Can nominated members of Rajya Sabha, like cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha, continue to remain absent from the House and should they not resign if they are not interested? This was the question posed by Naresh Agrawal, who said he has not seen nominated members, including eminent cricketer and actress, attend the proceedings in this session.
According to PRS Legislative Research, Rekha’s attendance was as follows:
- Budget Session 2017 – 10%
- Winter Session 2016 – 5%
- Monsoon Session 2016 – 5%
- Budget Session 2016 (part 1) – 6%
And Sachin Tendulkar’s attendance was:
- Budget Session 2017 – 5%
- Winter Session 2016 – 10%
- Monsoon Session 2016 – 15%
- Budget Session 2016 (part 2) – 13%
- Budget Session 2016 (part 1) – 13%
‘Point of Order’
Agrawal raised the issue through a 'point of order' when the House met for the day.
If they are not coming, does it mean they are not interested? And if they are not interested, shouldn’t they resign?Naresh Agrawal
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said this was not a point of order – and Agrawal could use his good office to convince the nominated members to be present in the House for a few days.
Agrawal said if the Chair so suggests, he would write to the members on the issue.
As many as 12 persons with special knowledge or practical experience on matters like literature, science, art and social service are nominated to the Upper House.
Besides Tendulkar and Rekha, other nominated members include Anu Aga, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Narendra Jadhav, MC Mary Kom, K Parasaran, Gopi Suresh, Subramanian Swamy and KTS Tulsi.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)