Motions in the Indian Parliament

Motions in the Indian Parliament:

• Privilege Motion: A member may move a privilege motion if he believes that a minister has violated the House's or one or more of its members' privileges by withholding facts from a case or by providing incorrect or distorted facts. Its goal is to punish the minister in question.
• It can be moved in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
• Censure Motion: It should explain why it was adopted in the Lok Sabha.
• It can be brought against a single minister, a group of ministers, or the entire cabinet.
• It is proposed to censure the ministerial council for specific policies and actions.
• It can only be moved in the Lok Sabha.
• A Call-Attention Motion: It is a motion introduced in Parliament by a member to bring a minister's attention to a matter of urgent public importance and to request an authoritative statement from him on that matter.
• It can be moved in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
• Adjournment Motion: A motion introduced in the Lok Sabha to draw the House's attention to a specific matter of urgent public importance.
• It includes a measure of criticism aimed at the government.
• It can only be moved in the Lok Sabha.
• Adjournment Motion: A motion introduced in the Lok Sabha to draw the House's attention to a specific matter of urgent public importance.
• It includes a measure of criticism aimed at the government.
• It can only be moved in the Lok Sabha.
• No-Day-Yet-Named Motion: This is a motion that has been admitted by the Speaker but no date for discussion has been set.
• It can be moved in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
• No Confidence Motion: According to Article 75 of the Constitution, the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• In other words, by passing a no-confidence motion, the Lok Sabha can remove the ministry from office.
• To be admitted, the motion requires the support of 50 members.
• It can only be moved in the Lok Sabha.
• The motion of Thanks: The president addresses the first session following each general election and the first session of each fiscal year.
• This address of the president is discussed in both Houses of Parliament on a motion called the 'Motion of Thanks.
• The House must approve this motion. Otherwise, the government would be defeated.
• Cut Motions: A cut motion is a special power granted to Lok Sabha members to oppose a demand for specific allocation by the government in the Finance Bill as part of the Demand for Grants.
• If the motion is passed, it amounts to a no-confidence vote, and if the government fails to garner enough votes in the lower House, it is forced to resign under House rules.
• A motion may be introduced to reduce the amount of demand in the following ways:
• Policy Cut Motion: It is proposed that the amount of demand be reduced to
• Re.1 million (represents disapproval of the policy underlying the demand).
• Economy Cut Motions: It is moved in such a way that the amount of demand is reduced by a specified amount.
• Token Cut Motions: It is moved to reduce the amount of demand by Rs.100 (expresses a specific grievance).
• It can only be moved in the Lok Sabha.

Closure Motion

• It is a motion introduced by a member to end debate on a matter before the House.
• If the motion is approved by the House, the debate is immediately halted and the matter is put to a vote.
• Closure motions are classified into four types:
• Simple Closure: When a member moves that the matter having been sufficiently discussed be now put to vote,' it is one of the two.
• Closure by Compartments: In this case, the clauses of a bill or a lengthy resolution are divided into parts before the debate begins. The debate covers the entire section, and the entire section is put to vote.
• Kangaroo Closure: In this type, only important clauses are debated and voted on, while the intervening clauses are skipped over and accepted as passed.
• Guillotine Closure: When, due to a lack of time, the undiscussed clauses of a bill or resolution are put to vote alongside the discussed ones.
• Point of Order: A member may raise a point of order when the House's proceedings do not follow the standard rules of procedure.
• A point of order should pertain to the interpretation or enforcement of the Rules of the House or such articles of the Constitution that govern the business of the House and should raise a question within the Speaker's knowledge.
• It is usually raised by a member of the opposition to gain control of the government.
• It is an extraordinary device because it suspends the House proceedings. A point of order may not be debated.
• Special Mention: A matter that is not a point of order or that cannot be raised during question hour, half-an-hour discussion, short duration discussion, adjournment motion, calling attention notice, or any rule of the House can be raised in the Rajya Sabha through a special mention.
• The Lok Sabha's equivalent procedural device is known as 'Notice (Mention) Under Rule 377'.

Motions in parliament

• Motions are parliamentary devices that allow the House to debate a matter of general public interest. A member or Minister initiates a debate in the House by introducing a motion, with a few exceptions. The term "motion" refers to any proposal brought before the House for consideration.
• The Chair (either the Speaker or the Chairperson) decides every issue in the House by posing a question on a motion submitted by a member, which is then resolved in the affirmative or negative. The resulting decision converts the motion into a resolution or house order.

What Are the Different Motion Categories?

• All motions received in the Lok Sabha Secretariat under the rules will be classified as follows:
• Substantive Motions
• Substitute Motions
• Subsidiary Motions are further divided into three classes
• Ancillary Motions
• Superseding Motions
• Amendments.
• Substantive Motion: A substantive motion is a self-contained independent proposal submitted for House approval and written in such a way that it can express a House decision, e.g., all resolutions are substantive motions.
• Motions to Substitute: Motions moved in place of the original motion to consider a policy, situation, statement, or any other matter are referred to as substitute motions.
• Subsidiary Motions: These motions are dependent on or relate to other motions or proceedings in the House. They have no meaning on their own and are incapable of stating the House's decision without reference to the original motion or proceedings.
• Ancillary Motions: These are motions that are recognised by House practice as the standard way of conducting various types of business. The examples of ancillary motions are as follows: — I That the Bill be taken into account. (ii) The Bill is passed.
• Superseding Motions: These are motions that, while independent in form, are introduced during a debate on another topic and seek to supersede that topic. All dilatory motions fail in that class. In relation to the motion for consideration of a Bill, the following motions take precedence: — I The Bill be re-referred to a Select Committee. (ii) Recommit the Bill to a Joint Committee of the Houses.
• Amendments are subsidiary motions that introduce a new question and decision process between the main question and its decision. Amendments can be made to Bill's clause, a resolution, or a motion, or to an amendment to a clause of Bill, resolution, or motion.

General Parliamentary Motions Rules

• According to the Houses' Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business:
• There can be no discussion on a matter of general public importance unless a motion is made with the consent of the Speaker/Chairman, as the case may be.
• The Secretary-General must receive a written notice of motion.
• The admissibility of the motion is determined by a set of criteria.
• The Chairman/Speaker decides on the admissibility of motions based on the parameters.
• Motions brought before tribunals or commissions are not accepted.
• The Chairman/Speaker allows time for debate on the subject of the motion.
• On the given day, the Chairman/Speaker may ask all questions necessary to ascertain the House's decision on the original question.
• The Speaker/Chairman may limit the length of speeches on the motion.

The Importance of Motions in Parliament

• The attention of the Parliament can be drawn to issues that are extremely important and must be investigated. This is the purpose of a call to order and an adjournment motion.
• No-confidence and cut motions in the House can bring the government down.
• The Privilege motion seeks to ensure transparency and accountability in the information presented before the House.
• The time of the house is used efficiently through devices such as the closure motion.