In a historic move, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday reconstituted the panel of vice chairpersons of the Parliament's Upper House with half of them being women.
The House members are informed that the panel of vice chairpersons has been reconstituted with effect from July 17, 2023, he said.
Among the Rajya Sabha members who are the new vice-chairpersons are PT Usha, S Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan, Sulata Deo, V Vijaysai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.
"Members will be happy to note that 50 per cent of vice-chairpersons happen to be women," the chairman said.
Incidentally, all the women members nominated to the panel are first term parliamentarians and Konyak is the first ever woman from Nagaland to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
"This is the first time in the history of the Upper House that equal representation has been given to women members in the panel of Vice Chairpersons," an official statement from the vice president's office said.
As per Rajya Sabha rules, "The chairman shall, from time to time, nominate from amongst the members of the Council a panel of not more than six vice chairmen, one of whom may preside over the Council in the absence of the chairman and the deputy chairman when so requested by the chairman, or in his absence, by the deputy chairman."
A vice-chairperson nominated under sub-rule (1) shall hold office until a new panel of vice-chairperson is nominated, the rules say.
Usha, a Padma Shri awardee and a renowned athlete, was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July, 2022.
Konyak belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
She is the first woman to be elected as Member of Rajya Sabha from Nagaland in April, 2022 and the second woman from the state to be elected to either House of the Parliament or the state assembly.
Fauzia Khan, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April, 2020, while Sulata Deo from Biju Janata Dal was elected to the Upper House in July, 2022.
In another notable development, the Rajya Sabha Chair has become fully digital.
The Rajya Sabha Chair will be using electronic tablets for matters related to the conduct of business in the House, attendance in the House, details of members speaking and other relevant information, the statement said.
Soon after the Rajya Sabha met after an hour's adjournment, the chairman greeted the House members on their birthdays, wishing Rajmani Patel of the Congress, and Laxmikant Bajpayee and Sangeeta Yadav, both of the BJP.
"On my own and your behalf I wish them a long, healthy and happy life and be ever in the service of the nation," he said.
Dhankhar also said that he has received a letter dated April 11, 2023, from Luizinho Faleiro, a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, resigning from his seat, which he has accepted.
"I have accepted his resignation with effect from April 11, 2023," the chairman informed the House.
