Tài liệu INDIA 2010 A REFERENCE ANNUAL ppt

LEGISLATURE Legislature of the Union which is called Parliament , consists of President and twoHouses, known as Council of States Rajya Sabha and House of the People LokSabha.. RAJYA SAB

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,

Government of India, Soochna Bhawan, CGO Complex

Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003

Website : www.publicationsdivision.nic.in

E-mail : dpd@mail.nic.in

Kendriya Sadan, Belapur, Navi Mumbai-400614 l 8, Esplanade East,

Kolkata-700069 l 'A' Wing, Rajaji Bhawan, Besant Nagar, Chennai-600090 l Press

Road, Near Govt Press, Thiruvananthapuram-695001 l Block 4, 1st Floor,

Gruhakalpa Complex, M.G Road, Nampally Hyderabad-500001 l 1st Floor,

‘F’ Wing, Kendriya Sadan, Koramangala, Bangaluru-560034 l Bihar State

Co-operative Bank Building, Ashoka Rajpath, Patna-800004 l Hall No 1, 2nd

Floor, Kendriya Bhawan, Sector H, Aliganj, Lucknow-226024 l Ambica

Complex, 1st Floor, Paldi, Ahmedabad-380007 l House No 7, New Colony,

Cheni Kuthi, KKB Road Guwahati-781003.

Research, Reference and Training Division

Compilation and Coordination

S M KhanSurendra KumarRomi SharmaSimmi Kumar

Typesetter : Quick Prints, Naraina, New Delhi-110 028

Printed at : TAN Prints India Pvt Ltd (HR)

ISBN : 978-81-230-1617-7

REF-ENG-OP-069-2009-10

1 Land and the People

"INDIA is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother ofhistory, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition Our mostvaluable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up inIndia only."—Mark Twain

India has a unique culture and is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations of theworld It stretches from the snow-capped Himalayas in the North to sun drenchedcoastal villages of the South, the humid tropical forests on the south-west coast, thefertile Brahamputra valley on its East to the Thar desert in the West It covers an area

of 32,87,263 sq km It has achieved all-round socio-economic progress during thelast 62 years of its Independence India has become self-sufficient in agriculturalproduction and is now the tenth industrialised country in the world and the sixthnation to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people

As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia,marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinctgeographical entity Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretchessouthwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between theBay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west

Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends betweenlatitudes 8°4' and 37°6' north, longitudes 68°7' and 97°25' east and measures about3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km fromeast to west between the extreme longitudes It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km.The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands andAndaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km

PHYSICAL BACKGROUND

Countries having a common border with India are Afghanistan and Pakistan to thenorth-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the east andBangladesh to the east of West Bengal Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrowchannel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar

in these ranges The high altitudes admit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep

La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley,north-east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Satluj valley, north-east of Kalpa(Kinnaur) The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with avarying depth of 240 to 320 km In the east, between India and Myanmar and Indiaand Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills,

1 Provisional as on 31 March 1982

running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running south.

north-The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 kmbroad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems - the Indus, the Ganga andthe Brahmaputra They are one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium andalso one of the most densely populated areas on the earth Between the Yamuna atDelhi and the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,600 km away, there is a drop of only 200 metres

in elevation

The desert region can be divided into two parts - the great desert and the littledesert The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kuchch beyond the Luniriver northward The whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this Thelittle desert extends from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northernwastes Between the great and the little deserts lies a zone of absolutely sterile country,consisting of rocky land, cut up by limestone ridges

The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and theIndus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres inheight Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala andAjanta The Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where averageelevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it isgenerally from 915 to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres Between theWestern Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between EasternGhats and the Bay of Bengal there is a broader coastal area The southern point ofplateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet.The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the WesternGhats

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE

The geological regions broadly follow the physical features and may be grouped intothree regions: the Himalayas and their associated group of mountains, the Indo-Ganga Plain and the Peninsular Shield

The Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the Naga-Lushai mountain inthe east, are the regions of mountain-building movement Most of this area, nowpresenting some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world, was undermarine conditions about 60 crore years ago In a series of mountain-buildingmovements commencing about seven crore years ago, the sediments and the basementrocks rose to great heights The weathering and erosive agencies worked on these toproduce the relief seen today The Indo-Ganga plains are a great alluvial tract thatseparate the Himalayas in the north from the Peninsula in the south

The Peninsula is a region of relative stability and occasional seismicdisturbances Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods, dating back as far

as 380 crore years, occur in the area; the rest being covered by the coastal-bearingGondwana formations, lava flows belonging to the Deccan Trap formation andyounger sediments

RIVER SYSTEMS

The river systems of India can be classified into four groups viz., (i) Himalayan rivers,(ii) Deccan rivers, (iii) Coastal rivers, and (iv) Rivers of the inland drainage basin TheHimalayan rivers are formed by melting snow and glaciers and therefore,continuously flow throughout the year During the monsoon months, Himalayas

receive very heavy rainfall and rivers swell, causing frequent floods The Deccanrivers on the other hand are rainfed and therefore fluctuate in volume Many of theseare non-perennial The Coastal streams, especially on the west coast are short inlength and have limited catchment areas Most of them are non-perennial The streams

of inland drainage basin of western Rajasthan are few and far apart Most of them are

of an ephemeral character

The main Himalayan river systems are those of the Indus and the Brahmaputra-Meghna system The Indus, which is one of the great rivers of theworld, rises near Mansarovar in Tibet and flows through India and thereafter throughPakistan and finally falls in the Arabian sea near Karachi Its important tributariesflowing in Indian territory are the Sutlej (originating in Tibet), the Beas, the Ravi, theChenab and the Jhelum The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna is another importantsystem of which the principal sub-basins are those of Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda,which join at Dev Prayag to form the Ganga It traverses through Uttarakhand, UttarPradesh, Bihar and West Bengal states Below Rajmahal hills, the Bhagirathi, whichused to be the main course in the past, takes off, while the Padma continues eastwardand enters Bangladesh The Yamuna, the Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, theKosi, the Mahananda and the Sone are the important tributaries of the Ganga RiversChambal and Betwa are the important sub-tributaries, which join Yamuna before itmeets the Ganga The Padma and the Brahmaputra join at Bangladesh and continue

