New Delhi: Today, students are expected to maintain at least 75 percent attendance to complete most of the academic courses. At the same time, parliamentarians can get away with almost no attendance.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Rekha, who are retiring from Rajya Sabha soon, have dismal attendance record in the Parliament. Tendulkar has attended only 7.3 percent of the parliamentary sessions, while Rekha only 4.5 per cent.

As per records, Rekha has attended just 18 sessions of the 400 parliamentary sessions since April 2012 till beginning of this March. She has neither introduced bills nor asked any questions in the Rajya Sabha. For this, she has earned nearly Rs 1 Crore in salaries. In the same period, Tendulkar has attended only 29 sessions. He has asked only 22 questions and introduced no bills. He earned about Rs 86.23 Lakh in salaries.

Parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, have the responsibility to raise issues concerning the citizens, evaluate and debate the policies and actions of the government by asking questions and debating.

On the advise of the government, the President of India can appoint 12 members, who have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service, to the 245-member Rajya Sabha. These members are expected to provide input of their expertise for policy-making. Both Rekha and Tendulkar were nominated for these seats.

Bidding farewell to Rajya Sabha MPs, whose terms are ending soon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that all the outgoing parliamentarians have their significant contributions for the bright future of the nation. However, judging by Rekha and Tendulakar’s parliamentary record so far, they have failed to fulfill their responsibility to the people of the nation.