Learn About The Responsibilities Of The Vice President

The vice-president is known as the ‘ex-officio chairperson of the Rajya sabha.  The fundamental role of the vice-president is to aid the President in being the nominal head of India.

Given below are the responsibilities of the vice-president :

1. A vice-president takes over the responsibilities during the absence of the President of India.

2. A vice-president is responsible for the protection of the rights of as well as privileges of the members of the Council of States.

3. The Vice President acts as the President if the post of President falls vacant due to any situation.

4. While a vice-president is acting as the President, they consist of the equal powers, immunities, and privileges provided to the President.

5. The Vice President is known as the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

How is the vice-president elected? 

The election of the Vice President is similar to that of the President. However, the election of the vice-president is conducted through the concept of a single transferable vote with the help of a secret ballot. The electoral college consists of members of both houses of the Parliament. The members cast their votes to elect the Vice President.

However, the members of the state legislature have no role in the election of vice-president. 

The Election Commission of India is responsible for holding elections in the country. Also, the election commission of India is responsible for making sure that free and fair elections to the post of Vice President are conducted in the following manner:

A returning officer, who is responsible for the elections, sends a public notice mentioning the election date to the office of vice-president. Further, elections are conducted within 60 days of the expiry of the tenure of the previous vice-president. Then, 20 electors (members of Parliament) who act as proposers and 20 electors who act as seconders affirm the nomination of candidates of the vice-president. 

After this procedure, each candidate deposits Rs. 15,000 in the Reserve bank of India as a part of the nomination procedure. 

The names of all eligible candidates are carefully added to the secret ballot, and elections are conducted through a single transferable vote.  

The returning officer declares the name of the new vice-president to the Electoral College, election commission, and central government. 

Lastly, the central government announces the name of the new vice-president. 

Eligibility Criteria for the vice-president 

An individual is eligible to become the vice-president in the following cases :

1. If the individual is a citizen of India 

2. If the individual is over 35 years of age 

3. If the individual isn’t holding any office of profit. 

4. If the individual is qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha 

5. If the individual isn’t a member of any house of the Parliament 

Conclusion

The vice-president is known as the ‘ex-official chairperson of the Rajya sabha. The fundamental role of the vice-president is to aid the President in being the nominal head of state. However, a vice-president performs more duties like working at the position of President in the absence of the president. The vice-president is not provided with privileges as the President of India. 

The vice-president is elected through a single transferable vote by secret ballot. The members of the Electoral College give the votes. The eligibility criteria for becoming vice-president of India include that the individual must be a citizen of India, the individual must be over 35 years, the individual must be qualified to become a member of Rajya Sabha, etc. Currently, the vice-president of India is Muppavarapu Venkiah Naidu serving PM Modi.