Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

1. The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha envisaged by the Article 80 of the Constitution            is  250 which is made up by-

•  12 members nominated by the President, and
•  238 representative of the States and of the Union Territories, and

2. The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the President.

3. The members nominated by the President are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.

Allocation of Seats: 

1. The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of seats to the States and Union Territories in Rajya Sabha.

2. The allocation of seats is made on the basis of the population of each State.

Representation of States: 

The representatives of each State in the Rajya Sabha shall be elected by the elected members fo the Legislative Assembly of the State in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Representation of Union Territory: The representative of the Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha shall be chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law prescribe.

Eligibility:

Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the following qualifications for membership of Parliament-

1.  he must be a citizen of India,
2.  he must be not less than 30 years of age, and
3.  he must possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament.

Other Important Information:

•  There are no seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Rajya Sabha.
•  The members of Rajya Sabha are elected for a term of 6 years and one-third of its members retire every 2 years.
•  Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha. He presides over the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha.
•  If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting declaring that it is necessary or expedient in the national interest to create one or more All India Services common to the Union and the States, Parliament becomes empowered to create by law such services.