How government works in IndiaUnderstandabout 35 min
How each part actually works
Parliament's machinery, a bill's journey, the courts' ladder, and the levels beneath the Union
Go inside the institutions Discover introduced: how Parliament questions ministers, how a bill becomes an Act, what a President does that a Prime Minister does not, how courts check Parliament, and how the Union, States, Union Territories and local bodies share the work.
In this part you’ll
- Explain how a bill becomes an Act, and why a money bill and a joint sitting work differently.
- Distinguish the President's formal role from the Prime Minister's and Council of Ministers' real one.
- Describe the court ladder and what judicial review and PIL mean.
- Sort a real subject into the Union, State or Concurrent List and justify the choice.
- Explain the 73rd and 74th Amendments and what a gram panchayat or municipality actually decides.
Discover gave you the shape: three jobs, three organs, three levels, one rule book. This lesson takes each of those apart and looks at the machinery inside — how a law actually gets made, what a President can and cannot do that a Prime Minister can, how a court can overrule Parliament without running the country, and why your village or town has its own small government too.
Expect precise names and a few genuine mix-ups. That is the point of Understand: not just knowing the parts exist, but knowing exactly how they fit together.
Chapter 01
Parliament: two Houses, one law-making body
India's Union Parliament is not one room. It is three things acting together: the Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), and the President, whose assent every law needs before it exists. A bill becomes law only when all three have played their part.
The two Houses are built on purpose to be different from each other.
| Aspect | Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha |
|---|---|---|
| Represents | The people, directly | The States and Union Territories |
| Elected by | Voters in each constituency | Members of State Legislative Assemblies |
| Current strength | 543 elected | 233 elected + 12 nominated = 245 |
| Life of the House | 5 years, then dissolved | Never dissolved — a permanent body |
| How membership turns over | All at once, at a general election | About one-third (78 members) retire every 2 years |
| Presiding officer | The Speaker, elected by its own members | The Vice-President of India, as Chairman |
| Can bring down the government | Yes — by a no-confidence motion | No |
| Say over money bills | Final | Only 14 days to recommend changes, which the Lok Sabha may ignore |
Worked example
0 / 5 steps shownWhat counts as a majority?
The Lok Sabha has 543 elected members. To pass an ordinary bill, or to survive a no-confidence motion, a government needs a majority of members present and voting. What is the smallest number of votes that guarantees a majority, if every single member is present and votes?
Chapter 02
Question Hour, Zero Hour and committees
Making laws is only part of Parliament's job. Its other job, just as important, is keeping a close watch on the executive — the ministers and departments that actually run the country. Three tools do most of that work.
Three ways Parliament watches the executive
- Step 01Question Hourfirst hour of the sitting
Members ask ministers pointed questions about their departments, in writing in advance. A minister who cannot give a straight answer, in public, in front of the whole House, has a bad day.
- Step 02Zero Hourjust after Question Hour
An Indian invention with no rule book of its own: members raise urgent matters of public importance without advance notice. It runs on convention, not a written rule — which is itself worth noticing about how institutions work.
- Step 03Standing committeesall year round
24 standing committees (16 under the Lok Sabha, 8 under the Rajya Sabha, 31 members each) examine bills, budgets and ministries clause by clause, away from the noise of the main chamber.
Try it
Chapter 03
How a bill becomes an Act
Every law in India starts life as a bill: a proposal, nothing more. It has no power to bind anyone. The steps between "somebody's proposal" and "the law of the land" are exactly where the three-way check between Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and President actually happens.
An ordinary bill's journey
- Step 01First readingintroduction
The bill is introduced in either House (except a money bill, which must start in the Lok Sabha) and published.
- Step 02Second readingthe real debate
General discussion, then usually referral to a select or standing committee for detailed, clause-by-clause study, then the House debates and votes on each clause.
- Step 03Third readingfinal vote
The House votes on the bill as a whole, in the form the debate has left it.
