India

House of the People

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Sansad (Parliament)
Chamber name
Lok Sabha (House of the People)
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1949
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Speaker
Om Birla (Male)
Date of birth: 23 Nov 1962
Term
19 Jun 2019
Additional information

Elected on 19 June 2019, re-elected on 26 June 2024.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Utpal Kumar Singh (Male)
Term
01 Dec 2020
Notes

Appointed on 1st Dec. 2020.

Members

Statutory number of members
545

Notes:

Appointed members: Two members of the Anglo-Indian Community are nominated by the President.

The Constitution provides that the House shall have a maximum of 552 members. Up to 530 members represent the states, up to 20 members represent the union territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian Community are nominated by the President, if, in the President's opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House.

Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
543
Appointed members
2
Current number of members
542
Men
468
Women
74
Percentage of women
13.7%
Statutory number of members per country
790
Population (in thousands)
1,438,070
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
1,820,342

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
Click for historical data
Youngest member
Pushpendra Saroj (Male)
Youngest member (years)
25
Oldest member
T.R. Baalu (Male)
Oldest member (years)
83
Number of members, by age (2024-06)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 2 36 40 49 142 149 49 1 0 468
Female 0 5 9 6 15 24 12 3 0 0 74
Totals per age interval 0 7 45 46 64 166 161 52 1 0 542
Total <= 45: 98 Total >= 46: 444
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
1.3% 0.4% 0.9%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
9.6% 7% 2.6%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
18.1% 14% 3.7%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Other groups
-

Notes: 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, 47 seats for the Scheduled Tribes, and 2 seats for MPs representing the Anglo-Indian community.

Electoral quota for women
No

Sources: Cf. Section 3 and the First Schedule of the Representation of the People Act, Schedule I of the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituency Order, Article 331 of the Constitution, and the Re-adjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Ordinance.

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No