VinayThusoo
Poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, Rajya Sabha member, remarked, “Membership is not a trophy that Sachin Tendulkar took it and went. He has a responsibility and should come.”Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha the ‘nominated’ celebrity MPs have not matched up to the other nominated members who came from professions like academics, civil services, journalism, legal service or science.”As per Article 104 of the Constitution, if a member is absent from either House of Parliament for a period of 60 days then the seat is considered vacant. In case of Sachin Tendulkar, he has not attended the Parliament for 40 days whereas Rekha’s absence is less than this,” . Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said, ” Tendulkar was nominated to the Upper House in April 2012 and has attended the session for three days. “Last time he had come to the House on December 13, 2013 and about Rekha, he said , “she had joined in April 2012 and has attended the session for seven days. “Last time she attended the House was on February 19, 2014.However, Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari said that Sachin had been absent only for 40 days, and Rekha, less than that. “No violation of the Constitution has occurred,” The Constitution provides that if for a period of sixty days a member of either House of Parliament is without permission of the House absent from all meetings thereof, the House may declare his seat vacant.The period of sixty days referred to in the Constitution means a single unbroken period of sixty days and for invoking the provision of the Constitution,the absence has to be continuous. The period of absence is calculated from the day a member is absent from the sitting of the House till the day he next attends, whether in the same or subsequent session(s). In view of the specific provision that has been made in the Constitution, ithas become necessary to maintain a Register of Attendance of Members. Such a Register is maintained by the Secretariat to enable members to record their attendance. Before entering the House, a member has to record his presenceby signing the Register every day. For the convenience of members theAttendance Register is split into four parts containing the following Division Numbers, namely: (1) Division Nos. 1 to 61, (2) Division Nos. 62 to 127,(3) Division Nos. 128 to 195 and (4) Division Nos. 196 to 250. Each part is kept on a separate rostrum in the Lobby of the House. Members are informed of this arrangement through a paragraph in the Bulletin issued at the commencement of every session. The Register remains on the rostrum throughout the sitting of the House. When a member informs in writing that he forgot to sign the Attendance Register on any particular day although he was present in the House, his statement in original is tagged with the corresponding attendance sheet without marking his presence in the Register. This gives a complete record of the attendance of members and helps compute the period of continuous absence of members.The Attendance Register which was originally introduced as an informal and convenient arrangement for marking attendance of members is now a statutory requirement with effect from 9 June 1993. A new proviso law also provides that no member shall be entitled to the daily allowance unless he signs the register. A member wishing to obtain permission of the House for remaining absent is required to make an application in writing stating the period of absence and must specifically ask for leave. It is the practice that the period for which leave of absence is required by a member must not exceed sixty days in view of the constitutional provision. Leave may be sought on a variety of grounds including illness of self; illness, accident, mishap, death, marriage in the family; important or urgent work; or domestic emergency.Refutting media debates on his absence from Parliament”Sachin Tendulkar said that his absence from Parliament has been discussed too much and he doesn’t mean to disrespect any institution.He said that his absence in Parliament is due to a family emergency. What have we heard from Rekha or Sachin apart from comments on their films/matches? Very few of us know the Rajya Sabha members, since they are not elected directly by the citizens as Lok Sabha MPs are. As for the argument that is a way of honouring people who have excelled in their fields but not at our expense. There are awards to commemorate and what-not for that purpose.Film stars, and maybe now cricketers, are nominated in the hope that they will make the public warm to the party that proposed them, because political parties know that public at large is yet to make difference between reel and real heroes. If all we want in Parliament people who may make contribution let’s get rid of this nomination business, since it may help political parties, but not the people.May be twelve nominated members cannot do much harm if they are a set of well-intentioned folk. But if they are public-spirited persons of some intelligence, they could be influential.Unlike Shabana Azmi, Rekha has never lent her name to a cause. Everyone wants to be in Parliament because it has become the most exclusive Diners Club in India.” So exclusive that unless you are related to some important political leader you will find it hard to get entry to the Lok Sabha and so exclusive that unless you come with a huge cachet of celebrity you will not get entry to the RajyaSabha. The cost the country pays for this new political trend is incalculable. We need to dwell on this row for a while and ask ourselves why more serious things rarely cause an uproar in Parliament.
( The author is serving as Public Relations Officer with Jammu University . The views expressed in this article are his own.)
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