THE STATE LEGISLATURE

        Overview

• State legislatures in India can be unicameral or bicameral
• The lower House is called the Legislative Assembly, and the upper House (if it exists) is called the Legislative Council
• Currently, only six states in India have Legislative Councils: Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
• The provision for instituting and removing Legislative Councils is enshrined in Article 169 of the Constitution

        The Legislative Assembly

• Legislative Assemblies consist of 60 to 500 members
• Members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected
• The Governor can appoint a certain number of Anglo-Indians to the Assembly as he deems fit

            The Legislative Council

• The Legislative Council consists of not more than 1/3^rd the strength of the Legislative Assembly and not less than 40
• Members of the Council are indirectly elected as well as nominated (by the Governor)
• The composition of the Council is as follows
• Members elected by electorates consisting of members of local bodies
• Members elected by MLAs from among people who are not MLAs
• Members elected by electorates consisting of persons who are graduates of 3 years standing and who are residents of the state
• Members elected by electorates consisting of persons engaged for 3 years in teaching (not lower than secondary school)
• Members nominated by the Governor from among persons having expertise in science, arts, social service etc

     

        Conditions of service

• The minimum age for membership to the state legislature is 25 for the Legislative Assembly and 30 for the Legislative Council
• To become a member from a particular constituency, a person must be a voter from that constituency
• The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years.
• It may be extended by the Governor during an Emergency, but not for more than six months at a time
• The Legislative Council, like the Rajya Sabha, is a permanent House and cannot be dissolved
• The term of members of the Council is 6 years, with 1/3^rd retiring every two years

   Presiding officers

• The Legislative Assembly has a Speaker and a deputy Speaker
• They are elected from among the membership of the Assembly
• The Legislative Council has a Chairman and a deputy Chairman (who are also elected from among members)
• Presiding Officers of both Houses have the right to cast their vote in case of a tie

         Functions of the state Legislature

• The Legislature has the power to legislate on all subjects in the State List and the Concurrent List
• Money Bills can originate in the Legislative Assembly only
• The Council has 14 days to recommend changes to the Money Bill
• Elected members of the Legislative Assembly are involved in the process of election of the President of India
• Each state legislature has one electoral power in electing the President
• Amendments to the Constitution of India can be executed with approval of half the state legislatures in the country