????: 10th Mar2021    ⌚ : 20 Minutes   

GS-2: Indian Constitution-historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure. Parliament and State legislatures-structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these. Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Note:

• Following is the summary of ‘The Big Picture’ discussion, which was aired on RSTV.
• Host: Vishal Dahiya
• Panellists: Chakshu Roy, Head of Outreach, PRS Legislative Research; K.V. Prasad, Senior Journalist.
• Please note that some inputs have been given by our team in order to make the topic more relevant to UPSC.

Context:

• Rajya Sabha, also called the Council of the States, was constituted on April 3rd in year 1952 under Article 79 of the Constitution of India.
• It is called the upper house of the Parliament and represents the federal character of the legislature by having members elected by the state legislatures and the Union Territories with the legislature.

Prelims Focus

WTO Agreement on Agriculture Subsidies: It establishes a mechanism to ensure fairer market access by abolishing the import tariffs and decreasing the subsidies which distort international trade. It was agreed upon in 1995 under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation. India has been trying to address the stalemate in the Public stockholding aspect to let its Public Distribution System continue without any restrictions.

Mains Focus

History of the Rajya Sabha:

• Rationale behind the Upper House: The history of mankind tells us that it was the rich and powerful, who were involved in decision-making. Later on, when the ideas of democracy and universal adult suffrage took root, the poor started to get represented in the legislature. The upper house was constituted to balance the interest of these two groups. It was supposed to be the voice of the rich as compared to the lower house, which articulated the views of the poor.
• Beginning in India: In India, bicameralism started in 1918-19 with the introduction of Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. It was further continued by the Government of India Act, 1935. When the Constitution of India was drafted, initially the upper house was called ‘Council of States’. Later on, the Hindi translation, i.e. Rajya Sabha was added to the Constitution as another nomenclature of the Upper house in August 1954.

Additional Powers of the Rajya Sabha:

• Make laws in the State list: Constitution empowers the Rajya Sabha to allow the Parliament to make a law in the state list under Article 249. However, such a resolution needs to be approved by the Rajya Sabha by a two-thirds majority. The provision has been built in the Constitution to ensure that the Parliament is able to aid the legislative process in the States or to ensure uniformity in law across the territory of India, as per the situation.
• Setup All India Services: All India Services work under the general supervision of the Central government. Therefore, as the protector of the States’ interests, it is the Rajya Sabha which is empowered to create an All-India Services under the Article 312 for the better governance of the country.
• Extending Proclamation of Emergency: Rajya Sabha has the power to extend the proclamation of emergency under Article 352, if Lok Sabha has been dissolved or is not able to conduct a session due to some reasons. Since Rajya Sabha is a permanent house, not subject to dissolution, such a situation does not exist at the level of Rajya Sabha.

Arguments against the Upper House:

• Limited power in some aspects: Money bills as defined by Article 110 cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, but only in the Lok Sabha. In fact, Rajya Sabha has limited powers even in the case of deliberations related to Money Bills. It has only 14 days in which it can suggest amendments to the money bill, which may or may not be accepted by the Lok Sabha. Similarly, with regard to financial bills and budgetary matters, Rajya Sabha has a subordinate role as compared to the Lok Sabha.
• 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 legislations.
• 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. For instance, even in the recent session, there have been debates on the reservation of women, the progress of India in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals etc.
• 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. For e.g. recently Jaya Bachchan provided the perspective of Bollywood members and argued for government support to the entertainment industry while being part of a discussion in the Upper House.
• Protection of states’ interests: Rajya Sabha has the added responsibility of protecting the federal nature of the Constitution as is depicted from one of its names viz. Council of States. And it can be said that it has asserted its authority in this aspect multiple times. For e.g. Rajya Sabha has played an important role in passing bills that affect states’ interests like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, negotiations around the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Agreements around Agriculture subsidies (see inset) as Agriculture is primarily a State subject.
• 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 the democracy by providing a voice to the minority political parties of the house.
• 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 e.g., the bill on transgender rights was initially introduced passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha in 2014.
• 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.
• Continuity in Policy Making: As the house with no provision of dissolution, Rajya Sabha provides continuity to the legislative process in the country. This is important as being a democratic country, India frequently sees a change in the guard in the Lok Sabha. This is important to hold the government accountable to the people. However, this might also disrupt the policy-making of the Government as the new government might hold a different ideology. On such occasions, Rajya Sabha ensures that the new government honours the previous commitments and continues to uphold the general values of the Constitution.

Recent Reforms:

• Use of Regional Languages: In keeping with upholding the diverse nature of the Indian society and culture, Rajya Sabha has taken a lead in allowing the members to express their sentiments in their local language as they are more comfortable and natural in using their mother tongue. This has also made the Rajya Sabha more inclusive and the members from different states more welcome in expressing their sentiments.
• Enhancing Participation of members’: Apart from letting the members speak in the language they are comfortable in, Rajya Sabha has also tried to ensure the participation of the members from the smaller parties by allocating more time to them, which was earlier in proportion to their strength in the House. This ensures diversity in the deliberations and also ensures that the minority views are heard and given due importance in the Parliament.
• Focus on the Rajya Sabha Committees: Earlier Chairman Mr. Hamid Ansari and the Current Chairman Mr. Venkaiah Naidu have been very proactive in ensuring that the Select and the Standing Committees constituted to deliberate the bills and policies of the government are functioning efficiently, For e.g. on many instances, the presiding officers of the house have expressed their anguish and openly read out the statistics on attendance and working of the committees to prompt the parties to take notice of the performance of their members in the Committees. Also, the House has ensured public display of the attendance of the members by putting the attendance online.
• Holding the Government Accountable: Rajya Sabha has worked in the area of holding the government accountable for the development of the country. For instance, the question hour in the Rajya Sabha is an instrument of control over the executive. However, every day there are twenty questions listed to be answered by the government. To ensure that all of these questions are answered, Rajya Sabha has encouraged its members to ask pinpointed questions, which have exact answers. Also, the Committee on Assurances has also ensured that a minister is prepared to answer the questions and what government promises on the floor of the house gets implemented subsequently.

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.
• However, despite the recent reforms, more is left to be 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.

Practice Question:

• Highlight the importance of Rajya Sabha in upholding the federal tradition of the country, apart from bringing diversity in the deliberations of the Parliament. Do you think that all the states should be provided the Upper house as a part of the legislature?

UPSC Previous Year Questions:

• Why do you think the committees are considered to be useful for parliamentary work?  Discuss, in this context, the role or the Estimates Committee.                                                                                                   (GS2 – 2018)
• The Indian Constitution has provisions for holding joint session of the two houses of the Parliament. Enumerate the occasions when this would normally happen and also the occasions when it cannot, with reasons thereof.   (GS2 – 2017)
• The ‘Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members’ as envisaged in Article 105 of the Constitution leave room for a large number of un-codified and un-enumerated privileges to continue. Assess the reasons for the absence of legal codification of the ‘parliamentary privileges’. How can this problem be addressed?                (GS2 – 2014)

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