Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: BJD’s Rajya Sabha member Sulata Deo is among the four women Parliamentarians nominated by Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar, to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons on Thursday.
The other three are PT Usha, a Padma awardee and noted athlete, who was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July 2022; S Phangnon Konyak of BJP who elected as Member of Rajya Sabha from Nagaland in April 2022; and Dr Fauzia Khan of Nationalist Congress Party who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2020.
Notably, all women MPs nominated to the panel are first term Parliamentarians and Smt. S. Phangnon Konyak is the first ever woman from Nagaland to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Smt. Sulata Deo of Biju Janata Dal, was elected to Rajya Sabha in July, 2022. She is a member of 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.
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.
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 following are the details of the other women Members nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons.
Smt. P.T. Usha: She is a Padma Shri awardee and a renowned athlete. She was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July, 2022. She is a Member of the Committee on Defense, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Committee on Ethics.
Smt. S. Phangnon Konyak: She 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. She is a member of Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Committee on Empowerment of Women, House Committee and Member, Governing Council of the North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong.
Dr. Fauzia Khan: She belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April, 2020. She is a member of Committee on Empowerment of Women, Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Apart from the aforementioned women members, Shri V Vijayasai Reddy, Shri Ghanshyam Tiwari, Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah and Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray have also been nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons.
