Relevance: GS-2: Parliament and State Legislatures—Structure, Functioning, Conduct of Business, Powers & Privileges and Issues Arising out of these.

Key Phrases: Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, Parliament, Upper House, Article 80 of the Constitution, Women’s Reservation Bill 2010, Domicile requirement, Relevance of Rajya Sabha.

Context:

• Many in India think that the institution of ‘Rajya Sabha’ should undergo a reform. However, none would agree with the idea that it must be dissolved completely.

Upper House (Rajya Sabha):

• The origin of the second Chamber can be traced to the Montague-Chelmsford Report of 1918. The Government of India Act, 1919 provided for the creation of a ‘Council of State’ as a second chamber of the then legislature with a restricted franchise which actually came into existence in 1921.
• The Governor-General was the ex-officio President of the then Council of State. The Government of India Act, 1935, hardly made any changes in its composition.
• It was constituted on 3rd April 1952 and the first session was held on 13th May 1952.
• It was modelled by the architects of the Constitution as a check on the power of the Lok Sabha, representing the interests of the States and Union territories.
• Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the States and Union territories.
• The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories and 12 are nominated by the President.

Arguments against Rajya Sabha:

• States representation in Rajya Sabha is unequal:
  • Federal structures in countries like the US, and Australia provide equal representation to all States in their Upper Houses. Unlike India, where states are represented proportionally to their relative populace.
  • For example, the number of seats allocated in the Rajya Sabha to Uttar Pradesh alone is significantly higher than that of combined north-eastern states.
• Circumventing the Rajya Sabha:
  • In some cases, ordinary bills are being passed in the form of a Money Bill, circumventing the Rajya Sabha and giving rise to the question about the very efficacy of the Upper House of Parliament. Recently this happened in case of the Aadhaar Bill.
• Stalling legislation:
  • Many consider it as “clog in the wheel of progress” of the nation since it consumes time in the legislative process, which further results in delay in enactment of law. Many instances over the years have also proved it to be right.
• Undemocratic aspects:
  • As argued in the Constituent Assembly the twelve nominated members never seek the vote of the people, yet they are eligible to become ministers. This is one of the most undemocratic aspects of our Constitution.
• Doing away with domicile requirement:
  • The earlier practice of individuals mostly entering the Rajya Sabha on domicile credentials ended in 2003 after an amendment in Section 3(1) of the Representation of People’s Act 1952 and the subsequent judgment of Supreme Court.
• Failure to protect the interests of the States:
  • One of the primary responsibilities of a Council of States is to protect the interests of the State vis a vis the Union but there is hardly any empirical evidence that substantiates that the Rajya Sabha has measured up to the task ever since it came into existence on April 3rd, 1952.

The Relevance of the ‘Rajya Sabha’ in Indian Democracy:

• The ‘Rajya Sabha’ fortifies the federal nature of the Indian democracy.
• Seasoned and experienced public men for law-making:
  • It was envisaged to serve as a forum to which seasoned and experienced public men might get access without undergoing the din and bustle of a highly competitive general election, which is inevitable to find a seat in the Lok Sabha.
• Checks and balances on the activities of the ‘Lok Sabha’:
  • Since the Lok Sabha decisions may go in favour of the populist sentiment and force the members to go contrary to the best judgment, the Rajya Sabha keeps a check and balance on it.
• Regional representation:
  • Unlike the House of Lords in Britain, the Rajya Sabha also provides a platform for the small and regional parties to present their views.
• Debating Chamber:
  • It acts as a debating chamber in which dignified debates are to be held on various issues confronting the country. Simultaneously, it was also contemplated that it would act as a revising chamber over Lok Sabha.
• Permanent House:
  • Being permanent chamber, Rajya Sabha has carried out important parliamentary functions even when the lower house is dissolved. .
• Representative Chamber:
  • Women, religious, ethnic, and linguistic minority groups are not adequately represented in the Lok Sabha (due to the first past the post-election system). Rajya Sabha acts as a solution to this.
• Private Members Bills:
  • Rajya Sabha has also provided its members opportunities to introduce the Private Member Bills, which despite being important could not come up on the agenda of the government. For instance the bill on transgender rights was initially introduced and passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha in 2014.

What has Rajya Sabha been able to achieve that a stand-alone Lok Sabha has not, or would not, in the future?

• This requires a full debate in Parliament, especially the Rajya Sabha, as India enters the 75th year of its independence.
• If the only argument for the existence of the Rajya Sabha is that it is a continuous House as opposed to the Lok Sabha that gets mandatorily dissolved every five years, if not sooner, then that can be fixed with a simple amendment to Article 83 (2) that should state that “Lok Sabha would remain in existence till the time its successor body/house is not constituted through general elections mandatorily held three months before the completion of the five-year term of the previous body/House or sooner as the case may be”.
• Article 83 (1) would stand deleted and consequential amendments can be carried out to other parts of the Constitution.

To preserve the federal character of Rajya Sabha, the following steps need to be taken:

• Rajya Sabha members may be directly elected by the citizens of a State.
• This would reduce cronyism and patronage appointments.
• A federal arrangement can be devised to enable equal representation for each State.
• Large States should not dominate the proceedings in the House.
• There should be deadlines set for responding to bills initiated in the Lok Sabha.
• Amendment regarding doing away with the domicile requirement requires urgent revisiting by the legislature to restore the fundamental character of the Council of States.

Conclusion:

• Rajya Sabha has played a constructive role in deliberations in the parliament, apart from hosting various important personalities including the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister several times. It has played an impressive role in holding the government accountable for its promises.
• The rights of the Indian citizens need to be actively protected. Hence, the relevance of the bicameral parliament structure becomes even bigger.
• The ‘Rajya Sabha’, the bureaucracy, and the judiciary act as the 3-layered wall that sees to the upkeep of the principles of a democratic republic like India.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q. Discuss the relevance of Rajya Sabha in Indian democracy with the help of example.