- Step 04The other Houserepeat
The bill goes through all three readings again in the second House. It may approve it, amend it, or reject it.
- Step 05Disagreementrare
If the two Houses cannot agree on an ordinary bill, the President may call a joint sitting of both Houses together, and a simple majority of everyone present decides it.
- Step 06Assentthe President
Only once both Houses (or a joint sitting) have passed the bill does it go to the President, who gives assent, withholds it, or returns it once for reconsideration.
- Step 07Actnow it is law
The moment assent is given, the bill becomes an Act — a real law that courts will enforce.
Lab
Walk a bill through both Houses and the President, including a forced disagreement, and see when it finally becomes law.
An idea only becomes law after a long journey. Step through it.
Step 1 of 7 · First reading
Introduction
A minister or any MP asks the House for leave to introduce the bill. Its title and aims are read out; there is no debate yet. Most bills start in either House — money bills can only start in the Lok Sabha.
What if a House says no?
If one House passes an ordinary bill and the other rejects it, or they cannot agree on the changes, or more than six months go by, the President may call a joint sitting of both Houses. Everyone votes together, and a simple majority of those present decides. The Lok Sabha has many more members than the Rajya Sabha, so its view usually wins.
A money bill is different: it can only start in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha may only suggest changes and must send it back within 14 days. The Lok Sabha can accept those suggestions or ignore them.
Ready for a few questions?
Text version of this activity
This mode draws the bill's journey as a horizontal track: Introduced → House A → Committee → House A vote → House B → House B vote → (Joint sitting, if needed) → President → Act.
You choose which House to introduce the bill in (any House except for a money bill, which the lab locks to the Lok Sabha), then step it forward one stage at a time. At the "House B vote" stage the lab sometimes forces a rejection, which opens the joint sitting branch — a shortcut back to a single combined vote — and explains that this branch is unavailable for money bills and Constitution-amendment bills.
At the very end, the track shows a bill sitting at "passed by both Houses" as still unlit — grey, not green — until the President's assent stage lights up, driving home that passage by Parliament and becoming law are two different moments, with a real gap between them.
The three joint sittings so far
- 1961Dowry Prohibition Bill First joint sitting; produced India's first national anti-dowry law.
- 1978Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill Rajya Sabha had rejected the bill; the joint sitting passed it.
- 2002Prevention of Terrorism Bill Rajya Sabha had rejected the bill; the joint sitting passed it 425 votes to 296.
Predict first
Chapter 04
Money bills and the Budget
Some bills are about money: new taxes, government borrowing, or spending from the government's main account. These are called money bills, and the Constitution treats them differently from every other kind of bill, for one clear reason — only the House elected directly by the people should have the final word on taxing and spending that people's money.
| Aspect | Ordinary bill | Money bill |
|---|---|---|
| Can start in | Either House | Only the Lok Sabha |
| Rajya Sabha's power | Can amend or reject | Can only recommend changes, within 14 days |
| What Lok Sabha does with those recommendations | n/a | May accept all, some, or none of them |
| If the Rajya Sabha does nothing | Bill is stuck | Deemed passed by both Houses after 14 days anyway |
| Who decides if a bill is a money bill | n/a | The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and that decision is final |
Worked example
0 / 5 steps shownTurning a Union Budget into rupees per person
Suppose the Union Budget for a year is about ₹50 lakh crore, and India's population is about 140 crore. About how much is that per person, per day?
| Head | Share |
|---|---|
| States' share of taxes | ₹22 |
| Interest payments | ₹20 |
| Defence | ₹8 |
| Subsidies | ₹6 |
| Central schemes and other spending | ₹44 |
Used in
Number systemA budget in lakh crore only makes sense once you can place-value your way from lakh to crore to the full number of rupees.
