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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Poor attendance record of most celebrities in Rajya Sabha-Vishwa Mohan

Poor attendance record of most celebrities in Rajya Sabha-Vishwa Mohan

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published Published on Apr 30, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 30, 2012

Celebrities readily accept government's offer to enter Rajya Sabha as 'nominated' members. But when it comes to attending House proceedings, they - barring a couple of them - prefer to keep themselves away from the very process which shapes country's fate.

Poor attendance records of the celebrities including filmmakers, actors and singers during Parliamentary sessions present a grim picture of the practice of nominating those who are 'active' in their respective professional fields.

However, this is not a norm for each and every celebrity who entered the Upper House in the last sixty years. There are individuals among them who attended the House as regularly as the active politicians or scientists or those from social service fields, but they hardly participated in any major debate or raised issues.

Records from the Rajya Sabha show that except film actress Shabana Azami who has highest attendance among celebrities, none of them could make the Rajya Sabha a platform to raise issues of public interest. Singer Lata Mangeshkar and painter M F Husain, on the other hand, had the worst record of not only attending the House but also in participating in a debate or raising any issue.

Fifteen out of 118 members 'nominated' to the Rajya Sabha since 1952 were from different 'arts' fields. It included Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Vajayantimala Bali, Nargis Dutt, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Hema Malini.

Analysis of the attendance records of these members during six consecutive Sessions of their tenure shows Lata Mangeskar who was the Rajya Sabha MP from November 22, 1999 to November 21, 2005 had attended only six out of over 170 sittings 2000-01.

Filmmaker Mrinal Sen had more or less similar records when he had attended 30 out of 170 sittings of Upper House during the same period as compared to 113 by Shabana Azami. Similarly Hema Malini and wrestler DarA Singh who also acted in film and tele-serials too had poor records of attending House proceedings.

Hema Malini who was nominated to the House as MP in August, 2003 had attended only 50 out of 127 sittings during 2004-05 as against Dara Singh who attended 76 sittings during the same period. Though their numbers were higher than Lata, Husain or Mrinal Sen, their record was still quite poor as compared to active politicians, academicians, writers or retired civil servants who joined the Upper House.

The reason for their absence may vary from person to person, but it has put the debate back on the table after the government on Thursday nominated film actress Rekha and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for the Rajya Sabha. Since Sachin is still an active cricketer, it is to be seen whether he would be absent from the Rajya Sabha like most of celebrities or he would rather mark for himself in Parliament, like he has on the cricketing field.

The Times of India, 30 April, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Poor-attendance-record-of-most-celebrities-in-Rajya-Sabha/articleshow/12932803.cms


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