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Rajya Sabha
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The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and social services. These members are known as nominated members. The remainder of the body is elected by state and territorial legislatures.
Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members facing re-election every two years.
The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session and, unlike the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, is not subject to dissolution.
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The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and social services. These members are known as nominated members. The remainder of the body is elected by state and territorial legislatures.
Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members facing re-election every two years.
The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session and, unlike the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, is not subject to dissolution. The Rajya Sabha shares legislative powers with the Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held.
However, since the Lok Sabha has more than twice as many members then the Rajya Sabha, it holds de facto veto power in such joint sessions.
The Vice-President of India (currently, Hamid Ansari) is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who is elected from amongst its members, takes care of the day-to-day matters of the house in the absence of the Chairman.
The Rajya Sabha held its first sitting on 13 May 1952.
Qualifications required to become a member
To become a member of the Rajya Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India, not less than 30 years of age. He/she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He/she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him/her. For reserved seats one should be member of scheduled caste or/and tribes. One can also be appointed by the President of India.
Appointment
Members are elected by the Legislative Assembly of Each State. Seats are fixed for each state on the basis of its population, and not equality. The numbers of seats as of 2006 are, according to the :
Total: 242
Elections in within the state legislatures are held using single transferable votes with proportional representation.
Membership
Election
The members of the Rajya Sabha from each state are elected by the members of the Legislature or the Legislative Assembly of that state by means of proportional representation through the Single Transferable Vote System. The representatives of the Union Territories are chosen in such manner as may be decided or prescribed by the Parliament from time to time.
Leadership of the Rajya Sabha
As of 2006
Elected Members
There are 238 elected members, who represent the 28 states and 7 Union Territories,including the National Capital territory, New Delhi. Seats are allotted to them on the basis of their population. For example, Uttar Pradesh with a population of nearly 16 crores is represented in the Rajya Sabha by 31 members, which is the largest.
Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura send only one member each to the Rajya Sabha.
Nominated Members
Under article 80 of the Constitution, out of the 250 members, of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) 12 are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in the fields such as literature, science, art or social service.
Since its inception in 1952, 105 members have been nominated so far, for a term of 6-year each, and with an added provision that one-third of the members shall retire every two years
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Further reading
- J. H. Proctor, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, Feb., 1985), pp. 53-70.
See also
External links
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