India

Council of States

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name: Sansad (Parliament)
Chamber name: Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
Structure & status of parliament: Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years): 6

Notes: One-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years at various dates
Frequency of renewal (years): 2

IPU membership

Affiliation periods: from 1949
IPU Geopolitical Group/s: Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title: Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
Speaker: Jagdeep Dhankar (Male)
Date of birth: 18 May 1951
Term: 11 Aug 2022
Additional information: The Vice-President of the Republic

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title: Secretary General
Secretary General: Pramod Chandra Mody (Male)
Term: 12 Nov 2021
Notes: Appointed on 12 Nov. 2021.

Members

Statutory number of members: 245

Notes:
Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories.

Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
Principal mode of designation of members: Indirectly elected
Indirectly elected members: 233
Appointed members: 12
Current number of members: 234
Men: 195
Women: 39
Percentage of women: 16.7%
Statutory number of members per country: 790
Population (in thousands): 1,438,070
Inhabitants per parliamentarian: 1,820,342

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members: 61.0

(2024-01 - 2024-06)

Youngest member: Raghav Chadha (Male)
Youngest member (years): 35

Oldest member: H.D. Devegowda (Male)
Oldest member (years): 91

Number of members, by age (2024-01)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	4	14	12	57	66	33	5	1	192
Female	0	0	2	3	6	14	10	3	1	0	39
Totals per age interval	0	0	6	17	18	71	76	36	6	1	231
	Total <= 45: 23				Total >= 46: 208

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	2.6%	2%	0.9%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	10.0%	8%	2.2%

Members for whom data is available: 231

(2024)
Members for whom age data is not available: 3

(2024-01 - 2024-06)

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: No
Electoral quota for women: No

Sources: Article 80 of the Constitution of India, which deals with the composition of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), provides for the nomination of 12 members by the President.
Youth quota: No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website: https://sansad.in/rs
List of members: https://sansad.in/rs/members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders: http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/rs_rule/rules7th.pdf
Constitution: https://hindi.webdunia.com/samayik/samvidhan/index.htm

Historical data for Parliamentary term (years)
Updated at	Parliamentary term (years)	Notes
2024-07	6	One-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years at various dates
2013-01	6	Parliamentary term: 6 years; one-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years at various dates

Historical data for Parliamentary term (years)

Updated at

Parliamentary term (years)

Notes

2024-07

One-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years at various dates

2013-01

Parliamentary term: 6 years; one-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years at various dates

Historical data for Statutory number of members
Updated at	Statutory number of members	Notes
2022-08	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2020-11	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2019-12	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2019-01	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2018-12	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2018-06	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2018-04	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2017-08	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2017-03	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2016-12	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2016-10	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2015-01	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2014-02	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2013-01	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2012-02	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2011-01	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2010-03	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.
2005-01	245	Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories. Appointed members: nominated by the Head of State.

Historical data for Statutory number of members

Updated at

Statutory number of members

Notes

2022-08

245

Indirectly elected members: elected by the legislative assemblies of the states and union territories.