Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, along with the President form India's parliament for legislative purposes according to Article 79 of the Indian constitution. The Lok Sabha is known as the House of People or lower house and the Rajya Sabha is known as the Council of States or upper house. Members of Lok Sabha are directly elected on the basis of adult suffrage due to which Loksabha is considered the true representative of the people of India. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, is indirectly elected. The titles 'Lok Sabha' and 'Rajya Sabha' were adopted by the Indian Parliament in 1954. The primary difference between these two chambers of Parliament is in their respective powers and functions. In this article, let us learn Differences between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. It will be helpful for UPSC CSE/ IAS Exam Preparation and understanding of the legislative structure of the country. Learning this topic will not only help in prelims but also in the mains and interview phase of the IAS examination.

Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - Indian Polity Notes : Download PDF

Differences between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Functions and Powers of Lok Sabha

Legislative Functions

• An ordinary bill can become law only after it has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament.
• Although ordinary bills can be introduced in either of the two houses of Parliament, almost 90% of the bills are actually introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• In case the Rajya Sabha rejects a bill passed by the Lok Sabha and returns it with or without some amendments, the Lok Sabha reconsiders the bill. If the Lok Sabha re-passes it and the Rajya Sabha is still not prepared to pass it, a deadlock occurs. If this deadlock remains unresolved for six months, the President summons a joint sitting of the two Houses as per the provisions of Article 108. The decision of the joint sitting is accepted by both Houses.
• Lok Sabha plays predominant role in terms of legislature. Lok Sabha contains a maximum of 550 seats in which these members are directly elected by Indian citizens whereas Rajya Sabha has around 250 seats who are indirectly elected by legislative members of the states.
• Lok Sabha can express a lack of confidence in the government in the following ways:
  • By failing to pass a motion of thanks for the President's inaugural address.
  • By Rejecting a money bill (To read on how a bill is passed in Indian Parliament, Money Bill )
  • By passing a censure motion or an adjournment motion
  • By defeating the government on a vital issue
  • By passing a cut motion.

Executive Functions

• As per Article 75(3) of the Constitution of India, the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• The leader of the majority in the Lok Sabha is the one who becomes the Prime Minister of India. Most of the ministers will also be from the Lok Sabha.
• These ministers can only remain in office as long as they enjoy the confidence of the majority in the Lok Sabha.
• The Lok Sabha can remove the ministry from office by passing a vote of no- confidence against it under the procedure given under Rule 198 of the rules of procedure and conduct of the business of the Lok Sabha.
• Thus, it can be said that the life and death of the Ministry depend on the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha maintains continuous control over the Council of Ministers.
• They can move and adopt several types of resolutions and motions (adjournment motion, call attention motion, censure motion, and no-confidence motion).
• Lok Sabha can cause fall of Government by expressing lack of Confidence in Government.
• When both chambers meet in a combined session, the Lok Sabha with the greater number of members invariably wins.
• Thus, Lok Sabhathe lower house of the parliament is more powerful and the strongest house than Rajya Sabha i.e. upper house.

Financial Functions

• Lok Sabha is the one that has the right to introduce Money Bill and not the Rajya Sabha.
• Lok Sabha’s Speaker will decide whether a Bill is a Money bill or an ordinary Bill.
• Without the previous approval of the Lok Sabha, the government is not permitted to charge, collect, modify, or abolish any tax.
• The Lok Sabha must approve the fiscal policies before they can be put into action.
• Only Lok Sabha can introduce a money bill under Article 110. (In the linked article, aspirants can learn more about Money Bill.)
• The Speaker of the Lok Sabha determines whether bills are Money Bills, whereas the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha does not have this authority.
• Only the Lok Sabha can introduce a financial bill under Article 110 (1). (*click on this link to read more about *Difference between Finance Bill and Money Bill)
• The bills passed by Lok Sabha related to the budget of Government of India or any of the money related laws cannot be rejected by Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha can delay it only by 14 days or suggest any changes in it.
• The changes suggested by Rajya Sabha may or may not be accepted by Lok Sabha. Hence Lok Sabha is more powerful because it contains the members who were directly elected by the people and they are considered to be the direct representatives of the State.

Functions and powers of Rajya Sabha

Legislative Powers

• In case of ordinary law-making (other than Money Bills), the Rajya Sabha has equal powers to the Lok Sabha.
• Besides, no bill can become a law until it is approved by both Houses.

Financial Powers

• Regarding financial powers, Rajya Sabha has a lower hand in comparison to the Lok Sabha.
• When a Money Bill is sent to Rajya Sabha for consideration and if it fails to pass the bill within 14 days, the bill will be considered has been passed by the Parliament. In this case, Rajya Sabha’s inconsideration doesn’t matter.
• Even if Rajya Sabha sends the bill to Lok Sabha with some amendments, the final decision on whether to accept or reject the proposed amendment lies entirely with Lok Sabha.

Executive Powers

• As per Article 75(3) of the Constitution of India, the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha and not to the Rajya Sabha
• Though the Rajya Sabha has no power to dissolve the Council of Ministers, it has some degree of control over the ministers.
• It includes criticizing their policies, asking follow-up questions, and moving adjournment motions.
• Some of the ministers can also be taken from the Rajya Sabha. Now, if the majority party in the Lok Sabha chooses or adopts a member as its leader, the Prime Minister might also come from the Rajya Sabha.

Differences related to the composition of Loksabha and Rajyasabha

Difference between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with respect to the Representation of States

Differences between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with respect to nominated members

Why Lok Sabha plays predominant role?

• Lok Sabha plays predominant role in terms of legislature due to its strength and Constitutional provisions.
• Lok Sabha contains a maximum of 550 seats in which these members are directly elected by Indian citizens whereas Rajya Sabha has around 250 seats who are indirectly elected by legislative members of the states.
• The bills passed by Lok Sabha related to the budget of Government of India or any of the money related laws cannot be rejected by Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha can delay it only by 14 days or suggest any changes in it.
• The changes suggested by Rajya Sabha may or may not be accepted by Lok Sabha.
• Hence Lok Sabha is more powerful because it contains the members who were directly elected by the people and they are considered to be the direct representatives of the State.
• Thus Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament is more powerful and the strongest house than Rajya Sabha i.e. upper house.

Equal powers and position of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha

There are some important matters in respect of which the Constitution has placed both Houses of Parliament on an equal footing as may be seen from the following list:

• Election and impeachment of the President (Articles 54 and 61)and election of the Vice-President (Article 66)
• To make law defining parliamentary privileges and also to punish for contempt (Article 105)
• To approve the Proclamation of Emergency (issued under Article 352), Proclamations regarding the failure of the Constitutional machinery in States (issued under Article 356)
• To receive reports and papers from various statutory authorities, namely -

1. Audit Reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India [Article 151(1)].
2. Reports of the Union Public Service Commission. [Article 323(1)].
3. Reports of the Special Officer for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes [Article 338(2)].
4. Report of the Commission to investigate the conditions of the Backward Classes [Article 340(3)].
5. Report of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities [Article 350 B(2)].

Conclusion

Thus, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are important governing bodies of India that have several functions to perform. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are essential for the smooth functioning of different states and union territories. In Bicameralism, two houses enable each one of them to review the decisions of the other and validate decision and avoid errors. While (Rajya Sabha)Upper House maintains the federal equilibrium by protecting the interests of states against undue interference from the centre the Lok Sabha is more powerful as it consists of members who were directly elected by the people and they are considered to be the direct representatives of the State.

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