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37. TABLE OFFICE

37.1. Main Responsibilities: The Table Office is primarily concerned with the day-to-day business of the House. The main subjects dealt with in the Section during the year 2012 were: -

1. Preparation of List of Business. 2. Laying of Papers on the Table of the House. 3. Statements by Ministers. 4. Parliamentary Bulletin Part-I. 5. Co-ordination work relating to issue of Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II. 6. Business Advisory Committee. 7. Preparation of daily Memorandum of Business for the Hon'ble Chairman, Hon'ble Deputy

Chairman, Secretary-General and other Officers at the Table. 8. Preparation of a Statement showing names of Office-bearers of various Parties/ Groups. 9. Statement showing Party-position in the Rajya Sabha. 10. Preparation of Alphabetical List of Members of the Rajya Sabha. 11. Allocation of seats to Members in the Chamber. 12. Oath/Affirmation by Members. 13. Divisions in the House. 14. Roll of Members. 15. Recognition of Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha 16. Election of Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha 17. Resignation by Members, vacation of seats and filling up of casual vacancies. 18. Obituary references. 19. References by the Chair on important national and international events. 20. Preparation and issue of the publication entitled “List of Members of Rajya Sabha”

showing, inter alia, permanent and Delhi Addresses and Telephone Numbers of the Members of Rajya Sabha.

21. Issue of Membership Certificate to the ex-Members to enable them to avail pension, CGHS facility, etc.

22. Biennial/Bye-elections/Nominations to the Rajya Sabha. 23. Issue of congratulatory letters to the newly elected/nominated Members. 24. Good wishes to retiring Members. 25. Announcements by the Chairman. 26. Reconstitution of Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Rajya Sabha. 27. Preparation and issue of the publication entitled “Resume' of the Business transacted by the

Rajya Sabha” after each of its Session. 28. Maintenance of Minutes Book of the Proceedings of the House. 29. Maintenance of Roll of Members and Member’s Index Cards. 30. Maintenance of the Register of Obituary References/References made in the House. 31. Maintenance of Register of Form-III and Form-IV of Members, as per Rule 4 and Rule 5

(1) of the Members of Rajya Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985. 32. Maintenance/updation of Precedents Register and updation of the Precedents

Management System on the Rajya Sabha Website. 33. Data feeding of Members/ex-Members’ information in MIS Software. 34. Preparation of Statements showing the "Statistical Information" and "Highlights of the

work - At a Glance" transacted during each Session. 35. Cases dealt with under the Right to Information Act, 2005. 36. Absence of Ministers during Session of Rajya Sabha 37. Updation of information related to Table Office on the Rajya Sabha Website. 38. Updation and compilation of the publication entitled “General Information for Members of

Rajya Sabha”. 39. Updation of the publication entitled ‘Disqualification of Members on Ground of Defection. 40. Paper Laid by Private Member.

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41. Review and Weeding out of old files/records. 42. All work related to conduct of Presidential Election, 2012. 43. Updation of information concerning Members of Rajya Sabha through “Officers/Section

Login” system. 37.2. Sessions of the Rajya Sabha: There were three Sessions of the Rajya Sabha during the year 2012 i.e., 225th, 226th and 227th Session. Details regarding duration, etc. of these are given below:— Session Date of

Commencement Date of termination

Total No. of Sittings

No. of days with late sittings

Actual hours of sitting (excluding lunch break)

Hrs. Mts. Days Hrs. Mts.

225th 12.03.2012 22.05.2012 35 16 29 — 39 164 — 12

226th 08.08.2012 07.09.2012 19 17 02 — 00 26 — 40

227th 22.11.2012 20.12.2012 20 14 07 — 16 57 — 34

37.3. Obituary References: 31 Obituary References (8 in 225th, 11 in 226th and 12 in 227th Session) in respect of the sitting/ex-Members of Rajya Sabha and important national personalities were prepared and made in the House. 37.4. References by the Chairman: 27 References (9 each in 225th, 226th and 227th Session) on different subjects were prepared and made in the House.

