time these days in getting key Bills passed despite being in clear majority?

A simple answer to above question is that for an Ordinary Bill to become an Act of Parliament; it has to go through various stages and has to be passed in both Houses of the Parliament. Now, while Government is in majority in the House of People (Lok Sabha), it doesn’t enjoy majority in Council of States (Rajya Sabha). Hence, opposition parties are trying all means to kill time in Rajya Sabha and not discuss/debate the key Bills.

How a Bill becomes an Act is a wide and detailed topic. For the sake of ease of understanding of the entire process, here, I have tried to summarize and capture the Life Cycle of an Ordinary Bill from the time it is proposed in either of the Houses till it becomes an Act. Kindly refer to below figure to understand an Ordinary Bill's life cycle.

Figure: Bill's Life Cycle

However, there are few Bills like Money Bills and certain other categories of Financial Bills which can ONLY be introduced in Lok Sabha. After it is passed by Lok Sabha, it is transmitted to Rajya Sabha for its concurrence or recommendation.  Rajya Sabha has to return such a Bill to Lok Sabha within a period of 14 days from its receipt.  If it is not returned to Lok Sabha within that time, the Bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses.  Again, Rajya Sabha cannot amend a Money Bill; it can only recommend amendments and Lok Sabha may either accept or reject all or any of the recommendations made by Rajya Sabha.

Similarly, Constitution Amendment Bills, like GST in current scenario, has to be passed by both Houses by a Special Majority (2/3^rd of the House) & not simple majority like Ordinary Bills. Also, if both Houses are in dis-agreement, a joint-committee is NOT an option for such Bill.

Please provide your feedback, comments to make this a better post.

References:

1.       http://rajyasabha.nic.in/

2.       http://www.parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/p5.htm

3.       http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/abstract/legislative_process.htm

4.       http://www.slideshare.net/RAJATDIXIT2/how-a-bill-become-law

Parliament of India

Indian Parliament is of bicameral type. Rajya Sabha is the upper house and Lok Sabha is the lower house. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Sansad Bhavan (located on the Sansad Marg or "Parliament Street") in New Delhi. Those elected or nominated (by the President) to either house of Parliament are referred to as members of parliament or MPs.

Lok Sabha (House of People) (also known as Lower House)

Strength

Maximum Strength: 552 out of which upto 530 Members represent the States, upto 20 Members represent the Union Territory and not more than 2 Members of Anglo-Indian community to be nominated by President of India, if President is of the opinion that the community is not adequately represented in the house.

Actual Strength: 545 (States: 530, UT: 13, Nominated: 2 )  

Members (of Parliament)

Members of Lok Sabha are representatives of people chosen by direct election. Total elective membership is distributed among the states in such a manner that the ratio between number of seats allocated to each state is and the population of each state is same of all states.

Tenure

Lok Sabha continues for 5 years, unless dissolved earlier. During emergency, it can be extended for not more than 1 year.

Presiding Officers

Speaker & Deputy Speaker is elected by the Members of Lok Sabha, among themselves.

Rajya Sabha (Council of States) (also known as Upper House)

Strength

Maximum Strength: 250 out of which 238 are to be elected and 12 are to be

nominated by the President of India.

Actual Strength: 245 (233 + 12) – 5 seats are vacant

Members (of Parliament)

Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the Assemblies of States and Union territories in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. Representation of members from states is based on its population for e.g. Uttar Pradesh has 31 members while Mizoram has only 1. Also from Union Territories only 4 members are elected (3 from Delhi and 1 from Pudducherry), other Union territories do not represent in Rajya Sabha.

Tenure

Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution.  However, one-third Members of Rajya Sabha retire after every second year.  A member who is elected for a full term serves for a period of six years.  The election held to fill a vacancy arising otherwise than by retirement of a member on the expiration of his term of office is called ‘Bye-election’. A member elected in a bye-election remains member for the remainder of the term of the member who had resigned or died or disqualified to be member of the House under the Tenth Schedule.

Presiding Officers

Chairman of the House: Vice President of India. He is elected by Members of electoral college consisting of Members of both Houses of the Parliament.

Deputy Chairman is elected by the Members of Rajya Sabha, among themselves.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lok_Sabha

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_India

3. http://rajyasabha.nic.in/

4. http://loksabha.nic.in/