Chapter 05
The executive: President, PM and ministers
The executive is where "carrying out the law" actually happens, and it has a shape that surprises a lot of first-time learners: the person at the very top of the ceremonial chart is not the one making the day-to-day decisions.
| Aspect | President | Prime Minister |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Head of State | Head of Government |
| Chosen by | An electoral college of elected MPs and MLAs | Leads the party or coalition with a Lok Sabha majority; formally appointed by the President |
| Term | 5 years | No fixed term — depends on holding a majority |
| Everyday decisions | Acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers, almost always | Actually makes and drives government policy |
| Ceremonial duties | Addresses Parliament, receives foreign dignitaries, is Supreme Commander of the armed forces | Represents the government in Parliament and to the country |
| Can dismiss the government | Only if it loses its majority in the Lok Sabha | n/a — is the government |
Chapter 06
The civil service: the part that never resigns
Ministers change. Governments change. Somebody still has to run the passport office, teach in the government school, inspect the bridge and keep the trains timetabled, on the very day a new Prime Minister is sworn in. That continuity is the job of the permanent civil service.
Why permanence matters
- Step 01No re-hiring after every electionstability
If every clerk, teacher and engineer had to be replaced whenever a government changed, basic services would stop for months.
- Step 02Institutional memoryknow-how
Officials who have worked a district or a department for years know what has been tried, what failed and why, in a way no incoming minister can know on day one.
- Step 03A buffer against pure favouritismfairness
Recruitment by open examination, not by personal choice of whoever is currently in charge, is meant to keep the service reasonably independent and merit-based.
Chapter 07
The judiciary: one ladder, three rungs
India has a single, unified court system — not separate Union courts and State courts as in some federal countries. Every case, however small, can in principle climb the same ladder all the way to the top.
The court ladder, bottom to top
- Step 01District courtseverywhere
The starting point for most civil and criminal cases: one or more courts in every district, hearing evidence and deciding facts first-hand.
- Step 02High Courtsone per state, or shared
The highest court of a state (or group of states/UTs), hearing appeals from district courts and deciding many cases directly, including on fundamental rights.
- Step 03Supreme CourtNew Delhi, one court
The final court of appeal on every matter of law, and the ultimate guardian of the Constitution.
Lab
Go deeper into the three organs: this time sort trickier, more specific actions.
The work of governing India is split three ways, so that no one part can do everything on its own. Tap a branch.
Pick Parliament, the Government or the Courts to see what it does and how it keeps a check on the other two.
Ready for a few questions?
Text version of this activity
The same three-panel branches lab as Discover — Legislature, Executive, Judiciary — but with a harder set of cards this time: "a High Court hears an appeal against a district court's verdict" (judiciary), "a standing committee questions a secretary about delayed spending" (legislature, because committees are part of Parliament even though they scrutinise the executive), "the Election Commission of India disqualifies a returned candidate for a false declaration" (a fourth, independent body — the lab flags these separately as constitutional bodies that are not one of the three organs, but a check that sits alongside them). The explanation after each card highlights exactly this kind of edge case.
Quick check
Mid-lesson check
3 questions · answer what you can, then check. Getting one wrong is useful.
Chapter 08
Union, States and the three lists
India's Constitution does not leave "who decides what" to custom or convention between the Union and the States. It writes it down, subject by subject, in the Seventh Schedule, as three lists.
| List | Who legislates | Entries | Everyday examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union List | Parliament only | 97 | Defence, foreign affairs, railways, currency, posts, income tax |
| State List | State legislatures only | 66 | Police, public order, agriculture, public health, local government |
| Concurrent List | Both — Union law prevails in a clash | 47 | Education, forests, marriage and divorce, criminal law, electricity |
Union Territories are areas administered wholly or mainly by the Union government rather than by a State, usually because of size, sensitivity or a special history — Chandigarh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands among them. Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir are Union Territories with their own elected legislatures for many subjects, which makes them a hybrid case rather than a clean fit into either "State" or "plain Union Territory".
Lab
Sort nine real subjects into the Union, State or Concurrent List.
