IS RAJYA SABHA LOSING IT’S PURPOSE?

Indian Parliamentary system is basically a copy of British system. British parliament has two houses -  house of commons and house of lords. Similarly, we have Loksabha and Rajyasabha. Functions and functionalities of two houses of Indian system have also been designed on the basis of their British counter parts. Let’s come direct to the Rajyasabha and house of lords. These are also called Upper House. There is a meaning to all of these. 

The lower house (Loksabha) is elected by people directly. Any Indian citizen, having an age of 25 years, not having an unsound mental state and not a bankrupt, can try to get elected and can be member of lower house. Prime Minister and his team work here. There is no educational qualification or any work experience required for being a member of lower house.

  But, lower house members frame legislations, discuss and propose new laws, discuss political issues and take decisions on behalf of nation. Most of these requires expertise, which is not mandatory for lower house members.

I believe that here comes the role of Rajyasabha, the Upper House. If we look at House of Lords, we find that there are about 780 members of the House of Lords and they're not currently voted for by the public. Sometimes people inherit their status as a Lord from their family. There are 92 of these hereditary peers currently in the House of Lords. Others are specially chosen by the prime minister because they are experts in their field to help people establish businesses. The prime minister recommends that someone be made a peer, and the Queen appoints them.

In our system also, Rajyasabha members are elected indirectly and have certain criteria for being members, also some experts and celebrities are nominated into it. Purpose is to fine tune the proposals from Loksabha or return them for reconsiderations if not suitable for legislation in the eyes of experts. The Rajyasabha was supposed to behave free from any political party line and for providing expert advises and guidelines to the Loksabha proposals. 

But if one has watched the political bickering going on in Parliament since last 10-15 years, one will have to agree that Rajyasabha has lost its role and purpose. Instead it has become a “Plan-B” house for political parties; what they fail to score in Loksabha, they try to get it in Rajyasabha. Rajyasabha has been completely politicised,it has lost its glory of being called upper house. Also, the politicians, who are rejected by people in direct voting of Loksabha elections, use the Rajyasabha as backdoor entry into Parliament. So, experts are being sidelines and politicians are getting into it to muddle the system.

Therefore, it is high time, this system of two house Parliamentary system be reviewed, revised and if necessary Rajysabha be scrapped.