Legislature and Important State Government Institutions | Course for UPPSC Preparation - UPPSC (UP) PDF Download

Legislature of Uttar Pradesh

Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh 

• Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad is also called Upper House of the Bicameral Legislature of Uttar Pradesh. 
• Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council came into existence by the Government of India Act, 1935 in the year 1937. Legislative Council is a permanent House, thus never dissolved. 
• As per the Constitution, the number of members of the Legislative Council does not exceed one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly.
  The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, is permanent House, consisting of 100 members. The present composition of Legislative Council is as follows: 
  • 10 members are nominated by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh on the basis of practical experience i.e. Art, Science, Literature and Social Services. 
  • 38 members are elected by the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. 
  • 36 members are elected by the Local bodies. 
  • 8 members are elected by teachers. 
  • 8 members are elected by graduates.  
• The first meeting of the Legislative Council was held on 29th July, 1937. Before independence, Sir Sitaram and Begum Aijaz Rasul were elected the President and the Vice-President of the Legislative Council respectively. 
• After the adoption of the Constitution on 26th January, 1950 Chandra Bhal was elected the Chairman of the Legislative Council and continued in office till 5th May, 1958. The first Deputy Chairman was Nizamuddin.

Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh 

• Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha is the Lower House of Bicameral Legislature of Uttar Pradesh. 
• Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly came into existence for the first time on 1st April, 1937 in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935. This is not a permanent House and can be dissolved by the Governor. The total term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier. 
• As per the Constitution, the number of members of the Legislative Assembly should not be less than 60 or more than 500. It has a total of 404 members including one Anglo-Indian member who is nominated by the Governor. Before Independence the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was Rajarshi Purushottam Das Tandon and first Deputy Speaker was Abdul Hakeem as on 31st July, 1937.  
• After independence, the first meeting of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held on 3rd November, 1947. The first session of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly under the new Constitution began on 2nd February, 1950. 
• After the first election in Independent India, the first Legislative Assembly was constituted on 19th May, 1952 and on 20th May, 1952, Anna Ram Govind Kher was elected as the Speaker. 
• Number of reserve seats in the State Legislature is 89 out of which 85 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 4 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. 
• Maximum seats (12) are reserved in Prayagraj districts and least seats are reserved in Mahoba, Shravasti, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur and Lalitpur districts (each with 2 SC and 2 ST seats).

Important State Government Institutions

• Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission 
  It was established on 1st April, 1937 with its headquarters at Allahabad. The Chairman of this commision is elected for 6 years. The working of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission is also regulated by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission Regulation, 1976. 
• Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission 
  The State Human Rights Commission was established on 4th April, 1996. However, the Commission was formally constituted on 7th October, 2002. Justice AP Mishra was appointed as Chairperson and Justice V Aran, SR Arya, SVM Tripathi and Sukh Lal Adarsh were appointed as members of the Commission. The Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission is an autonomous high power human rights watch body which derives its authority from the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. 
• Uttar Pradesh Information Commision
  It was established on 14th September, 2005 under Right to Information Act, 2005. The term of Chief Information Commissioner is 5 years. The first Chief of this Commission was Justice MA Khan.