Ganga-to flow as the Padma or Ganga The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it is known asTsangpo and runs a long distance till it crosses over into India in Arunachal Pradeshunder the name of Dihang Near Passighat, the Debang and Lohit join the riverBrahmaputra and the combined river runs all along the Assam in a narrow valley Itcrosses into Bangladesh downstream of Dhubri

The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are the Subansiri, Jia Bhareli,Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas The Brahmaputra in Bangladesh fed

by Tista etc., finally falls into Ganga The Barak river, the Head stream of Meghna,rises in the hills in Manipur The important tributaries of the river are Makku, Trang,Tuivai, Jiri, Sonai, Rukni, Katakhal, Dhaleswari, Langachini, Maduva and Jatinga.Barak continues in Bangladesh till the combined Ganga—Brahmaputra join it nearBhairab Bazar

In the Deccan region, most of the major river systems flowing generally in eastdirection fall into Bay of Bengal The major east flowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna,Cauvery, Mahanadi, etc Narmada and Tapti are major West flowing rivers

The Godavari in the southern Peninsula has the second largest river basincovering 10 per cent of the area of India Next to it is the Krishna basin in the region,while the Mahanadi has the third largest basin The basin of the Narmada in theuplands of the Deccan, flowing to the Arabian Sea and of the Kaveri in the south,falling into the Bay of Bengal are about the same size, though with different characterand shape

There are numerous coastal rivers, which are comparatively small While onlyhandful of such rivers drain into the sea near the delta of east coast, there are as many

as 600 such rivers on the west coast

A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea They drain into salt lakesand get lost in sand with no outlet to sea Besides these, there are the desert riverswhich flow for some distance and are lost in the desert These are Luni, Machhu,Rupen, Saraswati, Banas, Ghaggar and others

The climate of India may be broadly described as tropical monsoon type There arefour seasons: (i) winter (Janu ary-February), (ii) hot weather summer (March-May);(iii) rainy south-western monsoon (June-September) and (iv) post-monsoon, alsoknown as north-east monsoon in the southern Peninsula (October-December) India’sclimate is affected by two seasonal winds - the north-east monsoon and the south-west monsoon The north-east monsoon commonly known as winter monsoon blowsfrom land to sea whereas south-west monsoon known as summer monsoon blowsfrom sea to land after crossing the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay ofBengal The south-west monsoon brings most of the rainfall during the year in thecountry

F L O R A

With a wide range of climatic conditions from the torrid to the arctic, India has a richand varied vegetation, which only a few countries of comparable size possess Indiacan be divided into eight distinct-floristic-regions, namely, the western Himalayas,the eastern Himalayas, Assam, the Indus plain, the Ganga plain, the Deccan, Malabarand the Andamans

The Western Himalayan region extends from Kashmir to Kumaon Its temperate

zone is rich in forests of chir, pine, other conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees Higher up, forests of deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fir occur The alpine zone

extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone of about 4,750 metres or evenhigher The characteristic trees of this zone are high-level silver fir, silver birch andjunipers The eastern Himalayan region extends from Sikkim eastwards and embracesDarjeeling, Kurseong and the adjacent tract The temperate zone has forests of oaks,laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder and birch Many conifers, junipers and dwarfwillows also grow here The Assam region comprises the Brahamaputra and theSurma valleys with evergreen forests, occasional thick clumps of bamboos and tallgrasses The Indus plain region comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthanand northern Gujarat It is dry, hot and supports natural vegetation The Ganga plainregion covers the area which is alluvial plain and is under cultivation for wheat,sugarcane and rice Only small areas support forests of widely differing types TheDeccan region comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supportsvegetation of various kinds from scrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests The Malabarregion covers the excessively humid belt of mountain country parallel to the westcoast of the Peninsula Besides being rich in forest vegetation, this region producesimportant commercial corps, such as coconut, betelnut, pepper, coffee, tea, rubberand cashewnut The Andaman region abounds in evergreen, mangrove, beach anddiluvial forests The Himalayan region extending from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradeshthrough Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Meghalaya and Nagaland and the Deccan Peninsula

is rich in endemic flora, with a large number of plants which are not found elsewhere.India is rich in flora Available data place India in the tenth position in theworld and fourth in Asia in plant diversity From about 70 per cent geographical areasurveyed so far, over 46,000 species of plants have been described by the BotanicalSurvey of India (BSI), Kolkata The vascular flora, which forms the conspicuousvegetation cover, comprises 15,000 species The flora of the country is being studied

by BSI and its nine circle/field offices located throughout the country along withcertain universities and research institutions

Ethno-botanical study deals with the utilisation of plants and plant products

by ethnic races A scientific study of such plants has been made by BSI A number ofdetailed ethno-botanical explorations have been conducted in different tribal areas

of the country More than 800 plant species of ethno-botanical interest have beencollected and identified at different centres

Owing to destruction of forests for agricultural, industrial and urbandevelopment, several Indian plants are facing extinction About 1,336 plant speciesare considered vulnerable and endangered About 20 species of higher plants arecategorised as possibly extinct as these have not been sighted during the last 6-10decades BSI brings out an inventory of endangered plants in the form of a publication

titled Red Data Book.

