Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Logo of The Rajya Sabha
Flag of India
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Style	Honourable (Inside India) His/Her Excellency (Outside India)
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of India
Status	Active
Abbreviation	MP
Member of	Rajya Sabha
Reports to	Chairman of Rajya Sabha & Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
Seat	Parliament of India
Nominator	President of India on the advice of Council of Ministers (in case of nominated MPs)
Appointer	Vice President of India
Term length	6 years; renewable
Constituting instrument	Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of India
Formation	26 January 1950 (1950-01-26)
First holder	1952
Salary	₹124,000 (US$1,500) (incl. allowances) per month^[1]
Website	sansad.in/rs

A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Council of States"). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elected members of the State Assembly with a system of proportional representation by a single transferable vote. The Parliament of India is bicameral with two houses; Rajya Sabha (Upper house i.e. Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (Lower house i.e. House of the People). Compared to the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has fewer members and its members have more restricted power.^[2] Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and cannot be dissolved at any time. However, every second year, one third of the members are retired and the vacancies are filled by fresh elections and Presidential nomination at the beginning of every third year.^[3]

All Members of Rajya Sabha rank 21st in the Order of Precedence of India.^[4]

Responsibilities of the members of parliament

Broad responsibilities of the members of parliament of Rajya Sabha are:

Legislative responsibility: To pass Laws of India in the Rajya Sabha.
Oversight responsibility: To ensure that the executive (i.e. government) performs its duties satisfactorily.
Representative responsibility: To represent the views and aspirations of the people of their constituency in the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha).
Power of the purse responsibility: To approve and oversee the revenues and expenditures proposed by the government.
The Union Council of Ministers, who are also members of parliament have an additional responsibility of the executive as compared to those who are not in the Council of Ministers.^[3]

Special powers

Members of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha enjoy special powers and responsibilities with regard to:

Making laws on any subject in the State List;
Making laws to create services at national level.^[3]
Supreme court judges tenure variable

Term

Unlike Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha can not be dissolved and is a permanent body, therefore members usually get chances to serve their full tenure unless they resign or vacate the seat due to death. One third of its members retire every two years. So each member has a term of six years^[3]

Qualifications for being a member of parliament

A person must satisfy all following conditions to be qualified to become a member of parliament of the Rajya Sabha:

Must be a citizen of India
30 years of age

Disqualifications for being a member of parliament

A person would be ineligible for being a Member of the Rajya Sabha if the person:

Holds any office of profit under the Government of India (other than an office permitted by Parliament of India by law).
Is of unsound mind.
Is an undischarged insolvent.
Has ceased to be a citizen of India.
Is so disqualified by any law made by the Indian Parliament.
Is so disqualified on the ground of defection.
Has been convicted, among other things, for promoting enmity between different groups.
Has been convicted for offence of bribery.
Has been punished for preaching and practicing social crimes such as untouchability, dowry, sati.
Has been convicted for an offence and sentenced to imprisonment.
Has been dismissed for corruption or for disloyalty to the State (in case of a government servant).

Composition/strength

Membership in the Rajya Sabha is limited to 250 members, and up to 238 members are elected by the members of all the Vidhan Sabhas (individual state legislatures) and up to 12 are nominated by the President for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. The strength can be lower than 250: the current one is at 245. (See next section on members.)

Members of the Rajya Sabha

References

"Salaries, allowances and facilities to Members" (PDF). Lok Sabha website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2016.
"Member of Parliament". elections.in.
"The Indian Parliament". PRS Legislative Research. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018.
"Order of Precedence of India" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India).