India’s upper house (Rajya Sabha) brings gender parity, nominates 50 pc women members to Vice-Chairpersons’ panel

New Delhi : In a historic move, the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house in parliament, has brought gender parity with nominations of 50 per cent women members to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons.

The panel reconstituted before the Monsoon Session contains a total of eight names, out of which half are women. 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.

The announcements regarding the nominations of the four women Parliamentarians to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons were made by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday when the House assembled at 12 noon on day one of the Monsoon Session.

All the women members nominated to the panel are first-term Parliamentarians and S Phangnon Konyak became the first woman from Nagaland nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons. Konyak is also the first woman from Nagaland to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Padma Shri awardee and renowned athlete PT Usha along with S. Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan and Sulata Deo are among the women members nominated.

PT Usha was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July 2022. She is a member of the Committee on Defense, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Committee on Ethics.

S Phangnon Konyak belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is the first woman to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Nagaland in April 2022 and the second woman from the State to be elected to either the House of the Parliament or the state assembly. She is a member of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, the Committee on Empowerment of Women, the House Committee and Member, Governing Council of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong.

Fauzia Khan belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2020. She is a member of the Committee on Empowerment of Women, Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Sulata Deo belongs to Biju Janata Dal. She was elected to Rajya Sabha in July 2022. She is a member of the Committee on Industry, Committee on Empowerment of Women, Joint Committee on Office of Profit, Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Apart from these women members, V Vijayasai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray have also been nominated to the panel of Vice Chairpersons.