F A U N A

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with its headquarters in Kolkata and 16 regionalstations is responsible for surveying the faunal resources of India Possessing atremendous diversity of climate and physical conditions, India has great variety offauna numbering over 89,000 species Of these, protista number 2,577, mollusca5,070, anthropoda 68,389, amphibia 209, mammalia 390, reptilia 456, members ofprotochordata 119, pisces 2,546, aves 1,232 and other invertebrates 8,329

The mammals include the majestic elephant, the gaur or Indian bison–the largest

of existing bovines, the great Indian rhinoceros, the gigantic wild sheep of the

Himalayas, the swamp deer, the thamin spotted deer, nilgai, the four-horned antelope,

the Indian antelope or black-buck – the only representatives of these genera Amongthe cats, the tiger and lion are the most magnificent of all; other splendid creaturessuch as the clouded leopard, the snow leopard, the marbled cat, etc., are also found.Many other species of mammals are remarkable for their beauty, colouring, grace and

uniqueness Several birds, like pheasants, geese, ducks, myanahs, parakeets, pigeons,

cranes, hornbills and sunbirds inhabit forests and wetlands

Rivers and lakes harbour crocodiles and gharials, the latter being the only

representative of crocodilian order in the world The salt water crocodile is foundalong the eastern coast and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands A project forbreeding crocodiles which started in 1974, has been instrumental in saving thecrocodile from extinction

The great Himalayan range has a very interesting variety of fauna that includesthe wild sheep and goats, markhor, ibex, shrew and tapir The panda and the snowleopard are found in the upper reaches of the mountains

Depletion of vegetative cover due to expansion of agriculture, habitatdestruction, over-exploitation, pollution, introduction of toxic imbalance in communitystructure, epidemics, floods, droughts and cyclones, contribute to the loss of floraand fauna More than 39 species of mammals, 72 species of birds, 17 species ofreptiles, three species of amphibians, two species of fish and a large number ofbutterflies, moth and beetles are considered vulnerable and endangered

and economic structure at a juncture, which marks a centennial and millenialtransition.

The population enumeration of 2001 census was undertaken during 9-28February 2001 with a revisional round from 1-5 March 2001 The census moment, thereferral time at which the snapshot of the population is taken was 00.00 hours of

1 March 2001 Until the 1991 Census, the sunrise of 1 March was taken to be thecensus moment The houseless population, as has been the usual practice, wasenumerated on the night of 28 February 2001

P O P U L A T I O N

India’s population as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million malesand 496.4 million females) India accounts for a meagre 2.4 per cent of the worldsurface area of 135.79 million sq km Yet, it supports and sustains a whopping 16.7per cent of the world population

The population of India, which at the turn of the twentieth century was around238.4 million, increased to reach 1,028 million at the dawn of the twenty-first century.The population of India as recorded at each decennial census from 1901 has grownsteadily except for a decrease during 1911-21 Decadal growth of population from

1901 is shown in table 1.1

Table 1.2 gives the selected indicators of population growth in different Statesand Union Territories The per cent decadal growth of population in the inter-censalperiod 1991-2001 varies from a low of 9.43 in Kerala to a very high 64.53 in Nagaland.Delhi with 47.02 per cent, Chandigarh with 40.28 per cent and Sikkim with 33.06 percent registered very high growth rates In addition to Kerala, Tamilnadu and AndhraPradesh registered low growth rates during 1991-2001

POPULATION DENSITY

One of the important indices of population concentration is the density of population

It is defined as the number of persons per sq km The population density of India in

2001 was 324 per sq km

The density of population was increased in all States and Union Territoriesbetween 1991 and 2001 Among major states, West Bengal is still the most thicklypopulated state with a population density of 903 in 2001 Bihar is now the secondhighest densely populated state pushing Kerala to the third place Ranking of theStates and Union Territories by density is shown in table 1.3

L I T E R A C Y

For the purpose of census 2001, a person aged seven and above, who can both readand write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate A person, whocan only read but cannot write, is not literate In the censuses prior to 1991, childrenbelow five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates

The population figures of 2001 includes estimated figures for those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Pural of Senapa

The results of 2001 census reveal that there has been an increase in literacy inthe country The literacy rate in the country is 64.84 per cent, 75.26 for males and 53.67for females The steady improvement in literacy is apparent from the table 1.5.Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 90.86 per cent literacy rate,closely followed by Mizoram (88.80 per cent) and Lakshadweep (86.66 per cent).Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.00 per cent ranks last in the country preceded byJharkhand (53.56 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (55.52 per cent) Kerala alsooccupies the top spot in the country both in male literacy with 94.24 per cent andfemale literacy with 87.72 per cent On the contrary, Bihar has recorded the lowestliteracy rates both in case of males (59.68 per cent) and females (33.12 per cent) Table1.6 shows the literacy rate among persons, male and female in States and UTs, andtheir ranking.

