What is a Rajya Sabha?
In India, we choose our leaders through elections. The chosen leaders then represent us in the Lok Sabha (House of the People), one of the two houses of the parliament. The other house of the parliament is called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The LS represents the ordinary people in the parliament, whereas the RS represents every state government in the parliament. Out of the total 245 members of the RS, 233 are elected by state governments. The President of India nominates the remaining twelve members.
What is the role of the nominated members of the Rajya Sabha?
The nominated members perform the same role as the elected members. They help in making the laws of our country. However, the nominated members cannot vote in the selection of the President of India.
Who can be nominated to the Rajya Sabha?
Any Indian citizen above thirty, who has achieved great success in science, arts, sports, etc., can be nominated to the RS. The nomination system was introduced for successful people from various fields to help the parliament make better laws. Recently, the President of India nominated four such people to the RS.
Who are the four people nominated to the Rajya Sabha?
Ilaiyaraaja, PT Usha, Veerendra Heggade, and V. Vijayendra Prasad were nominated to the RS. Ilaiyaraaja is one of the greatest music composers from India. He has won many national and international awards for his music. PT Usha is a track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. She is called the ‘queen of Indian track and field’ due to her achievements.
Veerendra Heggade is a social worker from Karnataka who has established various educational institutes in villages across his state.
V. Vijayendra Kumar is a film director and screenwriter. He has been involved in various successful films, such as ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘Bahubali’, etc.
What can we expect from these four new Rajya Sabha members?
They are expected to share their knowledge with the parliament and help make better laws. We wish the best of luck to all four of them!