Union, State or Concurrent — which list is each subject on?
9 cards, 3 bins. Tap a card, then tap its bin. You can also drag, or press a bin’s number key.
Text version of this activity
A three-bin sorting game — Union, State, Concurrent — with nine cards covering defence, policing, education, currency, agriculture, criminal law, railways, local government and marriage law. Each card explains, once placed, why that subject sits where it does. Two Concurrent List cards (education, criminal law) are there specifically to challenge the instinct that "important" always means "Union".
Chapter 09
Local government: panchayati raj and urban bodies
For most of independent India's early history, local government existed, but not as a constitutional right — a state could set it up generously, starve it of money, or dissolve it, more or less as it pleased. Two amendments in 1992–1993 changed that completely.
- 73rd Amendment
- 1992Gave constitutional status to rural local government (panchayati raj). In force from 24 April 1993.
- 74th Amendment
- 1993Gave constitutional status to urban local government (municipalities). In force from 1 June 1993.
- Elections
- compulsoryBoth amendments made regular elections to these bodies compulsory, run by a State Election Commission, not optional for a state government to skip.
- Reservation
- one-third or moreBoth require seats — and chairperson posts — reserved for women, and for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population.
| Tier | Covers | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Gram panchayat | One village or a small group of villages | Local roads, drains, street lighting, water taps, sanitation, and small development works, headed by an elected sarpanch. |
| Panchayat samiti (block) | A group of gram panchayats | Coordinates schemes across several villages: schools, primary health centres, rural roads at block level. |
| Zila parishad | A whole district | District-level planning and coordination of panchayat samitis, often chaired by an elected member. |
| Body | Typical area | Headed by |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal corporation | A large city | An elected Mayor, with a separate appointed Municipal Commissioner running day-to-day administration |
| Municipal council | A medium-sized town | An elected chairperson |
| Nagar panchayat | An area transitioning from rural to urban | An elected chairperson |
Worked example
0 / 5 steps shownHow many seats must a gram panchayat reserve for women?
A gram panchayat has 15 elected seats. At least one-third must be reserved for women. What is the smallest number of seats that satisfies "at least one-third"?
Try it
Chapter 10
Elections in detail
Discover showed you the day of the vote. Understand looks at the machinery that makes that day possible for 97.8 crore people at once, and at exactly how the winner in each seat is decided.
- SC seats
- 84Reserved for candidates from Scheduled Castes; every voter in the constituency still votes.
- ST seats
- 47Reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribes, on the same basis.
- General seats
- 412Open to any candidate.
- Reserved share
- 24.1%84 + 47 = 131 of 543 seats, or 24.1%.
Lab
Fix eight offices and bodies this layer introduced to the one fact that defines each.
Match each institution or office to the one fact that defines it.
8 pairs are hiding in two mixed-up columns. Pick one from each side to join them.
Text version of this activity
A matching game: eight institutions on the left, eight defining facts on the right, joined by drawing a line. Correct pairs: Speaker — elected by the Lok Sabha's own members; Vice-President — presides over the Rajya Sabha; Election Commission — independent body running elections; Delimitation Commission — draws constituency boundaries; Comptroller and Auditor General — audits government spending for Parliament; Union Public Service Commission — recruits the civil service by examination; Zila parishad — coordinates panchayat work across a district; Municipal Commissioner — runs a corporation's day-to-day administration. The lab flags the Election Commission, the Delimitation Commission and the CAG as independent constitutional bodies that sit outside all three organs and all three levels — a detail worth noticing on its own.
Words to know
All maths vocabulary →New words in this layer
- majority
- More than half of the votes cast, or of the total membership, depending on the rule being used.
- Example: The Lok Sabha's majority is 272 of 543.
- money bill
- A bill dealing only with taxation, borrowing or spending from the government's main account; the Rajya Sabha can only recommend changes to it.
- Example: The annual Finance Bill is a money bill.
