Rajya Sabha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rajya Sabha | |
 |
|
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Type | Upper House |
| Leadership | |
| The Chairman |
Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Independent since 2007 |
| Majority Leader | Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, (INC) since 2007 |
| Opposition Leader | Arun Jaitley, (BJP) since 2009 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 250 (238 elected + 12 appointed) |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| Sansad Bhavan | |
| Web site | |
| rajyasabha.nic.in | |
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 than 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 or she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He or she must also declare in an affidavit to be free from criminal procedures. For reserved seats it is a requirement to be member of a scheduled caste or tribe, or both. One can also be appointed by the President of India.
[edit] Appointment
Members are elected by the Legislative Assembly of Each State. Like the Canadian Senate and German Bundesrat, seats in the Rajya Sabha take a middle course between proportional and equal representation: while large states have more seats than small states, small states still have disproportionately high representation. The numbers of seats as of 2006 are, according to the official website:
| No. | State | No. of seats |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 18 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | 1 |
| 3 | Assam | 7 |
| 4 | Bihar | 16 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | 5 |
| 6 | Goa | 1 |
| 7 | Gujarat | 11 |
| 8 | Haryana | 5 |
| 9 | Himachal Pradesh | 3 |
| 10 | Jammu & Kashmir | 4 |
| 11 | Jharkhand | 6 |
| 12 | Karnataka | 12 |
| 13 | Kerala | 9 |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | 11 |
| 15 | Maharashtra | 19 |
| 16 | Manipur | 1 |
| 17 | Meghalaya | 2 |
| 18 | Mizoram | 1 |
| 19 | Nagaland | 1 |
| 20 | National Capital Territory of Delhi | 3 |
| 21 | Nominated | 12 |
| 22 | Orissa | 10 |
| 23 | Pondicherry | 1 |
| 24 | Punjab | 7 |
| 25 | Rajasthan | 10 |
| 26 | Sikkim | 1 |
| 27 | Tamil Nadu | 18 (all) |
| 28 | Tripura | 1 |
| 29 | Uttar Pradesh | 31 |
| 30 | Uttarakhand | 3 |
| 31 | West Bengal | 16 |
Total: 242 [1]
Elections in within the state legislatures are held using single transferable votes with proportional representation.
[edit] Membership
[edit] Election
The members of the Rajya Sabha from each state are elected by the members of the Legislature(Legislative Assembly) or MPs 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.
[edit] Leadership of the Rajya Sabha
- As of 2009
- Vice-President of India & the ex-officio Chairman:' Hamid Ansari, Independent, Uttar Pradesh
- Leader of the House: Dr. Manmohan Singh, Indian National Congress, Assam
- Leader of the Opposition: Arun Jaitley, Bharatiya Janata Party, Gujarat
- Deputy leader of the Opposition: Sushma Swaraj, Bhartiya Janata Party, Madhya Pradesh
[edit] 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 200,000,000 is represented in the Rajya Sabha by 31 members, which is the largest. However, representation in the Rajya Sabha still greatly favors the small states: although Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura send only one member each to the Rajya Sabha, if Uttar Pradesh was represented in the Rajya Sabha at the same rate that the largest of these (Tripura), it would have 63 members, more than twice its current number.
[edit] 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 [2].
[edit] Members by Party
Source: Election Commission of India[3] (as of 7/05/2009)
[edit] References
- ^ Alphabetical List of All Members of Rajya Sabha, Since 1952 RAJYA SABHA website.
- ^ Rajya Sabha Practice and Procedure Series Nominated Members of Rajya Sabha.
- ^ http://164.100.47.5:8080/members/PartyPosition.asp
[edit] Further reading
- The Nominated Members of India's Council of States: A Study of Role-Definition J. H. Proctor, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, Feb., 1985), pp. 53-70.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Rajya Sabha homepage hosted by the Indian government
- Rajya Sabha FAQ page hosted by the Indian government
- Nominated members list
- State wise list
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