The composition of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) is laid down in:

Article 81 lays down the composition of the House of the People, or Lok Sabha.

Main provisions of Article 81:

• The Lok Sabha shall consist of not more than 530 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states.
• It shall have not more than 20 members to represent the Union territories, chosen in the manner Parliament provides by law.
• Seats are allotted to each state so that the ratio between the number of seats and the population of the state is, as far as practicable, the same for all states.
• This rule does not apply to states with a population of not more than six million.
• Each state is divided into territorial constituencies so that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is, as far as practicable, the same throughout the state.

Meaning of population:

• Population means the population as found in the last census.
• The allocation of seats among states is based on the 1971 census and has been frozen until after the first census taken after 2026.

Readjustment of constituencies:

• Article 82 provides for readjustment of seats and constituencies after each census by an authority set up by Parliament.
• This work is done by a Delimitation Commission appointed under a law of Parliament.
• The boundaries of constituencies were last redrawn on the basis of the 2001 census, without changing the number of seats per state.

Present strength:

The Lok Sabha now has 543 elected members, of whom 530 are from the states and 13 from the Union territories.

Duration:

Article 83 says that the Lok Sabha continues for five years from its first meeting, unless dissolved earlier.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Article 79 provides for the constitution of Parliament.
• ✗Article 84 deals with qualifications for membership of Parliament.
• ✗Article 83 deals with the duration of the Houses.