MLA's duty and power in tamilnadu

About Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)

The federal structure of the Indian system of governance is three-tiered, each tier having executive functions. According to the Constitution of India, the Union or the Central Government is the highest executive body of India. It delineates some of its powers to its constituent political units that comprise the State Governments in each state. This is the second tier in the structure. In other words, each state is vested with exclusive executive powers, managed by the ruling governments in each state. The third tier in the federal structure is the local-level governance of the Panchayats and the Municipalities.
In this form of federal governance, each state of the Indian Union holds immense power as far as its division of powers is concerned. Each state, whether it follows a unicameral or bicameral system of legislation, must have a Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha. In India's provincial legislative structure, the Vidhan Sabha is either the Lower House (in states with bicameral legislature) or the sole house (in states with unicameral legislature). Its members are called MLAs or Members of the Legislative Assembly. These members are direct representatives of the people who exercise universal adult suffrage from territorial constituencies. The number of members in the legislative assembly cannot exceed 500 in any state and it cannot be fewer than 60 members in any state (though the Legislative Assemblies of Mizoram and Goa have 40 members each, Sikkim has 32 and Puducherry has 30 members). The responsibilities of the MLAs in each state are equivalent to that of the Members of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha. The Legislative Assembly is the highest law-making body in each state. The Members of the Legislative Assembly represent each constituency of the state as members are elected to cater to the interests of each region in the state.

Powers of an MLA

The powers and functions of the Members of the Legislative Assembly can be categorised under the following heads:

Legislative Powers:

The primary function of a Member of the Legislative Assembly is law-making. The Constitution of India states that the Members of the Legislative Assembly can exercise their legislative powers on all matters on which the Parliament cannot legislate. An MLA can exercise his legislative powers on the State List and the Concurrent List. The State List contains subjects of importance to the individual state alone, such as trade, commerce, development, irrigation and agriculture, while the Concurrent List contains items of importance to both the Union Government and the State Government such as succession, marriage, education, adoption, forests and so on. Although ideally only the Members of the Legislative Assembly can legislate on the State List, the Parliament can legislate on subjects in the State List while Emergency has been imposed on the state. In addition to that, on the matters that are included in the Concurrent List, the laws made by the Parliament are prioritised over the laws made by the Legislative Assembly if the President does not give his assent to the laws made by the Legislative Assembly. Although the Members of the Legislative Assembly are the highest law-making organs of the State government, their legislative powers are not absolute. 

Financial Powers:

The Legislative Assembly holds absolute financial powers in the state. A Money Bill can only originate in the Legislative Assembly and the Members of the Legislative Assembly must give consent for any of the expenses made from the State Treasury. It must be noted that in the states that have a bicameral legislature, both the Legislative Council and the Vidhan Parishad can pass the Bill or suggest changes to the Bill within 14 days of its receipt although the members are not bound to abide by the changes suggested. All grants and tax-raising proposals must be authorised by the MLAs for them to be executed and implemented for the development of the state. 

Executive Powers:

The Members of the Legislative Assembly in each state exercise certain executive powers. They control the activities and actions taken by the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers. In other words, the ruling government is answerable to the Legislative Assembly for all its decisions. A vote of no-confidence can be passed only by the MLAs in any state that, if passed by a majority, can force the ruling government to resign. Question Hour, Cut Motions and Adjournment Motions can be exercised by the Members of the Legislative Assembly in order to restrict the executive organ of the state government machinery. 

Electoral Powers:

The Members of the Legislative Assembly have certain electoral powers such as the following:

1. Elected Members of the Legislative Assembly comprise the Electoral College that elects the President of India.
2. MLAs elect the members of the Rajya Sabha, who represent a particular state.
3. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly are elected by the MLAs.
4. In states with a bicameral legislature, one-third of the members of the Legislative Council are elected by the MLAs.

Constituent and Miscellaneous Powers:

1. Some parts of the Constitution of India that relate to federal provisions can be amended by ratification by one-half of the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
2. MLAs review reports of the Public Service Commission and the Accountant General.
3. MLAs appoint the various Committees to the House.

Eligibility Criteria for Becoming an MLA

The qualifications needed to be elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly are the following:

• A person must be a citizen of India.
• A person must not be less than 25 years of age.
• A person must be an elector for any Legislative Assembly constituency in that state according to the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• A person must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any state other than that of a Minister for the Indian Union.
• A person must be of a sound mind.
• According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person cannot remain an MLA if that person has been convicted by a court or found guilty in any particular instance.

Salary of an MLA

The salary of a Member of the Legislative Assembly of a state in India, like that of the Member of the Parliament of the country, is accompanied by a number of other allowances besides the basic pay, such as constituency allowances, sumptuous allowances, expense allowance and daily allowances. The salary of an MLA is decided by the respective state legislatures in the country as per Article 164 of the Indian Constitution. Thus, it varies from one state to another.

Facilities Given to an MLA

The facilities given to the MLA of each state include medical facilities, residence facilities, reimbursement of electricity and phone bills and travelling facilities among other things as each facility is enumerated in the state legislatures of the country. The amounts vary from one state to another as is specifically detailed in the respective state legislatures of the country. 

Election Process of an MLA

The Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected directly by the voters in each constituency after the expiry of the assembly's tenure. The Legislative Assembly elections are held in each state, usually after a period of every five years. It must be noted that the assembly elections to all the states are not held together in the same year. The members are directly elected through an electorate who votes according to universal adult franchise. Each member of the Legislative Assembly is required to represent and voice the concerns of their constituency. The Governor of a state holds the power to nominate one member of the Anglo-Indian community if he/she is of the opinion that the community lacks adequate representation in the assembly. 

Term of an MLA

The duration of the Legislative Assembly is usually five years and the Members of the Legislative Assembly remain in power for the tenure of the Assembly, after which fresh elections are held and the MLAs may or may not be re-elected. However, the tenure of the Vidhan Sabha can be terminated before its normal tenure of five years When the ruling majority party loses its confidence in the Legislative Assembly and is forced to resign. The Legislative Assembly can also be dissolved by the Governor on the request of the Chief Minister before fresh elections are held. The term of five years may be extended when Emergency is imposed in the state by the President. In such cases, the term of the Legislative Assembly may be extended up to six months at a time, subject to an extension of maximum one year at a time. 

Pension of an MLA

Each MLA is entitled to a fixed amount as pension after fulfilling office in the post. However, the amount varies from one state legislature to another as each state legislature assigns different emoluments to its members. 

Interesting Facts about the MLAs of India

• Manik Sarkar, the Chief Minister of Tripura, is one of the poorest Members of the Legislative Assembly in the country, with almost nil assets, drawing a very meagre amount as salary.
• Savitri Jindal, an MLA, is the wealthiest woman in India and is popularly called "India's Richest Mother."

States with Bicameral Legislature

Seven states in India; namely, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have a bicameral legislature, where the Legislative Assembly is the Lower House. In the remaining 21 states of the country, with a unicameral legislature, the Legislative Assembly is the only House.