Origin and Structure :
The evolution of the House of people's representatives in Rajasthan has an important place in the constitutional history of India as it was the outcome of the merger
of 22 princely States of the erstwhile Rajputana with the Union of India.
As per the provisions of Article 168 of the newly framed Constitution of India,
every state had to establish a legislature consisting of one or two Houses. Rajasthan opted for unicameral character and its legislature is known as the Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly.
The legislature, which is running its Sixteenth term, was first elected by adult franchise in 1952 and this process is continuing with the exceptions of 1967, 1977,
1980 and 1992 when the Presidential Rule was in force.
The strength of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly which is determined by delimitation Commission, was 160 in 1952 and presently stands as 200 after many more recommendations
of the same Commission.
Process for Conduct of the Business :
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has framed 'Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly for regulating the business of the House
and its Committees. They were first framed in 1956 and after many amendments, the
latest Fourteenth Edition has been printed in 2014.
The Governor of the State summons the House from time to time keeping in mind that
the intervening period between the last sitting in one session and first sitting
in next session does not exceed six months. As per the Rules, Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly shall have at least three sessions in a calendar year. The business of
the House is decided by the House on the recommendation of the Business Advisory
Committee.
Committees Devices :
Legislative Committees can be divided into two categories - the Standing Committees
and the Ad-hoc Committees. In Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, there are 22 Standing
Committees out of which four are financial and the rest relates to various other
subjects. The financial committees are - Public Accounts Committee, Public Undertakings
Committee and two Estimates Committees. The financial committees are elected on
the basis of proportional representation through single transferable vote and the
rest are nominated by the Speaker. The Chairmen for all these committees are nominated
by the Speaker from out of the members of these committees.
The basic function of the Public Accounts Committee is to examine the Secretaries
to Government on various irregularities in their Departments as pointed out in the
Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Similarly, Public Undertakings Committee
is required to go into the functions of the various pubic undertakings and is expected
to examine the Undertakings on various irregularities pointed out by the Report
of the Comptroller and Auditor General under their control.
The job assigned to the two Estimates Committees is to report as to what economies
can be effected and what improvements in particular organisation may be made and
also to suggest alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy
in administration, as also changes in the form of budget estimates.
Besides the above mentioned four financial committees, the Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly has following other 18 standing committees.