TABLE 1.3 : STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES BY DENSITY

TABLE 1.4 : SEX RATIO : 1901-2001

(females per 1,000 males)

1 For 1981, interpolated figures for Assam have been used.

2 For 1991, interpolated figures based on final population of 2001 census for Jammu and Kashmir have been used.

3 India figures for 2001 census exclude those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as population Census results of 2001

in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

TABLE 1.5 : LITERACY RATE : 1951-2001Census Year P e r s o n s M a l e s F e m a l e s

2 The 1981 Literacy rates exclude Assam where the 1981 Census could not be conducted.

3 The 1991 Literacy rates exclude Jammu and Kashmir where the 1991 Census could not be conducted due to disturbed conditions.

TABLE 1.7 : TOTAL POPULATION AND PERCENTAGE OF

SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES : 2001 CENSUS

S l I n d i a / S t a t e / T o t a l Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe

N o Union Territory Population Population Percentage Population Percentage

2 6 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 2 2 0 4 1 8 6 1 3 7 6 2 2 4

Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

TABLE 1.8 : RURAL AND URBAN POPULATIONCensus Year Population (Million) Percentage of

sub-r e a s o n s

2 The 1991 Census could not be held owing to disturbed conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir Hence the population figures for 1991 of Jammu and Kashmir have been worked out by 'interpolation' on the basis of 2001 final population.

3 The 1981 census could not be held in Assam The figures for 1981 for Assam have been worked out by interpolation.

TABLE 1.9 : POPULATION BY CLASS OF TOWN, INDIA-2001 CENSUS

TABLE 1.11

Population 0-6 Population Literates Sl.No.

Population 0-6 Population Literates Sl.No.

TABLE 1.12 : STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES BY POPULATION INDESCENDING ORDER AND RANK IN 1991 AND 2001 CENSUS

Per cent to total

3 0 M i z o r a m 8 8 8 , 5 7 3 0 0 9 0 0 8 3 0

3 1 S i k k i m 5 4 0 , 8 5 1 0 0 5 0 0 5 3 1

3 2 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 3 5 6 , 1 5 2 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 2

3 3 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 2 2 0 , 4 9 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 3

3 4 Daman and Diu 1 5 8 , 2 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 4

2 National Symbols

NATIONAL FLAG

THE National flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in

the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion The ratio of width of theflag to its length is two to three In the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel

which represents the chakra Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the

abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka Its diameter approximates to the width

of the white band and it has 24 spokes The design of the National Flag was adopted

by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947

Apart from non-statutory instructions issued by the Government from time totime, display of the National Flag is governed by the provisions of the Emblems andNames (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 (No 12 of 1950) and the Prevention ofInsults to National Honour Act, 1971 (No 69 of 1971) The Flag Code of India, 2002

is an attempt to bring together all such laws, conventions, practices and instructionsfor the guidance and benefit of all concerned

The Flag Code of India, 2002, has taken effect from 26 January 2002 andsupercedes the ‘Flag Code—Indias’ as it existed As per the provisions of the FlagCode of India, 2002, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag

by members of general public, private organisations, educational institutions, etc.,except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of ImproperUse) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and anyother law enacted on the subject

STATE EMBLEM

The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka In theoriginal, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with afrieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and

a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus Carved out of asingle block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law

(Dharma Chakra)

In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26 January 1950,only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view The wheel appears inrelief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left and theoutlines of other wheels on extreme right and left The bell-shaped lotus has been

omitted The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs', are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore,

was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem

of India on 24 January 1950 It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the KolkataSession of the Indian National Congress The complete song consists of five stanzas.The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem :

1 As published in Volume Eight of Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, Popular Edition

1 9 7 2

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.

Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha Dravida-Utkala-Banga Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.

Tava shubha name jage, Tava shubha asisa mange, Gahe tava jaya gatha, Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.

Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he, Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52seconds A short version consisting of the first and last lines of the stanza (playingtime approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions The following isTagore’s English rendering of the anthem :

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,

Dispenser of India’s destiny

Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,

Gujarat and Maratha,

Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;

It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,

mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is

chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea

They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise

The saving of all people waits in thy hand,

Thou dispenser of India’s destiny

Victory, victory, victory to thee

NATIONAL SONG

The song Vande Mataram, composed in sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a

source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom It has an equal status

with Jana-gana-mana The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896

session of the Indian National Congress The following is the text of its first stanza :

Vande Mataram!

Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam,

Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!

Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim,

Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,

Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,

Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!

The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose1 is :

I bow to thee, Mother,

richly-watered, richly-fruited,

cool with the winds of the south,

dark with the crops of the harvests,

The Mother!

Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,

her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,

sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,

The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss

NATIONAL CALENDAR

The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month and a

normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregoriancalendar for the following official purposes: (i) Gazette of India, (ii) news broadcast

by All India Radio, (iii) calendars issued by the Government of India and(iv) Government communications addressed to the members of the public

Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of

the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in

leap year

NATIONAL ANIMAL

The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, a striped animal is the national animal of India,

it has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes The combination of grace, strength,ability and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the nationalanimal of India Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the RoyalBengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region andalso in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh

NATIONAL BIRD

The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the national bird of India, is a colourful,

swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and along, slender neck The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with aglistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green trail of around 200elongated feathers The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacksthe trail The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preeningits feathers is a gorgeous sight

NATIONAL FLOWER

Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn) is the National Flower of India It is a sacred flower

and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and hasbeen an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial

NATIONAL TREE

The Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) is the National Tree of India This huge tree

towers over its neighbours and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees,easily covering several acres It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree isreally a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks

NATIONAL FRUIT

Mango (Manigifera indica) is the National fruit of India Mango is one of the most

widely grown fruits of the tropical countries In India, mango is cultivated almost inall parts, with the exception of hilly areas Mango is a rich source of Vitamins A, Cand D In India, we have hundreds of varieties of mangoes They are of differentsizes, shapes and colours Mangoes have been cultivated in India since timeimmemorial

3 The Polity

INDIA, a Union of States, is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with

a parliamentary system of government The Republic is governed in terms of theConstitution, which was adopted by Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949and came into force on 26 January 1950

The Constitution which envisages parliamentary form of government is federal

in structure with unitary features The President of India is constitutional head ofexecutive of the Union Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be aCouncil of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head to aid and advise Presidentwho shall in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice Realexecutive power thus vests in Council of Ministers with Prime Minister as head.Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha).Similarly, in states, Governor is head of executive, but it is the Council of Ministerswith Chief Minister as head in whom real executive power vests Council of Ministers

of a state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly

The Constitution distributes legislative power between Parliament and statelegislatures and provides for vesting of residual powers in Parliament Power toamend the Constitution also vests in Parliament The Constitution has provisionfor independence of judiciary, Comptroller and Auditor-General, Public ServiceCommissions and Chief Election Commissioner

THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORY

India comprises 28 States and seven Union Territories They are: Andhra Pradesh,Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan,Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal UnionTerritories are : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and NagarHaveli, Daman and Diu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Lakshadweep andPondicherry

C I T I Z E N S H I P

The Constitution of India provides for a single citizenship for the whole of India.Every person who was at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January1950) domiciled in the territory of India and: (a) who was born in India; or (b)either of whose parents was born in India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident

in India for not less than five years became a citizen of India The Citizenship Act,

1955, deals with matters relating to acquisition, determination and termination ofIndian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

The Constitution offers all citizens, individually and collectively, some basicfreedoms These are guaranteed in the Constitution in the form of six broadcategories of Fundamental Rights which are justiciable Article 12 to 35 contained

in Part III of the Constitution deal with Fundamental Rights These are : (i) right

to equality including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds

of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and equality of opportunity in matters ofemployment; (ii) right to freedom of speech and expression; assembly; association orunion; movement; residence; and right to practice any profession or occupation (some

of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreigncountries, public order, decency or morality); (iii) right against exploitation, prohibitingall forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings; (iv) right tofreedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; (v)right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script and right

of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and(vi) right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES

By the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, adopted in 1976, Fundamental Duties

of the citizens have also been enumerated Article 51 ‘A’ contained in Part IV A of theConstitution deals with Fundamental Duties These enjoin upon a citizen amongother things, to abide by the Constitution, to cherish and follow noble ideals, whichinspired India’s struggle for freedom, to defend the country and render nationalservice when called upon to do so and to promote harmony and spirit of commonbrotherhood transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities

DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

The Constitution lays down certain Directive Principles of State Policy, which thoughnot justiciable, are ‘fundamental in governance of the country’ and it is the duty of theState to apply these principles in making laws These lay down that the State shallstrive to promote the welfare of people by securing and protecting as effectively as itmay a social order in which justice—social, economic and political—shall form in allinstitutions of national life The State shall direct its policy in such a manner as tosecure the right of all men and women to an adequate means of livelihood, equal payfor equal work and within limits of its economic capacity and development, to makeeffective provision for securing the right to work, education and to public assistance

in the event of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement or other cases ofundeserved want The State shall also endeavour to secure to workers a living wage,humane conditions of work, a decent standard of life and full involvement of workers

in management of industries

In the economic sphere, the State is to direct its policy in such a manner as tosecure distribution of ownership and control of material resources of community tosubserve the common good and to ensure that operation of economic system does notresult in concentration of wealth and means of production to common detriment.Some of the other important directives relate to provision of opportunities andfacilities for children to develop in a healthy manner, free and compulsory educationfor all children up to the age of 14; promotion of education and economic interests ofscheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker sections; organisation of village

panchayats; separation of judiciary from executive, promulgation of a uniform civil

code for whole country; protection of national monuments; promotion of justice on abasis of equal opportunity; provision of free legal aid; protection and improvement ofenvironment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife of the country and promotion

of international peace and security, just and honourable relations between nations,respect for international law, treaty obligations and settlement of international disputes

by arbitration

transferable vote To secure uniformity among state inter se as well as parity between

the states, as a whole, and the Union, suitable weightage is given to each vote ThePresident must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age and qualified forelection as member of the Lok Sabha His term of office is five years and he is eligiblefor re-election His removal from office is to be in accordance with procedureprescribed in Article 61 of the Constitution He may, by writing under his handaddressed to the Vice-President, resign his office

Executive power of the Union is vested in the President and is exercised by himeither directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with theConstitution Supreme command of defence forces of the Union also vests in him ThePresident summons, prorogues, addresses, sends messages to Parliament anddissolves the Lok Sabha; promulgates Ordinances at any time, except when bothHouses of Parliament are in session; makes recommendations for introducingfinancial and money bills and gives assent to bills; grants pardons, reprieves, respites

or remission of punishment or suspends, remits or commutes sentences in certaincases When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, he can assume

to himself all or any of the functions of the government of that state The President canproclaim emergency in the country if he is satisfied that a grave emergency existswhereby security of India or any part of its territory is threatened whether by war orexternal aggression or armed rebellion

