Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President of India on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.

The Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.

[7] This exercise earlier also included redistribution of seats among states based on demographic changes but that provision of the mandate of the commission was suspended in 1976 following a constitutional amendment to incentivize the family planning program which was being implemented.

[9] The Lok Sabha proceedings are televised live on channel Sansad TV, headquartered within the premises of Parliament.

Although these Acts increased the representation of Indians in the government, their power remained limited, and the electorate very small.

The Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration, creating the Central Legislative Assembly, for which Parliament House, New Delhi, was built and opened in 1927.

[13] The Indian Independence Act 1947, passed by the British parliament on 18 July 1947, divided British India (which did not include the Princely states) into two newly independent countries, India and Pakistan, which were to be dominions under the Crown until they had each enacted a new constitution.

This contained the founding principles of the law of the land which would govern India in its new form, which now included all the princely states which had not acceded to Pakistan.

[14] The Lok Sabha (House of the People) was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952.

Even in those matters in which the Constitution has placed both Houses on an equal footing, the Lok Sabha has more influence due to its greater numerical strength.

The Constitution empowers the President to summon each House at such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions.

But, three sessions of Lok Sabha are held in a year: When in session, Lok Sabha holds its sittings usually from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. On some days the sittings are continuously held without observing lunch break and are also extended beyond 6 p.m. depending upon the business before the House.

A Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer in the House and which is distinguished by an asterisk mark.

The normal period of notice does not apply to short-notice questions that relate to matters of urgent public importance.

It starts at around noon (hence the name) and members can, with prior notice to the Speaker, raise issues of importance during this time.

After the Question Hour, the House takes up miscellaneous items of work before proceeding to the main business of the day.

These may consist of one or more of the following: Adjournment Motions, Questions involving breaches of Privileges, Papers to be laid on the Table, Communication of any messages from Rajya Sabha, Intimations regarding President's assent to Bills, Calling Attention Notices, Matters under Rule 377, Presentation of Reports of Parliamentary Committee, Presentation of Petitions, miscellaneous statements by Ministers, Motions regarding elections to Committees, Bills to be withdrawn or introduced.

The presentation, discussion of, and voting on the annual general and railways budgets—followed by the passing of the appropriations Bill and the finance bill—is a long, drawn-out process that takes up a major part of the time of the House during its budget session every year.

The government may move a resolution or a motion for obtaining the sanction to a scheme or opinion of the house on an important matter of policy or a grave situation.

Similarly, an individual member may move a resolution or motion to draw the attention of the house and the government to a particular problem.

The last two and half hours of sitting every Friday are generally allotted for the transaction of individual members' business.

A matter requiring the decision of the House is decided to employ a question put by the Speaker on a motion made by a member.

With the announcement of the Speaker for recording the votes, the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha presses the button of a keyboard.

To vote, each member present in the chamber has to flip a switch and then operate one of the three pushbuttons fixed in their seat.

The original version, however, contains proceedings in Hindi or English as they actually took place in the House and also the English/Hindi translation of speeches made in regional languages.

But an understanding of the Constitution and the laws of the country and the rules of procedure and conventions of Parliament is considered a major asset for the holder of the office of the Speaker.

It is the Speaker of the Lok Sabha who presides over joint sittings called in the event of disagreement between the two Houses on a legislative measure.

Following the 52nd Constitution amendment, the Speaker is vested with the power relating to the disqualification of a member of the Lok Sabha on grounds of defection.

To date, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has not been called upon to exercise this unique casting vote.

In the discharge of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is assisted by the Secretary-General, who holds the rank equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India.