The Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The salary of the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is Rs 1, 25,000/- per month. The Deputy Chairman of this House is elected by its members. He or she performs the duties of the Chairman when the office of the Chairman is vacant or when the Vice-President is acting as the President.

When the offices of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman remain vacant at the same time, the President may appoint a member of the Rajya Sabha to discharge the duties of the Chairman, until another Deputy Chairman is elected.

The Chairman prepares a panel of members of the House for the purpose of presiding over its meetings when both the Chairman and Deputy Chairman are absent from their chambers. If the house is discussing a resolution for the removal of either the Vice- President or the Deputy Chairman, he is forbidden to preside over the meeting at that time.

The Vice-President, though the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is not its member. So he is not allowed to take part in voting with one exception. Only when there is a tie, he can cast his vote.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The position of the Vice-President, as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, is one of esteem and dignity. He is comparable to the Lok Sabha Speaker in respect of powers. His powers, as the presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha, include admitting members to the floor, deciding points of order, maintaining order and discipline in the House, deciding issues and announcing results.

Salary and Pension of MPs:

An MP (of either House) draws Rs. 16,000/- as his monthly salary and he is entitled! get Rs. 1,000/- as his daily allowance when the Parliament is in session.

If an MP has been a member of either House at least for nine months, then he entitled to get pension. Rs.3000/- which has been fixed as the minimum monthly pension an MP. His pension will go up in proportion to the number of years he serves as an MP.