VICE-PRESIDENT

The Vice-President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of members

of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportionalrepresentation by means of single transferable vote He must be a citizen of India, notless than 35 years of age and eligible for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha Histerm of office is five years and he is eligible for re-election His removal from office is

to be in accordance with procedure prescribed in Article 67 b

The Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and acts as President

when the latter is unable to discharge his functions due to absence, illness or anyother cause or till the election of a new President (to be held within six months when

a vacancy is caused by death, resignation or removal or otherwise of President).While so acting, he ceases to perform the function of the Chairman of the Rajya

S a b h a

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

There is a Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, to aid and advise thePresident in exercise of his functions The Prime Minister is appointed by the Presidentwho also appoints other ministers on the advice of Prime Minister The Council is

collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha It is the duty of the Prime Minister tocommunicate to the President all decisions of Council of Ministers relating toadministration of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation and informationrelating to them.

The Council of Ministers comprises Ministers who are members of Cabinet,Ministers of State (independent charge), Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers

LEGISLATURE

Legislature of the Union which is called Parliament , consists of President and twoHouses, known as Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and House of the People (LokSabha) Each House has to meet within six months of its previous sitting A jointsitting of two Houses can be held in certain cases

RAJYA SABHA

The Constitution provides that the Rajya Sabha shall consist of 12 members to benominated by the President from amongst persons having special knowledge orpractical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and socialservice; and not more than 238 representatives of the States and of the Union Territories.Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect; members representing States are elected

by elected members of legislative assemblies of the States in accordance with thesystem of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, andthose representing Union Territories are chosen in such manner as Parliament may

by law prescribe The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its membersretire every second year

Rajya Sabha, at present, has 245 seats Of these, 233 members represent theStates and the Union Territories and 12 members are nominated by the President Thenames of members of Rajya Sabha and party affiliation are given in Appendices

LOK SABHA

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of people chosen by direct election onthe basis of adult suffrage The maximum strength of the House envisaged by theConstitution is now 552 (530 members to represent the States, 20 members to representthe Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian community

to be nominated by the President, if, in his opinion, that community is not adequatelyrepresented in the House) The total elective membership of the Lok Sabha isdistributed among the States in such a way that the ratio between the number of seatsallotted to each State and the population of the State is, as far as practicable, the samefor all States The Lok Sabha at present consists of 545 members Of these, 530 membersare directly elected from the States and 13 from Union Territories while two arenominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community Following theConstitution 84th Amendment Act, 2001 the total number of existing seats as allocated

to various States in the Lok Sabha on the basis of the 1971 census shall remainunaltered till the first census to be taken after the year 2026

The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved earlier is five years from the dateappointed for its first meeting However, while a Proclamation of Emergency is inoperation, this period may be extended by Parliament by law for a period not exceedingone year at a time and not extending in any case, beyond a period of six months after

the Proclamation has ceased to operate Fourteen Lok Sabhas have been co nstituted

so far The term of each Lok Sabha and its Speaker(s) is given in table 3.1

The State-wise allocation of seats in the two Houses and the party position inthe Lok Sabha is given in table 3.2 The names of members of the Fourteenth LokSabha, their constituencies and party affiliations are given in Appendices

QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF PARLIAMENT

In order to be chosen a member of Parliament, a person must be a citizen of India andnot less than 30 years of age in the case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years ofage in the case of Lok Sabha Additional qualifications may be prescribed byParliament by law

FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF PARLIAMENT

As in other parliamentary democracies, the Parliament in India has the cardinalfunctions of legislation, overseeing of administration, passing of the Budget,ventilation of public grievances and discussing various subjects like developmentplans, national policies and international relations The distribution of powers betweenthe Union and the States, followed in the Constitution, emphasises in many ways thegeneral predominance of Parliament in the legislative field Apart from a wide-range

of subjects, even in normal times, the Parliament can, under certain circumstances,assume legislative power with respect to a subject falling within the sphere exclusivelyreserved for the States The Parliament is also vested with powers to impeach thePresident and to remove the Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, the ChiefElection Commissioner and the Comptroller and Auditor General in accordancewith the procedure laid down in the Constitution

All legislation require consent of both the Houses of Parliament In the case ofmoney bills, however, the will of the Lok Sabha prevails Delegated legislation is alsosubject to review and control by Parliament Besides the power to legislate, theConstitution vests in Parliament the power to initiate amendment of the Constitution

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES

The functions of Parliament are not only varied in nature, but considerable in volume.The time at its disposal is limited It cannot make very detailed scrutiny of all legislativeand other matters that come up before it A good deal of Parliamentary business is,therefore, transacted in the committees

Both Houses of Parliament have a similar committee structure, with a fewexceptions Their appointment, terms of office, functions and procedure of conductingbusiness are also more or less similar and are regulated as per rules made by the twoHouses under Article 118(1) of the Constitution

Broadly, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds—Standing Committees

and ad hoc Committees The former are elected or appointed every year or periodically

and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis The latter are appointed

on an ad hoc basis as need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the

task assigned to them

Standing Committees : Among the Standing Committees, the three Financial

Committees—Committees on Estimates, Public Accounts and Public Undertakings—

constitute a distinct group as they keep an unremitting vigil over Governmentexpenditure and performance While members of the Rajya Sabha are associated

with Committees on Public Accounts and Public Undertakings, the members of theCommittee on Estimates are drawn entirely from the Lok Sabha.