- joint sitting
- A meeting of both Houses of Parliament together to resolve a deadlock over an ordinary bill.
- Example: Used three times so far, most recently in 2002.
- Council of Ministers
- The Prime Minister and other ministers, collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
- Example: It must resign together if it loses a no-confidence vote.
- civil service
- Officials recruited on merit who carry out government work and remain in post across a change of government.
- Example: An IAS officer runs district administration whichever party is in power.
- judicial review
- The power of courts to strike down a law or executive action that conflicts with the Constitution.
- Example: The Supreme Court used judicial review to strike down laws that violated fundamental rights.
- public interest litigation (PIL)
- A case brought on behalf of people who cannot easily reach a court themselves, allowed since the late 1970s.
- Example: PILs have been used to help undertrial prisoners and bonded labourers.
- Concurrent List
- The list of subjects on which both Parliament and state legislatures may make law.
- Example: Education and forests are Concurrent List subjects.
- delimitation
- The process of drawing and redrawing constituency boundaries and reserved seats.
- Example: The current boundaries date from the 2008 delimitation order.
- gram sabha
- The meeting of every adult voter registered in a village.
- Example: The gram panchayat must present its accounts to the gram sabha.
- first-past-the-post
- An election method where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins it, with no requirement to reach half.
- Example: India's Lok Sabha and state assembly elections use first-past-the-post.
Reflect
This stays on this page only. It isn’t saved or sent anywhere.
Helps you understand
Exploration: reasons and consequencesThe freedom movement's decades of argument over self-rule, and the Constituent Assembly it eventually produced, are the direct history behind the institutions in this lesson.
Where this comes from
Sources
The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024) (opens another website) — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Indiaawaiting check
The full official text. Supports the Preamble wording, adoption on 26 November 1949, Articles 80, 81, 83, 100(3), 108, 110, 111, 112, 368 and 326, the Fundamental Rights and Duties, Parts IX and IXA on panchayats and municipalities, and the Seventh Schedule.
Bill Track: bills in Parliament (opens another website) — PRS Legislative Researchawaiting check
Supports the life of a bill: introduction, referral to a committee, passage by both Houses, assent, and the difference between a bill and an Act.
Parliament Track: sittings, question hour and committees (opens another website) — PRS Legislative Researchawaiting check
Supports how Parliament actually runs: sessions, sittings, Question Hour, Zero Hour, departmentally related standing committees and the Budget session.
Lok Sabha (opens another website) — Parliament of India (sansad.in)awaiting check
Supports the composition and five-year term of the Lok Sabha, the office of the Speaker, and the daily order of business.
Rajya Sabha (opens another website) — Parliament of India (sansad.in)awaiting check
Supports the Rajya Sabha as a permanent House that is never dissolved, with about one third of members retiring every second year, and the Vice-President as Chairman.
Joint session of the Parliament of India (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports Article 108 joint sittings and the three that have been held: 1961 (Dowry Prohibition Bill), 1978 (Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill) and 2002 (Prevention of Terrorism Bill).
List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies and the 2008 delimitation order's 84 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 for Scheduled Tribes.
Delimitation Commission of India (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports how constituency boundaries and reserved seats are drawn, the 2002 Commission and 2008 order, and the freeze on the total number of seats per state since the 1971 census, extended until the first census after 2026.
Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Lok Sabha (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports the two Anglo-Indian seats filled by presidential nomination from 1952, and their discontinuation by the 104th Amendment Act, 2020.
Union Public Service Commission (opens another website) — Union Public Service Commission, Government of Indiaawaiting check
Supports the permanent civil service: recruitment by open, independent examination to the All India Services and Central Civil Services, and that civil servants stay in post across a change of government.
Public interest litigation in India (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports the growth of public interest litigation (PIL) from the late 1970s, including the relaxation of who may approach a court and the 1979 Hussainara Khatoon case on undertrial prisoners.
