Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The first ever effort by the Rajya Sabha secretariat to quantify and analyse the legislative work done by the Upper House since it came into being in 1952 has revealed that the House has passed 3,817 Bills till the end of the last and the 249th session. Of these, 60 Bills had lapsed due to the dissolution of Lok Sabha at various points of time while 63 Bills were deemed to have been passed by the Upper House while two Bills cleared by it are still to be taken up in Lok Sabha. In effect, a total of 3,818 Acts of Parliament have been made since the first general elections in 1952.
A wide range of such statistical summary and other details on various aspects of the functioning of the House are contained in a publication “Rajya Sabha : The Journey since 1952” released by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu at a meeting of the leaders of various parties and groups here on November 17, 2019. Naidu convened the meeting to seek cooperation of the parties for smooth functioning of the landmark 250th session of Rajya Sabha beginning November 18, 2019, according to a PIB release.
The 118 page publication with 29 chapters is a ready reckoner with interesting statistics, details of the first moves and some unique events besides details of major Bills passed by the Rajya Sabha in respect of social change, economic transformation, industrial development, health, education, agriculture, environment, national security, and the objectives of 103 Constitution amendments so far made etc.
The total members of Rajya Sabha so far including those with more than one term is 2,282 including 208 women and 137 nominated members. Dr Mahendra Prasad is serving the highest number of 7th term followed by Dr Manmohan Singh serving 6th term. Dr Najma Heptulla and late Ram Jethmalani are the other two with six terms each. Ghulam Nabi Azad, A K Anthony, Ahmed Patel, and Ambika Soni are into their fifth term while Pranab Mukherjee, late Bhupesh Gupta, Sitaram Kesri, Ms Sajor Khaparde, B V Abdulla Koya were among the 11 members with five terms in the Upper House. Rajya Sabha Chairman Naidu is among the 45 members with four terms each. The representation of women in Rajya Sabha increased from 15 (6.94%) in 1952 to 31 (12.76%) in 2014 and is now 26 (10.83%) in 2019.
The first and the only time when a Presiding Officer of Rajya Sabha cast his vote was when the Panel Chairman M A Baby did so on August 5, 1991, when the voting was tied 39-39 on the Statutory Resolution moved by the opposition seeking disapproval of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance resulting in the victory of the opposition in the House.
President Rule approved only by Rajya Sabha: It happened only twice in respect of extension of President Rule in Tamilnadu and Nagaland in 1977 and in case of Haryana in 1991 when Lok Sabha was dissolved.
Removal of a Judge: The only time Rajya Sabha adopted a motion for removal of a Judge was in respect of Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court on August 18, 2011, but he resigned before the motion was taken up in Lok Sabha. The first sitting of the House was held on May 13, 1952.
In his foreword to the publication, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said; “Indeed, Rajya Sabha has all through been a lively and sagacious institution. It should continue to function with even greater vigor and zeal towards fulfilling the aspirations of the people, especially, the younger ones. Still, some missed opportunities may not be ruled out. We need to learn from the experience of the last 67 years and strive to make our Parliament even more effective towards building a New India which compares favorably with the better placed in the comity of the nations. Time is the essence in doing so and for making up for the missed opportunities.”