37.5. Retirement of Members: In accordance with the provisions of clause (1) of article 83 of the Constitution, 68 Members (Andhra Pradesh-6, Bihar–6 and Chhattisgarh-1, Gujarat-4, Haryana-1, Himachal Pradesh-1, Jharkhand-2, Karnataka-4, Kerala-3, Madhya Pradesh-5, Maharashtra-6, Odisha-3, Rajasthan-3, Sikkim-1, Uttar Pradesh-10, Uttarakhand-1, West Bengal-5, NCT of Delhi-3, Nominated-3) of the Rajya Sabha retired on the completion of their term of office during the year 2012. A Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II showing the names of Members of Rajya Sabha retiring on the expiration of their term of office during the year was issued on the 2nd January, 2012 for information of Members. 37.6. Biennial Elections to the Rajya Sabha: The Notifications issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department) in connection with the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and programme of elections received from the Election Commission of India were reproduced in Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II for information of Members. In the biennial elections held during the year 2012, 65 Members from the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi were elected/re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. 3 new Members namely, Shri Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Ms. Rekha and Ms. Anu Aga were also nominated to the Rajya Sabha. All these Members made and subscribed oath/affirmation and entries relating to elections/nomination of these Members were made in the Register. 37.7. Bye-elections to the Rajya Sabha: 2 Members namely, Shri Alok Tiwari and Shri Arvind Kumar (Uttar Pradersh) were elected to the Rajya Sabha in the bye-elections held to fill the casual vacancies. 2 Members, namely Prof. Mrinal Miri and Shri K. Parasaran were also nominated to the Rajya Sabha to fill up the casual vacancies in the Nominated category. All these Members made and subscribed oath/affirmation and entries relating to elections/nomination of these Members were made in the Register. 37.8. Congratulations to newly elected/nominated Members: Congratulatory letters were issued to all newly elected/re-elected/nominated Members, after receiving their declaration of results

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from the Returning Officers concerned and receipt of notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs in regard to nominated Members.

37.9. Vacation of Seats:

1. Death: Two seats became vacant due to the demise of Members, namely, Shri B. B. Tiwari (Uttar Pradesh) and Shri Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh (Maharashtra). Entries relating thereto were made in the register. A copy each of the Notifications were also sent to the Election Commission of India for necessary action.

2. Resignation: Three seats became vacant due to resignation by Members, namely, Shri

Rasheed Masood (Uttar Pradesh), Shri Naresh Chandra Agrawal (Uttar Pradesh) and Shri Kalraj Mishra (Uttar Pradesh). The necessary entries relating to their resignations were made in the register. A copy each of the Notifications were also sent to the Election Commission of India for necessary action.

37.10. Recognition of Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha : Consequent upon re-election of Shri Arun Jaitley to the Rajya Sabha on the 3rd April, 2012, Shri L. K. Advani, Chairman, BJP Parliamentary Party intimated to the Chairman, Rajya Sabha that Shri Jaitley will continue as Leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party in Rajya Sabha. Accordingly, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha accorded recognition to Shri Arun Jaitley, Member and Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha w.e.f. the 3rd April, 2012, in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977. The announcement regarding recognition of Shri Jaitley as Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha was made by the Hon’ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on 24th April, 2012. 37.11. Election of Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha: The Office of the Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha remained vacant after the expiration of the term of Office of Shri K. Rahman Khan w.e.f. 2nd April, 2012 and election could not be held during the 2nd part of the Budget (225th) Session. The election of Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha was held on 21st August, 2012 during the 226th Session. In all, 10 notices of motions for election to the Office of Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha were received in favour of Prof. P. J. Kurien, Member, Rajya Sabha, of which 3 were found invalid. Of the 7 valid notices of Motions, 6 were moved at the time of election in the Rajya Sabha.