Panchayati raj (opens another website) — Wikipediaawaiting check
Supports the three-tier panchayati raj structure, the 73rd and 74th Amendments of 1992-93 giving it constitutional status, and one-third reservation of seats and chairperson posts for women.
Supreme Court of India (opens another website) — Supreme Court of Indiaawaiting check
Supports the Supreme Court's role as the final court of appeal and the guardian of the Constitution, and its power of judicial review.
Union Budget of India (opens another website) — Ministry of Finance, Government of Indiaawaiting check
Supports the Union Budget process: presentation on 1 February, the financial year of 1 April to 31 March, and Parliament's approval of taxation and spending.
Grassroots Democracy — Part 2: Local Government in Rural Areas (Class 6) (opens another website) — NCERTawaiting check
Supports the gram sabha, gram panchayat, sarpanch, panchayat samiti and zila parishad, and what a village panchayat actually decides.
Grassroots Democracy — Part 3: Local Government in Urban Areas (Class 6) (opens another website) — NCERTawaiting check
Supports municipal corporations, municipal councils, wards, ward councillors and the services urban local bodies run.
The Constitution of India (Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Class 7) (opens another website) — NCERTawaiting check
Class-level treatment of the Constituent Assembly, the Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties, and how the Constitution organises the Union and the States.
Keep this
Cheat sheet
- Parliament = Lok Sabha (543 elected, 5-year term) + Rajya Sabha (245, permanent, about 78 retiring every two years) + the President's assent.
- Accountability tools: Question Hour (advance notice), Zero Hour (no notice, Indian invention), 24 standing committees (31 members each).
- Bill → Act: introduction, committee study, three readings in each House, joint sitting only for an unresolved ordinary bill, then presidential assent. Not law until assent.
- Money bills start only in the Lok Sabha; the Rajya Sabha can only recommend changes within 14 days. The Budget is presented on 1 February for the year 1 April–31 March.
- President = head of state, acts on ministers' advice. Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers actually run policy, and must together hold the Lok Sabha's confidence.
- Civil service: recruited by open examination, stays in post across a change of government.
- Judiciary: district courts → High Courts → Supreme Court, one ladder for the whole country. Judicial review checks laws against the Constitution; PILs since the late 1970s let cases be brought on behalf of people who cannot easily reach a court.
- Federalism: Seventh Schedule's three lists — Union (97 entries), State (66), Concurrent (47), totalling 210.
- Local government: the 73rd (rural) and 74th (urban) Amendments of 1992–1993 made elections and reservation for local bodies constitutionally compulsory.
- Elections: 543 constituencies, 84 SC-reserved, 47 ST-reserved seats, drawn by an independent Delimitation Commission; first-past-the-post decides each seat with the most votes, not necessarily a majority.
End of Understand
What you just read
- Explain how a bill becomes an Act, and why a money bill and a joint sitting work differently.
- Distinguish the President's formal role from the Prime Minister's and Council of Ministers' real one.
- Describe the court ladder and what judicial review and PIL mean.
- Sort a real subject into the Union, State or Concurrent List and justify the choice.
- Explain the 73rd and 74th Amendments and what a gram panchayat or municipality actually decides.
- Next depthGo deeper: InvestigateChange conditions, predict, compare evidence and test.
- Practise76 questionsHints and a worked solution for every question — or play a 10-question round.
- Step backDiscoverGo back over the ground before this one — you can move up and down as often as you like.
- TopicAll of how government works in indiaThe whole ladder, the connections and the words to know, on one page.
The web
Explore a connection
Builds on
Exploration: reasons and consequencesThe empires that grew out of the voyages shaped the constitution and the freedoms India wrote for itself afterwards.
Used inanother area
Data handlingA census, an election result and a budget are all data: counted, summarised and argued over.
Used inanother area
Number systemElection results and budgets are read in lakhs and crores — place value with real consequences.
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Revision 1 · release preview-7e1cbbcc4f · accepted 20/09/2026