Utility of Rajya Sabha

In Context

Recently ,it has been highlighted that Rajya Sabha will have a sobering effect on the decisions of the Lower House. 

Objectives and Need

• Extensive debate took place in the Constituent Assembly regarding the utility or otherwise of a Second Chamber in Independent India and ultimately, it was decided to have a bicameral legislature for independent India mainly because a federal system was considered to be most feasible form of Government for such a vast country with immense diversities. 
• A single directly elected House, in fact, was considered inadequate to meet the challenges before free India. 
  • A second chamber known as the ‘Council of States’, therefore, was created with altogether different composition and method of election from that of the directly elected House of the People. 

Origin of 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 ‘Council of States’ which is also known as Rajya Sabha, a nomenclature that was announced by the chair in the House on the 23rd August, 1954 has its own distinctive features. 

Composition/Strength

• 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 of the two Union Territories. 
  • The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the President. 
    • The members nominated by the President are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.

•  The element of dignity and prestige was added to the Council of State House by making the Vice-President of India ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha who presides over its sittings.
• Biennial/Bye-election  Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution. 
• However, one-third Members of Rajya Sabha retire after every second year. A member who is elected for a full term serves for a period of six years. 

Process for Election/Nomination

• Electoral College:
  • The representatives of the States and of the Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha are elected by the method of indirect election. 
  • The representatives of each State and two Union territories are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of that State and by the members of the Electoral College for that Union Territory, as the case may be, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. 
  • The Electoral College for the National Capital Territory of Delhi consists of the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi, and that for Puducherry consists of the elected members of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. 

Special Powers of Rajya Sabha

• Rajya Sabha being a federal chamber enjoys certain special powers under the Constitution. 
• All the subjects/areas regarding legislation have been divided into three Lists – Union List, State List and concurrent List. 
  • Union and State Lists are mutually exclusive – one cannot legislate on a matter placed in the sphere of the other. 
  • However, if Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting saying that it is “necessary or expedient in the national interest” that Parliament should make a law on a matter enumerated in the State List, Parliament becomes empowered to make a law on the subject specified in the resolution, for the whole or any part of the territory of India. 
• Recommending creation of one or more All India Services common to the Union and the states. 
• Approving proclamations in the event of national emergency, failure of constitutional machinery in a State, or in the case of financial emergency.

Arguments against the Upper House:

• Limited power: A Money Bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha. After it is passed by that House, it is transmitted to Rajya Sabha for its concurrence or recommendation. The power of Rajya Sabha in respect of such a Bill is limited
• Impediment to decision-making: Rajya Sabha, despite being a nominated house, acts as a check on the directly elected government. 

• This has been criticised by experts and eminent men alike. They point out that Rajya Sabha has no business holding the government accountable when Lok Sabha is fully equipped to do so.
•  In delaying the bills and questioning the government, it oversteps its authority as it is questioning the will of the people indirectly by questioning their representatives.

• Cost to the exchequer: Many experts have pointed to the superfluous nature of the house as it has lesser power in most aspects as compared to the Lok Sabha.
  • For e.g., it is subordinate to the Lok Sabha in financial matters as well as dismissing the government, in case it loses confidence in the house. 
  • Also, the deliberative role it plays is redundant as the same is done in the lower house. Therefore, it has been considered as a waste of resources by many experts.

Arguments in favour of the Upper House:

• Guarding the Constitution: The Constitution of India provides for the mechanism of joint sitting under Article 108 for the resolution of disagreements between the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
  •  However, for the Constitutional Amendment Bills, joint sitting cannot be called to decide on the dispute. 
  • This means that the Constitution makers have bestowed upon the Rajya Sabha the task of guarding the Constitution against any hasty amendments by Lok Sabha.

• Promotes deliberation: Eminent members like Gopalaswami Ayyangar vehemently supported the idea of the upper house as another house to deliberate the bills and policies of the government. 
  • Rajya Sabha has made an immense contribution in correcting the directions of constitutional amendments, government legislations and articulated its views on matters of national importance

• Oversight on hasty decision-making: At the same time, Rajya Sabha, despite being a weaker house, has tried to act as a check on the bills originating in the Lok Sabha. 
  • Lok Sabha, by its very nature, is a house with a brute majority of the ruling coalition. This would mean uninterrupted passage of the bills in the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha, with its varied composition, sobers the voices of majoritarianism, should they escape the notice of the lower house.

• Cooling down the Politics: An important function of the Rajya Sabha is to take time and let any heated matters settle down. 
  • For instance, there may be various matters which catch the public fancy and are a matter of media frenzy. Any legislation at such time might be prone to errors due to swayed emotions. Therefore, sometimes it is beneficial to let the issue cool down and discuss all the dimensions of an issue so that the principle of natural justice is upheld in the legislation.
• Highlighting the National Issues: Rajya Sabha has focussed more on the larger issues plaguing India, rather than the hot topics. One important factor contributing to this tendency is the permanent nature of the house. 
  • Since Rajya Sabha members do not have to worry about the general elections in the country and they have a fixed tenure of six years, therefore, the nature of debates is richer. 
• Expert Opinion: Rajya Sabha has also an added benefit of nominated members in the house, wherein the President nominates twelve members of Rajya Sabha from eminent walks of life and having special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science and social service under Article 80 of the Constitution of India. This adds quality to the debate in the house and provides a lustre to the Upper House. 
• Smaller House: Rajya Sabha is a smaller house as compared to the Lok Sabha, with less than half the members of Lok Sabha. This leads to the allocation of a longer duration of time to the members of smaller parties to put forward their point of view. Therefore, it strengthens democracy by providing a voice to the minority political parties of the house.
• Permanent House: Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution, it is a continuing chamber. However, Lok Sabha can be dissolved by the opposition by passing a motion of no-confidence or even by the cabinet by recommending the same to the President. Also, with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, any pending legislative business including the bills, also lapse. Therefore, if the government wants to introduce a bill with an intention of getting it passed beyond the term of the Lok Sabha, then such a bill can be introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

Conclusion and Way Forward 

• 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.
• It is desired in terms of increasing the productivity of the house and ensuring that the members attend the house to contribute to the deliberations, rather than hijack the functioning of the house with repeated disruptions.

Source:IE