Procedure and importance of President’s Address in Parliament

Procedure and importance of President’s Address in Parliament

The President of India is elected for a term of five years by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament. It is the duty of the President to enforce the laws made by Parliament and to apply them in an impartial and objective manner.

History of President’s Address in Parliament

The President’s Address in India is mirrored on the British system. During the framing of the Constitution, B R Ambedkar drew a similarity between the President and the monarch under the English system.

He said the President “is the Head of State but not of the executive. He represents the nation but does not rule the nation. He is the symbol of the nation.

His place in the administration is that of a ceremonial device of a seal by which the nation’s decisions are made known”.

The Constitution binds the President and the Governor to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the Union and state governments respectively, on a majority of issues.

Therefore, the speech that the President or the Governor reads before the legislature is the viewpoint of the government and is prepared by it.

Procedure of President’s Address in Parliament

The President’s address is usually delivered once a year for the Parliament to discuss the programme of activities and achievements of the government for the preceding year. The discussion on the President’s address opens with a general debate, which allows members of Parliament to discuss and debate matters of public concern.

Members can raise questions or concerns regarding the areas addressed in the speech. They can also discuss issues which they believe might not have been raised by the President but are relevant to his/her address.

The first Parliament session for 2021 is set to begin. It is the constitutional mandate for the President (Ram Nath Kovind) to address the 1st session of the members of both Houses of Parliament, every year.

It is the only occasion in the year when the entire Parliament, i.e., the President, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha come together, in a normal situation.

This process of President’s address every year during its 1st session has its own history, tradition, and procedures.

Importance of President’s Address in Parliament

It is very important that the president of India should address the joint session of Parliament.

The President takes a wider view of national problems outside the experts in the Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

Therefore, he/she can only propose what is necessary, while others are better suited to give details.