New Delhi, 21 September: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday took a historic step and constituted an all-women panel of Deputy Chairpersons in the Upper House. Amid the ongoing discussion on ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act 2023’ in the House, 13 women members were nominated to the panel for Thursday.
In the absence of the Chairman or Deputy Chairman, the nominated member is eligible to preside over the House. The Vice President of the country is the Chairman of the Upper House while the Deputy Chairman is selected or elected.
Presently Harivansh Narayan Singh is the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. In the absence of these two, the nominated members of the House are made to sit on the chair.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar nominated only women for the ongoing discussion on ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act 2023’ on Thursday.
In doing so, Dhankhar said that the presence of women members on the floor of the House would send a powerful message to the world and would symbolize that they were in a ‘commanding position’ during this watershed moment of change.
Among the women Rajya Sabha members nominated in the Deputy Chairman’s panel are P.T. Usha, S. Phangnon Konyak, Jaya Bachchan, Saroj Pandey, Rajni Ashokrao Patil, Dr. Fauzia Khan, Dola Sen, Indu Bala Goswami, Dr. Kanimozhi NVN Somu, Kavita Patidar, Mahua Maji, Dr. Kalpana Saini and Sulta Dev have been included.
All these women will sit on the top seat of the Upper House one by one during the proceedings of the House on Thursday and will moderate the discussion in the House.
