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MLA Full Form

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Last updated date: 23rd Apr 2024
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Meaning of an MLA

A member of the legislative assembly is the person elected by the people or voters here of a symbolizing electorate division for the legislature of the state government of India. In India, there are approximately 4 to 9 MLAs for every Member of Parliament that are the representatives in the Lok sabha. The position given to the elected MLAs decides the responsibility that they have to carry on their shoulders. The MLAs vest their responsibilities for the tenure of 5 years. 

Role Of MLA

  • Legislator

The first and foremost role of  MLA is legislator which includes understanding the soul of existing laws, arranging new laws, and examining, talking about and afterwards supporting or contradicting the establishment of new laws.

  • Representative

As a delegate of their body electorate, a party may voice worries for the benefit of constituents, speak to perspectives, intervene and aid critical thinking.Member of an Elected Party Gathering. In this capacity, the individual in question might be associated with arranging and supporting the council and its choices and creating mastery in given branches of knowledge.

Qualification Standards For An MLA

To be elected to the position of a MLA, the following qualifications are needed:

  • The person to be elected as a MLA should be a Citizen of India

  • The person to be elected Should not be under 25 years of age (of legislative assembly) and should not be less than 30 years before becoming  a member of legislative council.

  •  An individual must be a voter for any Legislative Assembly voting demographic in that state as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Overally, the person should be a voter of India.

  • An individual must not hold any office of benefit under the Government of India or the Government of any state other than that of a Minister for the Indian Union  

  • According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, an individual can't stay an MLA if that individual has been sentenced by a court or seen as liable in a specific occurrence.

  • It is very necessary that he is not confirmed convicted of any offense or imprisonment of two years or more.

Obligations Of MLA

  • Individuals from the Legislative Assembly isolate their time between their body's electorate and their work in the Assembly. MLAs obligations will shift, contingent upon whether he/she is a Member of Cabinet, a Member of the Opposition, or a Government Backbencher.

  • Resistance Members invest quite a bit of their energy inquiring about and posing inquiries in the House concerning their body's electorate and pundit regions. Both Opposition Members and Government Backbenchers present Petitions, Resolutions, and Private Members' Bills to the House.

  • MLAs who are Ministers of the Crown (Cabinet Members) invest quite a bit of their energy supervising the tasks of their doled-out divisions. Bureau Ministers must be set up to address inquiries from the Opposition, set forward Government Bills, and manage the Estimates and Annual Reports of their specializations.

  • Constituents experiencing issues inside their division or having issues managing government offices, organizations, and so on frequently allude to their MLA for help. Quite a bit of an MLA's time is spent taking care of their constituents' issues, responding to questions and concerns, and keeping mindful of the predominant assessment of the electorate.

Powers provided to an MLA

The powers are divided within the legislature and the state. There are some powers that can be controlled by parliament but cannot be controlled by the legislature. There are some powers that can be controlled by the state and parliament both.


The primary powers which are controlled by the parliament and cannot be controlled by the legislature are lawmaking which includes 

  • coordinating the police

  • deciding for the prisons

  • Making decisions for irrigation

  • Works for agriculture

  • Local government tasks

  • Public health issues

  • Pilgrimage welfare

  • And burial grounds

The the powers which are legislated by state and parliament both includes the following bulleted points:

  • Education

  • Marriage

  • Divorce

  • Forests management

  • Wild animals and birds protection

Finally the power to make bills is a combined process. The members of the legislative assembly have all the rights to make the bills and make any type of changes they want to. The legislative council can only pass it. The members of the legislative council don't hold any right to change the bill. If the bill is passed to the members of the legislative council they would only sign it within 14 days and would pass it. We can advise the assembly in order to make some changes in the bill but have no right to change it. Also, the members of the legislative assembly have all the rights whether to accept the advice provided by the legislative council or to decline it.


MLA is a reputed post and it can take a lot of decisions including a particular state or the electoral district. The person has all the right to change whatever he or she wants to you during the reign time. In case a member is not confined to the legislative assembly, that is if a person is a non-member of the legislative assembly and somehow he became the CM or any minister he must become an MLA within six months to continue the job. If the person is unable to get the post of MLA within 6 months, then he will lose the position of the minister after that particular period of time. Only the Member of the legislative assembly can become a speaker of the legislature.

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FAQs on MLA Full Form

1. Will an Individual be Both MLA and MP? 

No. A person cannot continue to remain a member of both the Parliament and State Legislature or MLA. If he is elected to both the seats,  he has the selection to resign from either of the 2 memberships. This is provided in Article 101(2) of the Indian Constitution.

2. Who is the Member of the Parliament?

A Member of Parliament is any individual from the two houses of the Indian Parliament, i.e., Houses of People and Council of States.

3. How did some MLAs become ministers? Explain.

Once the elections are over, then the MLAs have the power to elect the chief minister. The chief minister then has the power to elect his own ministers whom he feels to be responsible people as well as also follow up some propaganda in order to elect the ministry. This is how some MLAs also serve as ministers.

4. What is the purpose of members of the legislative assembly?

 The major purposes of the legislative assembly are written below:

  • The first and foremost purpose of a legislature is to legislate i.e. to make laws.

  •  To deliberate upon matters of national importance, public issues, problems and needs of people and reflect the public opinion over various issues. 

  • No money can be raised or spent by the executive without the approval of the legislature.

  • In almost every state, it is the legislature that has the power to amend the constitution.

5. Difference between MLA and MP.

The difference between MLA and MP are represented as represented in the tabular form:


MLA

MP

The representative who is elected by the legislative assembly of a state is MLA.

The public voting system is used in order to elect the members of parliament (MP) in Lok sabha. On the other hand, the MPs of Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of all legislative assemblies in the proper proportion of representation.

During the commencement of the state-level election, the elected members of the assembly constituency elect the MLA.

Indirectly, In the case of Rajya sabha, the MPs are elected by the MLAs only. 

MLAs are representatives of a particular the state only. So, they Work for their assigned state.

MP work at the Central level. They work for the welfare of the general public.

MLA takes care of the state list and some items in the concurrent list as it works for the state legislature only. 

As MPs work at the Central level they take care at the union level and some items in the concurrent list.