Question

<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--> Though India derived its bicameral legislature at the centre from the British parliamentary system, the Rajya Sabha has more powers and significance than the House of Lords. Examine.

Answer 1

Answer:

Introduction:
Bicameralism is the practice of having two houses of the Parliament. India adopted the British parliamentary system and decided to have two chambers of the house. The origin of the Indian second Chamber can be traced to The Government of India Act, 1919.
However, there are vast differences in the role and powers of Rajya Sabha and the House of Lords.

Body:

House of Lords
Rajya Sabha
Character of the House
It is a secondary chamber or an upper house and has no character of Federal Council.
It is a secondary chamber, an upper house and it also has a federal character as it represents States and UTs of the Union of India.
Appointment of members
The membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England. Of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they also include some hereditary peers including four dukes.
The members of Rajya Sabha are either elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the states and union territories or they are appointed by the President for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services.
Money bills
Money bills start in the Commons. Lords can delay the bill for 1 month. After Introduction in the Lords, Bill must receive Royal Assent even if the Lords have not passed them in a month.
A Money Bill may only be introduced in Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the President. It must be passed in Lok Sabha by a simple majority of all members present and voting. Following this, it may be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations, which Lok Sabha may reject if it chooses to. If such recommendations are not given within 14 days, it will be deemed to be passed by Parliament.
Most other Commons bills
The Lords can delay a bill they disagree with for about a year but ultimately the elected House of Commons can reintroduce it in the following session and pass it without the Lords' consent.
Rajya Sabha has equal powers with Lok Sabha, as far as an ordinary bill is concerned (though there is a provision of a joint session, it is an extraordinary device).
Constitution Amendment Bills
Britain doesn’t have a written constitution.
Rajya Sabha has equal power with the Lok Sabha as far as the amendment of the Constitution is concerned.

Other powers of Rajya Sabha:
Under Art 312, If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting declaring that it is in the national interest to create one or more All India Services common to the Union and the States, Parliament becomes empowered to create by law such services.
Under Art 249, if Rajya Sabha can empower the Parliament to make legislation on matters in the state list.
Rajya Sabha can endorse Emergency under Article 352 for a limited period when the Lok Sabha remains dissolved.
Significance of Rajya Sabha
In the federal form of Political system, Rajya Sabha plays a bigger role in protecting the interests of States.
It works as a revisionary chamber and can stop legislation made in haste.
It allows people who find it difficult to find direct elections in Lok Sabha to get elected or nominated to parliament and give their expertise inputs on legislation.

Conclusion:
The United Kingdom, being a unitary country, and not a federal one, means that its upper house plays a very different and more limited role. Comparatively, the Rajya Sabha is more analogous to the upper houses of the American and Australian legislatures, since these are federal countries.