Monsoon Session of Parliament Begins
Why in News
Recently, the monsoon session of Parliament began after several months which was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- However, the government has suspended Question Hour for the session and has also curtailed the Zero Hour.
Key Points
- Parliament Session:
- The President of India is empowered to summon each House of Parliament from time to time.
- The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. That means the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
- A ‘session’ of Parliament is the period between the first sitting of a House and its prorogation.
- There are usually three sessions in a year, viz,
- Budget Session (February to May)
- Monsoon Session (July to September)
- Winter Session (November to December)
- The period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is called ‘recess’.
- Meetings of Session:
- A session of Parliament consists of many meetings. Each meeting of a day consists of two sittings, that is, a morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm to 6 pm.
- Termination of Session:
- A sitting of Parliament can be terminated by adjournment or adjournment sine die or prorogation or dissolution (in the case of the Lok Sabha).
- Adjournment: It suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks.
- Adjournment sine die: It means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period.
- In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly.
- The power of adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) of the House.
- Prorogation: The President issues a notification for prorogation of the session after the business of a session is completed and the presiding officer declares the House adjourned sine die.
- The President can also prorogue the House while in session.
- Dissolution: Only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution. Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution.
- A dissolution ends the life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after general elections are held.
- The President is empowered to dissolve the Lok Sabha.