Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the governor of Bihar will be the NDA’s candidate for the Presidential elections. What did he do during his two terms as a Rajya Sabha MP?

BJP President Amit Shah announced the name of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the Governor of Bihar as NDA’s Presidential Candidate for the upcoming election in July. Shri Ram Nath Kovind was a two-time Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, between 1994-2000 and between 2000-2006. Here is a snapshot of what he did as a Rajya Sabha member.

Attendance

During this 12-year term, his overall attendance was 87%. It was 89% during his first term and 85% during his second term. He attended a total of 44 sessions during this two terms. In 14 sessions, his attendance was 100% and his attendance was more than 90% in 28 sessions.

283 Questions in 12 years

In his 12-year term as a MP of the Rajya Sabha, Shri Kovind asked a total of 283 questions to 34 different Ministries. Most of his questions were to the Ministry of Finance followed by the Ministry of Railways. He asked 10 or more questions to 12 different Ministries.

His questions to the Finance Ministry included the following

Appointment of Safai Karamcharis in Banks

Facsimile of Dr. Ambedkar on the Rs 1000 note

Steps to Curb Black Money

Nominated SC/ST members on boards of Nationalized banks

Most of his questions to the Ministry of Railways were about stations etc. in his home state of Uttar Pradesh. His questions to the MHRD were about various issues including alleged misappropriation of funds in a college in Muzzaffarnagar. His questions to the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment were about the welfare of SCs/STs and inclusion of various castes in the list of SCs/STs. A large number of his questions were about the SC/ST welfare.

Special Mentions & Assurances

He made five (5) special mentions in his 12-year tenure. These were on various issues such as the inclusion of Tanti caste of Bihar in the list of SCs, Firing in Tinsukia by paramilitary forces, Atrocities on Dalits in Bihar, Misbehavior with prisoners in Bihar and problems of weavers in Gaya of Bihar.

He was given seven (7) assurances by the government, two during the first NDA government and the rest by the other governments. Six (6) of these assurances were fully implemented while one was dropped.

Debates

He had participated in 89 debates as per the Rajya Sabha website. On 16 occasions, he was part of the debate on the reports of various committees. On 15 occasions, he was part of the debate on special mentions, out of which he made 5 special mentions. On 14 occasions, he was part of the debate on various bills. He participated in budget related debates only twice. On 5 occasions, he was part of the debate on private member resolutions and on 2 other occasions, he was part of the debate on private member bills.

MPLAD Spending

In his 12 years as a RS MP, he was entitled to MPLAD fund of Rs 20 crore. Along with interest, the amount available to spend was Rs 20.36 crore. He sanctioned works amounting to Rs 19.19 crore while the total expenditure was Rs 20.36 crore. In other words, he was able to spend all of his entitlement under MPLADS.

Member of various Committees

He was also a member of following standing committees during his 12-year tenure