Are We Sending Right People to Parliament?

  With recent decision by the government to recommend India's shining star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and veteran Bollywood actress Rekha for nomination as member of Rajya Sabha, age old question is unearthed: Are we sending right people to parliament?

  Going by Article 80:

  The members to be nominated by the President under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall consist of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following, namely:- Literature, science, art and social service.

                                   - Article 80, Clause(3), Constitution of India.

No mention of sport superficially raises questions on Sachin's qualification for the same. Well, arguments are floating around that sports too is an art and Sachin is the most artistic and talented sportsman, bringing joy to millions of fans in India and worldwide (doing Social service? No wonder one sees such argument by the ruling party..:)). It may seem satisfactory to some for his qualification! but the most plausible argument given by the government is:

“By nominating them to Rajya Sabha, the state not only recognizes their merit and confers honor on them, but also enables them to enrich the debates by their expertise and knowledge that they have in different areas.” 

                                                     - Recognized News Daily.

  Above statement raises many concerns again for India's political future. Membership in Rajya Sabha is primarily a huge responsibility and demands dedicated commitment. Honour comes secondary to the responsibilities vested. Undoubtedly Sachin qualifies for any such honor but does he qualify for the responsibilities. Will players or Bollywood stars be able to manage the load of responsibilities associated with it? Moreover Constitution provides numerous elite awards to honor distinguished people. Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan etc. Sachin is well experienced sportsman and inspired many in his career but he is still a newbie for political processes.

  

  A Membership in Rajya sabha entrusts powers, privileges and immunities available to an elected member of Parliament but does he have the acumen to channelize the powers for the people's welfare or will it just lie slumber as another feather in his cap. A person who entered the world of cricket in just 16 years of age and since then hardly had time to come out of the flashing ecosystem of sports will find real hard time in politics. Chances are high to use such precious membership as a trophy which will be displayed and held once and will serve as embellishment further. 

  

  Moreover Sachin is still active in cricket! Will he be able to devote sufficient time to parliamentary proceedings? If he does, will he not suffer in his game? I believe this anachronistic decision of his nomination is premature. He should at least be given time to end his career gracefully without any diversions. In the aftermath of his retirement he can roll up his sleeves for  political innings of his life with same dedication and attitude. 

  As a matter of fact we are still young Third World Nation where we need to send more constructive thinkers in the parliament. Such opportunities should be given to people having rich experiences in such fields which can really be utilized in policy making process of our parliament. This opportunity to enable a person to serve the nation constructively has been wasted numerous times before. Many Bollywood stars appeared once or twice in the upper house and never showed up again in 6 years of their tenure. Surprisingly on numerous occasions upper house of parliament has been used by the government as backdoor to the parliament. Defeated candidates of the ruling party were then given a seat in Rajya Sabha and were thus kept  active in the government. 

 Beyond the question of honoring a sportsman or Bollywood stars what concerns us are: 

- Is the government looking for new faces to hide their own besmeared faces behind, piggyback these distinguished people for their scams?

-  Is the government flashing the mob with such news to divert attention from the core issues?

-  Why not award Bharat Ratna to Sachin when a strong consensus is built around it and leave the membership to people whose voices we really need to be heard on the floor of parliament. Certainly people like Prof. Amratya Sen, Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev, Retired Army Generals, Distinguished journalists who has got amazing experiences in the most relevant  matters, can contribute a lot more.

-  Last but not the least, Do governments these days have malicious plans of  luring famous people only to serve the party as vote cows, to project party's image by using their fame and respect.  

   Sachin rules our hearts with his cricketing prowess and will continue in many years to come. A gentleman, dedicated and intelligent player and above all a great inspiration to younger generation, Tendulkar may be used to the roaring sound of spectators in packed stadium, but even that might not be enough to prepare him for the noise of Parliament, where he could be heading if Congress has its way.  


  Sachin has served the nation a lot and lifted the dignity of the game itself and the country. Congress has welcomed Sachin to join the party. Whether choice of heading to parliament is a judicious one or not, time will tell, but he needs to be cautious of  any hidden agenda of the experts who may eat up his hard earned success and dignity, cautious of end up being vote cow for Congress. Fingers crossed!!

                                                                       -  Saurabh
"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people."