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amongst persons who are not members of the
Assembly.

• 1/12 of the total members of the Legislative
Council will be elected by teachers of Senior
Secondary Schools or Colleges of the State who
have at least three years experience of teaching.
The election of the members of the Legislative Council
is held by the principle of proportional representation
by the single transferrable vote. The Assembly in Goa has only 40 members

leGislaTive assembly or viDhan sabha

There is a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) in every state. It represents the people of
state. The members of Vidhan Sabha are directly elected by people on the basis of universal
adult franchise. They are directly elected by all adult citizens registered as voters in the
state. All men and women who are 18 years of age and above are eligible to be included
in the voters’ list. They vote to elect members of State Assembly. Members are elected
from territorial constituencies. Every State is divided into as many constituencies as the
number of members to be elected. As in case of Lok Sabha, certain number of seats are
reserved for Scheduled Castes, and in some states for Scheduled Tribes also. This depends
on population of these weaker sections in the State.

In order to become a Member of Vidhan Sabha, a person :
• must be a citizen of India;
• must have his/her name must be in voter’s list;

• must have attained the age of 25 years;
• must not hold any office of profit; i.e.― should not be a government servant.
The number of Vidhan Sabha members cannot be more than 500 and not less than 60.
However, very small states have been allowed to have lesser number of members. Thus
Goa has only 40 members in its Assembly. Uttar Pradesh is a big state even after creation
of Uttarakhand from this state in 2002 has 403 seats in the Assembly.

The Governor of the state has the power nominate one member of Anglo-Indian community.
As in case of the Lok Sabha, some seats are reserved for the members of Scheduled Caste and
Schedule Tribes. The tenure of Vidhan Sabha is five years, but the Governor can dissolve it
before the completion of its term on the advice of Chief Minister. It may be dissolved by the
President in case of constitutional emergency proclaimed under Article 356 of the Constitution.
In case of proclamation of national emergency, the parliament can extend the term of the
Legislative Assemblies for a period not exceeding one year at a time.

funcTion of The sTaTe leGislaTure
making laws

A legislative assembly is a place where all the MLAs whether from the ruling party or
from the opposition meet to discuss various issues. It is just like the Lower House of the
parliament where directly elected representatives of people assemble and discuss issues.

Social Studies-7-7
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104 Social Studies