The first Motion moved by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister and Leader of the House and seconded by Shri Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition for the election of Prof. P. J. Kurien as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, was put to the House and the Motion was adopted. The Chairman declared that Prof. P J. Kurien has been chosen as the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. 37.12. Panel of Vice-Chairmen: The Chairman, Rajya Sabha nominated/re-nominated the following Members on the Panel of Vice-Chairmen:-

19th April, 2012 & 17th July, 2012

1. Prof. P. J. Kurien 2. Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan 3. Shri Shanta Kumar 4. Shri Prasanta Chatterjee 5. Shri Tariq Anwar 6. Dr. Mahendra Prasad

9th November, 2012

1. Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan 2. Shri Shanta Kumar 3. Shri Prasanta Chatterjee 4. Dr. Mahendra Prasad

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5. Smt. Renuka Chowdhury 6. Shri Tiruchi Siva

The announcements regarding nomination/re-nomination of the Members on the Panel of

Vice-Chairmen was made by the Chairman on 24th April, 2012 and by the Deputy Chairman on the 8th August, 2012 & 22nd November, 2012 in the Rajya Sabha respectively. 37.13. List of Business: 215 Lists of Business, Papers to be Laid on the Table etc. as detailed below were issued in connection with the Sessions of the Rajya Sabha during the year:-

Session Papers to be Laid on the Table

Main List of Business

Revised List of Business

Supplementary List of Business

225th 31 36 27 08 226th 18 20 15 04 227th 17 20 15 04

The final CRC versions of Lists of Business and Lists of Papers to be Laid on the Table

are now placed directly on internet by the Section itself w.e.f. 212th Session of Rajya Sabha. The CRC version of the List of Business and Lists of Papers to be Laid on the Table are also sent to the Government Press electronically through e-mail along with hard copy of the final CRCs. 37.14. Meetings of the Business Advisory Committee: 13 meetings of the Business Advisory Committee (8 in 225th, 2 in 226th and 3 in 227th Session) were held to allocate time for Government Legislative and other Business. The House was informed by the Presiding Officers about the allocation of time recommended by the Committee. Minutes of the meetings of the Business Advisory Committee were prepared, got approved and circulated. 37.15. Papers Laid on the Table: 4551 papers were laid on the Table of the House during the year (2051 in 225th, 981 in 226th and 1519 in 227th Session). All these papers except Notifications were received and processed by this Section. 37.16. Paper Laid by Private Member: Shri N. K. Singh, Member was permitted by the Chairman to lay a copy of the Report of the Steering Committee of the Planning Commission on FDI. A Bulletin Part-II in this regard was issued on the 19th December, 2012. 37.17. Statements by Ministers: 102 Statements (46 in 225th, 24 in 226th and 32 in 227th Session) including Statements regarding Government Business were made/laid in the House by Ministers during the year 2012. 37.18. Memorandum of Business: Memorandum of Business were prepared for 74 sittings (35 in 225th, 19 in 226th and 20 in 227th Session) for use of Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary-General and other Officers at the Table. 37.19. Cases under the Right to Information Act, 2005: During the year under review, 45 applications from various persons were received from the RTI Cell. The replies to the queries raised by the applicants were prepared and sent to the CPIO, well in time, for onward transmission to the concerned person. 37.20. Statements showing the "Statistical Information" and "Highlights of the work - At a Glance" : Statements showing the "Statistical Information" and "Highlights of the work" transacted during each Session were prepared for making valedictory remarks by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha before concluding each Session of the Rajya Sabha. The approved copy each of these Statements were circulated to the Members of Rajya Sabha and also provided to Media Education and Audio

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Visual Unit for distribution to the Press and Media persons. The statements were also uploaded on the Website. 37.21. Membership Certificate: 34 Membership Certificates were issued in favour of Ex-Members of the Rajya Sabha to enable them to avail pension and CGHS facilities, etc. 37.22. Parliamentary Bulletins: Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Bulletin Part-I Nos. 4965 to 5038 containing brief record of proceedings of the meetings of the Rajya Sabha held during the year under review, were prepared, got approved, printed and issued. Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II Nos. 49193 to 50464 were also got printed and issued during the year.

