Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha are the worst performers in attendance in the Rajya Sabha among the 12 nominated members, according to an analysis by Factly.in, a data journalism portal.
While Tendulkar has attended 23 of the 348 days since his nomination in 2012, Rekha has attended 18. Further, Rekha has not attended more than a single day in any session since her nomination in 2012.
While the actress attended the least number of days compared to those who were nominated along with her, the expenditure incurred on her is the highest till date: Rs6.5mn as salary and expenses. Expenditure incurred on Tendulkar is Rs5.88mn, according to Rajya Sabha data.
This translates to an expenditure of Rs360,000 per day incurred on Rekha and Rs256,000 on Tendulkar.
The difference in the expenditure is only because of the allowances, since all other components are fixed for every member. If a particular MP attended the house more often than others and has travelled more extensively than others, the expenditure incurred on him/her would be high. In Rekha’s case, it is the opposite.
Each MP is entitled to the following: Salary (Rs50,000 per month); constituency allowance (Rs45,000 per month); office expense allowance (Rs15,000 per month); travel and daily allowance (variable).
There are 12 nominated members in the upper house of parliament. While two other MPs were nominated in 2012 along with Tendulkar and Rekha, one was nominated in 2014 and the remaining seven were nominated in 2016. Four of the nominated members joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and are counted as BJP members in the house. A member can join a political party within the first six months of being nominated, according to the rules.
Apart from Tendulkar and Rekha, the nominated Rajya Sabha MPs are: industrialist Anu Aga; lawyers K Parasaran and K T S Tulsi; social worker Sambhaji Chhatrapati; journalist Swapan Das Gupta; actress Roopa Ganguly; economist Narendra Jadhav; sportsperson M C Mary Kom; actor Suresh Gopi and politician Subramanian Swamy.
These members are nominated by the president based on the advice of the government of the day. Article 80(3) of the Constitution authorises the president to nominate a maximum of 12 members to the Rajya Sabha.
Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal had raised the issue of Tendulkar and Rekha’s attendance, lamenting that they hardly attend the house.
Rekha has not asked a single question in her nearly five years in the Rajya Sabha. Tendulkar fared better by asking 22 questions. Industrialist Anu Aga, who was nominated along with Tendulkar and Rekha, has also not asked a single question till date. Lawyer Tulsi has asked the most questions among the nominated members.