The Estimates Committee reports on ‘what economies, improvements in

organisation, efficiency or administrative reform consistent with policy underlyingthe estimates’ may be effected It also examines whether the money is well laid outwithin limits of the policy implied in the estimates and suggests the form in which

estimates shall be presented to Parliament The Public Accounts Committee scrutinises

appropriation and finance accounts of Government and reports of the Comptrollerand Auditor-General It ensures that public money is spent in accordance withParliament’s decision and calls attention to cases of waste, extravagance, loss or

nugatory expenditure The Committee on Public Undertakings examines reports of the

Comptroller and Auditor-General, if any It also examines whether publicundertakings are being run efficiently and managed in accordance with soundbusiness principles and prudent commercial practices

Besides these three Financial Committees, the Rules Committee of the Lok Sabha

recommended setting-up of 17 Department Related Standing Committees (DRSCs).

Accordingly, 17 Department Related Standing Committees were set up on 8 April

1993 In July 2004, rules were amended to provide for the constitution of seven moresuch committees, thus raising the number of DRSCs from 17 to 24 The functions ofthese Committees are : (a) to consider the Demands for Grants of various Ministries/Departments of Government of India and make reports to the Houses; (b) to examinesuch Bills as are referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or theSpeaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, and make reports thereon; (c) to considerAnnual Reports of ministries/departments and make reports thereon; and (d) toconsider policy documents presented to the Houses, if referred to the Committee bythe Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, and makereports thereon

Other Standing Committees in each House, divided in terms of their functions,

are (i) Committees to Inquire: (a) Committee on Petitions examines petitions on bills

and on matters of general public interest and also entertains representations on

matters concerning subjects in the Union List; and (b) Committee of Privileges examines

any question of privilege referred to it by the House or Speaker/Chairman; (ii)

Committees to Scrutinise : (a) Committee on Government Assurances keeps track of all

the assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., given by Ministers in the House and

pursues them till they are implemented; (b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation

scrutinises and reports to the House whether the power to make regulations, rules,sub-rules, bye-laws, etc., conferred by the Constitution or Statutes is being properly

exercised by the delegated authorities; and (c) Committee on Papers Laid on the Table

examines all papers laid on the table of the House by Ministers, other than statutorynotifications and orders which come within the purview of the Committee onSubordinate Legislation, to see whether there has been compliance with the provisions

of the Constitution, Act, rule or regulation under which the paper has been laid; (iii)

Committees relating to the day-to-day business of the House: (a) Business Advisory

Committee recommends allocation of time for items of Government and other business

to be brought before the Houses; (b) Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions

of the Lok Sabha classifies and allocates time to Bills introduced by private members,

recommends allocation of time for discussion on private members’ resolutions andexamines Constitution amendment bills before their introduction by private members

in the Lok Sabha The Rajya Sabha does not have such a committee It is the BusinessAdvisory Committee of that House which recommends allocation of time for

discussion on stage or stages of private members’ bills and resolutions; (c) Rules

Committee considers matters of procedure and conduct of business in the House and

recommends amendments or additions to the Rules; and (d) Committee on Absence of

Members from the Sittings of the House of the Lok Sabha considers all applications from

members for leave or absence from sittings of the House There is no such Committee

in the Rajya Sabha Applications from members for leave or absence are considered

by the House itself; (iv) Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes, on which members from both Houses serve, considers all matters relating to

the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which come within the purview

of the Union Government and keeps a watch whether constitutional safeguards inrespect of these classes are properly implemented; (v) Committees concerned with the

provision of facilities to members : (a) General Purposes Committee considers and advises

Speaker/Chairman on matters concerning affairs of the House, which do notappropriately fall within the purview of any other Parliamentary Committee; and (b)

House Committee deals with residential accommodation and other amenities for

members; (vi) Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament,

constituted under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act,

1954, apart from framing rules for regulating payment of salary, allowances andpension to Members of Parliament, also frames rules in respect of amenities like

medical, housing, telephone, postal, constituency and secretarial facility; (vii) Joint

Committee on Offices of Profit examines the composition and character of committees

and other bodies appointed by the Central and State governments and UnionTerritories Administrations and recommends what offices ought to or ought not todisqualify a person from being chosen as a member of either House of Parliament;

(viii) The Library Committee consisting of members from both Houses, considers matters concerning the Library of Parliament; (ix) On 29 April 1997, a Committee on

Empowerment of Women with members from both the Houses was constituted with a

view to securing, among other things, status, dignity and equality for women in all

fields; (x) On 4 March 1997, the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha was constituted.