The final CRC version of Parliamentary Bulletin (Part-I) is now placed directly on the

Internet by the Section itself w.e.f. 212th Session of Rajya Sabha (November-December, 2007). The CRC version of Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II is also placed on Internet directly w.e.f. 193rd Session of the Rajya Sabha (July-August, 2001). The CRC version of Parliamentary Bulletins (Part-I and Part-II) is also sent to the Government Press electronically through e-mail along with hard copy of the final CRCs. 37.23. Division: During the year under review, fourteen divisions (2 in 225th Session, and 12 in 227th Session) were held in the Rajya Sabha. 37.24. Absence of Ministers during Session of Rajya Sabha : Statement showing the Minister-wise details of requests received for deputing some other Minister to attend to the business of the concerned Minister during his/her absence from the House during each Session of Rajya Sabha held in the year 2012 was prepared for information and record. 37.25. Resume of the Business Transacted by the Rajya Sabha: Resume of the Business transacted by the Rajya Sabha during the 225th and 226th Sessions were prepared, got printed and circulated amongst the Members of the Rajya Sabha, State Legislatures and Officers and Sections of the Secretariat. The final CRC versions of the Resume were also uploaded on the Website. The manuscript of the publication for the 227th Session is currently under preparation. After approval, the final CRC manuscript of the publication would be forwarded to Printing Section-I for printing. 37.26. List of Members: During the year under review, after the completion of the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha, a working copy of the publication entitled “List of Members, Rajya Sabha” (August 1, 2012 edition) showing permanent and Delhi addresses and telephone numbers, etc. of Members was prepared, got printed and circulated to all Members of the Rajya Sabha and Officers and Sections of the Secretariat. Keeping in view the recommendations of the Committee on Reduction in use of paper in functioning of the Sections/Branches of the Secretariat made on the 13th May, 2011 and the availability of the information on the website, the printing of the publication was limited to once in a year from the existing practice of twice a year. 37.27. General Information for Members of Rajya Sabha: The booklet entitled “General Information for Members of Rajya Sabha” last brought out by the Section in March, 2010 was updated with the help of inputs from concerned sections in January, 2012 and the printed version of the booklet was circulated to the newly elected/nominated Members of Rajya Sabha. 37.28. Other Lists: During the year, following Lists were prepared as indicated against each:-

Party-Position in the Rajya Sabha — 24 Alphabetical List of Members — 06 Division List — 04 Attendance Register — 04

The Section also prepared Seating Arrangement Charts for use of Hon’ble Chairman, Secretary-General and others, prior to commencement of each Session.

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37.29. Maintenance and updation of Precedents Register and updation of Precedents Management System: As usual, precedent entries are initially recorded manually in the Precedents Register. Thereafter, all the entries recorded manually in the precedents register were entered into the software. The system is available on the website of Rajya Sabha with restricted access.

37.30. Review and Weeding out of old files/records : The old files pertaining to the year 2004 were reviewed and the files having no retention value, were weeded out after approval. 37.31. Election to the Office of the President of India: During the year, the Presidential Election, 2012 was conducted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and Table Office functioned as Presidential Election Cell. The then Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha (Dr. V. K. Agnihotri) was appointed as the Returning Officer and Shri S. K. Ganguli, Joint Secretary and Shri Deepak Goyal, Joint Secretary were appointed as the Assistant Returning Officers by the Election Commission of India on the 14th June, 2012. Besides assisting the Returning Officer and the Assistant Returning Officers for the Election, as and when required, this Section made necessary arrangements for printing (in English and Hindi) of Nomination Papers, Booklet on Presidential election, Instructions for Polling and Counting Officers; and Publication of Public Notice, List of Contesting Candidates and Declaration of Result etc. in the Gazette of India and the Gazettes of the State Governments and Union Territories with Legislature.

