India : Know about the Rajya Sabha ,The Upper House
India : Know about the Rajya Sabha ,the Upper House
Rajya Sabha The upper house of the parliament of India.
Maximum number of upper house members is only 250 which are half of the Lok Sabha that is the lower house.
The president of India has a right to appoint 12 members; nominated members to Rajya Sabha .
The remaining members of the upper house are elected by state and territorial legislatures.
Here also we know that President is indirectly controlled by the Prime Minister of India.
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.
Here I always feel that India should have maintained principal of equality because India is a country where nobody cares about population problem.
The Council of States was set up under the Constitution on 3April 1952.
The first session of Rajya Sabha was held on 13 May 1952.
On 23 August 1954, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha made an announcement in the House that the Council of States would now be called Rajya Sabha.
Dr. S.Radhakrishnan was the first Chairman of Rajya Sabha. (13.5.1952-12.5.1962)
Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire every two years.
Normally a member is elected for six years; but a member elected against a mid-term vacancy, serves only for the remaining period.
The facilities enjoyed by upper house members:
Every Member is entitled to a salary of Rupees 16,000/- per month.
A daily allowance at the rate of Rupees 1,000/- for each day during any period of residence of duty (for attending a Session of a House of Parliament or a sitting of a Committee thereof or any other Parliamentary business)
A Member is entitled to a Constituency Allowance at the rate of Rupees 20,000/- per month.
A Member is entitled to an office expense allowance of Rupees 20,000/- per month.
A person who has served for any period as Member of the Provisional Parliament or either House of Parliament is entitled to a minimum pension of Rupees 8000/- per month.
Spouse or dependent of a deceased Member/Ex-Member who is neither a sitting Member nor drawing pension under Section 8A of the MSA Act, 1954 is entitled for the remaining period of life of spouse or dependent, who so long continues to be a dependent, a Family Pension equivalent to 50% of the Pension.
Each Member is entitled to a flat or hostel accommodation, without payment of license fee, throughout his/her term of office.
Where a Member is allotted a housing accommodation from the Rajya Sabha pool in the form of a bungalow at his/her request, normal license fee is charged.
Every Member is entitled without payment of charges to the supply of maximum of 50000 units of electricity and 4000 Kiloliters of water per annum, beginning 1st January of every year at the residence allotted to him/her. Other facilities enjoyed by Members include 25 per cent remission in the rent on account of supply of furniture.
A Member of the Rajya Sabha is entitled to have three telephones.
A Member, on his/her request, is entitled to avail one mobile phone connection of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with national roaming facility and another mobile phone connection of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited or the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) with national roaming facility for utilization in his constituency.
As per the Housing and Telephone Facilities (Members of Parliament) Rules, 1956 as amended up to date, a Member is not required to make any payment in respect of installation charges, monthly rental and local call charges to the extent of 1, 50,000 local calls pooled in respect of the three telephones and two mobile phones.
Member may also avail broadband facility.
Former Members of Parliament, along with a companion, are entitled to travel in any railway in India in air-conditioned two-tier class or entitled to travel alone in any train by any railway in India in air-conditioned first class without payment of any charges on the basis of an authorization issued for this purpose by the Secretariat of either House of Parliament, as the case may be.
Every Member is entitled to 34 free single air journeys in a year from any place in India to any other place in India for self or along with spouse or any number of companions or relatives.
Out of this 34 free air journeys, spouse or companion of a Member is entitled to travel alone up to a maximum of 8 air journeys a year to visit such Member.
However, where the number of journeys performed by any Member by air in a year is less than 34, the balance number of journeys not availed by him/her shall be carried forward to the following year.
Air journeys performed in excess of 34 in a year, subject to a maximum of eight may be adjusted from the 34 air journeys available for the next following year.
During Session and inter-Session periods, arrangements have been made for running air-conditioned vehicles by the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Secretariats (five Toyota Qualis and three Toyota Innova vehicles by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and two Toyota Qualis and eight Maruti Versa by the Lok Sabha Secretariat) to enable Members to travel from their places of residence to Parliament House/Parliament House Annexe and vice versa on payment of Rupees 5/- per trip.
Each Member who is elected/ nominated to Rajya Sabha after the 1st April, 2008 is entitled to purchase computer equipment and software worth Rs. 1, 50,000
Internet and e-mail facilities are also provided to the Members by National Informatics Center (NIC) free of charge.
Reality views by sm –
Tags – Upper house Rajya Sabha
10 comments:
good information
keep rocking
very informative
good one
why dont you use google adsense on ur phone
SM,there was a time when the best in India were nominated to RS.Where are we today?One hears stories about "getting"in to RS by certain industrialists
everymatter ty.
pls post next on 'how to get there?'
nice informative post n interesting to know about allowances n other perks:)
Very informative post and good to know how much these esteemed MPs get when we face recession with no hikes, cut backs... don't they get affected by it ... just wondering ...
vinnie,sure ty i will try to write a post on how to become upperhouse member.
Dear God! Suddenly politics seems like a lucrative career choice, doesn't it?
Very informative post as always.Your blog is titled From Politics To Fashion. When will you talk about Fashion? :)
BTW thanks for your comments on my blogs. Really appreciate it.
Dhiman,they are kings and they will never feel the heat.
choco,ty i will try to write on fashion also .