The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on 16 May 2000

Ad hoc Committees : Such Committees may be broadly classified under two heads :

(a) committees which are constituted from time to time, either by the two Houses on amotion adopted in that behalf or by Speaker/Chairman to inquire into and report on

specific subjects, (e.g., Committees on the Conduct of certain Members during President’s

Address, Committees on Draft Five-Year Plans, Railway Convention Committee, Committee

on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, Joint Committee on Bofors Contracts, Joint Committee on Fertilizer Pricing, Joint Committee to enquire into irregularities

in securities and banking transactions, Joint Committee on Stock Market Scam, Joint Committees

on Security in Parliament Complex, Committee on Provision of Computers for Members of Parliament, Offices of Political Parties and Officers of the Lok Sabha Secretariat; Committee

on Food Management in Parliament House Complex; Committee on Installation of Portraits/ Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex, etc.), and (b) Select or Joint Committees on Bills which are appointed to consider and report on a

particular Bill These Committees are distinguishable from the other ad hoc committees

inasmuch as they are concerned with Bills and the procedure to be followed by them

as laid down in the Rules of Procedure and Directions by the Speaker/Chairman

LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT

In keeping with their important role, the Leaders of Opposition in the Rajya Sabhaand the Lok Sabha are accorded statutory recognition Salary and other suitablefacilities are extended to them through a separate legislation brought into force

on 1 November 1977

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS IN PARLIAMENT

The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs is entrusted with the responsibility ofcoordinating, planning and arranging Government Business in both Houses ofParliament In the discharge of this function, he is assisted by his Ministers ofState The Minister also keeps close and constant contact with the presiding officers,the leaders as well as chief whips and whips of various parties and groups in boththe Houses of Parliament During the period for 1 August 2008 to 30 June 2009,both Houses of Parliament passed 44 Bills

CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES

Functioning of Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament for variousMinistries is one of the functions allocated to the Ministry of Parliamentary af-fairs under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 In dis-charge of this function, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs constitute thesecommittees and arranges their meetings The main objective of these committees

is to provide a forum for informal discussion between Members of Parliament, onthe one hand, and Ministers and senior officers of the Government, on the otherhand, on the policies, principles and programmes of the Government and themanner of their implementation The Minister/Minister of State in-charge of theMinistry concerned acts as the Chairman of the Consultative Committee attached

to that Ministry

The minimum membership of a Consultative Committee is 10 and the mum membership is 30 The Consultative Committee stand dissolved upon dis-solution of every Lok Sabha and re-constituted upon constitution of each LokSabha Before dissolution of 14th Lok Sabha, there were 32 Consultative Commit-tees attached to various Ministries Besides this, 16 Informal Consultative Com-mittees of the sixteen Railway Zones had also been constituted Unlike the Con-sultative Committees attached to the Ministries, meetings of these Informal Con-sultative Committees are to be arranged during session periods only 34 meetings

maxi-of the Consultative Committees were held during the period from 1st August

2008 to 18th May 2009 (the date of dissolution of 14th Lok Sabha.)

The action for constituting the Consultative Committees of the 15th LokSabha, which has recently been constituted has since been initiated Total 41 Con-sultative Committees have been proposed to be constituted for which preferences ofthe Members of Parliament have been invited for their nomination on the Consulta-tive Committees After receiving the preferences of the Members of Parliament, theConsultative Committees for various Ministries would be constituted and their meet-ings would be arranged

NOMINATION OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ON GOVERNMENT

C O M M I T T E E S / B O D I E S

The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs nominates Members of Parliament onCommittees, Councils, Boards and Commissions, etc., set-up by the Government of

India in various Ministries (except in case of statutory or other bodies where thestatute or the bye-laws framed thereunder provides that the Member of Parliament to

be appointed thereon will be nominated by the Presiding Officers of the respectiveHouses or will be elected by the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, as the case may be).The Members are nominated on such Bodies keeping in view their aptitude andspecial interest in the subject

YOUTH PARLIAMENT COMPETITION

In order to develop democratic ethos in the younger generation the Ministryconducts Youth Parliament Competition in various categories of schools andcolleges/universities The Youth Parliament Scheme was first introduced in theSchools in Delhi in 1966-67 Kendriya Vidyalayas located in and around Delhiwere incorporated into the ongoing Scheme for Delhi Schools in 1978.Subsequently, as separate scheme of Youth Parliament for Kendriya Vidyalayas

at the National Level was launched in 1988 Similarly, in 1997-98, two new YouthParliament Schemes at the national level, one for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayasand the other for Universities/Colleges were launched

During 2008-09, the 43rd Youth Parliament Competition for Delhi Schoolswas completed and 33 schools had participated The 21st National YouthParliament Competition for Kendriya Vidyalayas was held and 90 KendriyaVidyalayas participated The 12th National Youth Parliament Competition forJawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas was completed The Ninth National YouthParliament Competition for Universities/Colleges is in progress

OTHER PARLIAMENTARY MATTERS

ALL INDIA WHIPS CONFERENCE

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India has been organisingAll India Whips’ Conference from time to time, with the purpose of establishingsuitable links among the whips of various political parties at the Centre and theStates who are concerned with the practical working of the legislatures to discussmatters of common interest and to evolve high standards to strengthen theinstitution of Parliamentary Democracy Fourteen All India Whips' Conferenceshave been organized so far since 1952 The Fourteenth All India Whips Conferencewas held on 4-5 February, 2008 in Mumbai The inaugural function of the 14th AllIndia Whips Conference was presided over by Hon'ble Vice President of Indiaand the Valedictory function by the Hon'ble Speaker of Lok Sabha

MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 AND SPECIAL MENTIONS

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs takes follow-up action on matters raisedunder Rule 377 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and

by way of Special Mentions in Rajya Sabha Also after ‘Question Hour’ in both theHouses of Parliament, Members raise matters of urgent public importance Though it

is not mandatory, Ministers sometimes react to the points made by the Members Inthe absence of concerned Minister the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs assures theHouse or the individual Members that their sentiments would be conveyed to theconcerned Ministers

IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSURANCES

The Ministry culls out assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., given by Ministers