In all, 400 Nomination Papers were supplied to 160 persons, personally and by post. 106 Nomination Papers filed by 86 candidates were received, processed and scrutinized in the Cell. Out of these, 33 Nomination Papers were rejected out-right and the remaining 73 were taken up for scrutiny. This section had made the necessary arrangements for the scrutiny of nomination papers, which was held this time on 2 days, i.e. 2nd and 3rd July, 2012. Out of these 73, only 8 Nomination Papers, four sets each of Shri Purno Agitok Sangma and Shri Pranab Mukherjee were accepted by the Returning Officer. As neither of the two candidates withdrew their candidature on the last date for withdrawal, the stage was set for a one-to-one contest. Elaborate arrangements for the polling, fixed for the 19th July, 2012 at Parliament House, were made. There were 4896 electors (776 MPs & 4120 MLAs) for the election. Out of these, 4659 (748 MPs & 3911 MLAs) electors cast their vote. All arrangements for receiving the Polled Ballot Boxes from States/Union Territory of Puducherry and setting up the counting venue and for ensuring smooth and meticulous counting and prompt tallying of final results were done. Shri Pranab Mukherjee, who got 3095 (527 MPs & 2568 MLAs) votes valued at 7,13,763, was declared elected as the 14th President of India on the 22nd July, 2012. After the counting of votes and declaration of result, the polled ballot papers, ballot boxes and other relevant documents were handed over to the Election Commission of India for record. The Cell had throughout the course of the election, maintained a dedicated web-page with the help of NIC wherein all requisite information pertaining to the election were promptly uploaded and updated. Preparation of Press Releases by the Returning Officer during the election was also undertaken by the Cell.

37.32. Updation of information concerning Members of Rajya Sabha through “Officers/Section Login” system : Information regarding permanent/local address and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. of Members received on-line through new software “Officers/Section Login” was updated regularly. 37.33. SMS Utility : The new software introduced by NIC was utilized by the Section for sending SMS alert to Members regarding meetings of the Business Advisory Committee. 37.34. Status of Computerization: Table Office has been fully computerized and working efficiently since 1998. This Section has been preparing camera-ready copies of List of Business, List of Papers to be Laid on the Table, Parliamentary Bulletins (Part-I and Part-II) and Resume of the Business transacted during each Session. The CRC version of List of Business, List of Papers to be Laid on the Table and Parliamentary Bulletins are sent to Translation Section and the

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Government Press through e-mail. Lists of Business, Lists of Papers to be Laid on the Table and Parliamentary Bulletins (Part-I and Part-II) are also uploaded directly on the Internet.

37.35. Updation of Rajya Sabha Website: This Section is responsible for updation of the following information on the Rajya Sabha Website:- 1. Lists of Business

2. Parliamentary Bulletin Part -I 3. Parliamentary Bulletin Part – II 4. Papers to be Laid on the Table 5. Publication entitled “Resume” of the business transacted during each Session of

the Rajya Sabha 6. List of sitting Members showing their names, party-affiliation, State, Addresses,

telephone numbers, Division Number etc. through Members’ Information System (MIS).

7. Party-position in the Rajya Sabha. 8. Presiding Officers of Rajya Sabha 9. General Information for Members 10. Disqualification of Members on Ground of Defection 11. Valedictory Address and Statistical Information 12. Precedents Management System

37.36. Goals and Analysis: The basic nature of the work allotted to this Section pertains to day-to-day business of the House. In view of this, it is difficult to set goals in physical terms for the Section because most of the work assigned depends on many external factors, which are beyond the control of the Section. However, it has always been the endeavour of the Section to discharge all its responsibilities promptly and efficiently. With total computerization and coordinated efforts of the Section, this was achieved quite successfully. 37.37. Inspection Report: The inspection of the Section for the year 2011 was done by Shri Pradeep Chaturvedi, the then Joint Director, on the 10th February, 2012. The inspection of the work transacted in Hindi in the Section was also done by Shri Prem Kumar, Assistant Director (E&T) on the 7th March, 2012. 37.38. Training: During the year, the following Officials of the Section attended various training programmes organised by the Training Unit as detailed below:-

Sr. No. Name and Designation Programme

1. Ms. Chitra G., Assistant Director

Direct Trainer’s Skills (DTS) at ISTM, New Delhi.

2. Shri Ravish Kumar,

Junior Clerk

Parliament Practice & Procedures Office Procedure

Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil the outgoing President, Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari the Hon’ble Vice President and Chairman Rajya Sabha, Smt. Meira Kumar the Hon’ble Speaker with Shri Pranab Mukharjee the 13th President of India.

Hon’ble Chairman Rajya Sabha Inaugurating the Orientation Programme for Newly Elected Members of Rajya Sabha