On Thursday, the Upper House bid farewell to 72 members who are retiring between March and July this year.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP GVL Narasimha Rao on Friday floated the idea of an alumni organisation for retired parliamentarians so that they can actively participate in nation-building activities in a pro bono manner.
“One-third of members of the august House retire every two years… Why don’t we have a very powerful alumni association Sir (Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh)?” Rao asked in the Rajya Sabha.
“I would like to strongly urge the government to take such an initiative and I would request all the members to support such an effort because it will give us an umbilical connection to the House of Parliament and will enable us to contribute in a channelized way,” he added.
Mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rao said that since the onset of the 75th year of Independence, he has been pushing for citizens to be involved in nation-building activities, which is something that former MPs can also be involved in. As per Rao’s proposal, the alumni association will be created at no cost to the exchequer. He added that the retired MPs have “rich parliamentary experience, subject knowledge and the experience of working with communities” which can be utilized even after they leave the House.
On Thursday, the Upper House bid farewell to 72 members who are retiring between March and July this year. Some of the senior politicians who are retiring this year include– Leader of House Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel amongst others. Many of the retiring members are expected to return to the house after fresh elections.
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