M Venkaiah Naidu: A look at the term of outgoing Vice President of India

M Venkaiah Naidu will complete his full five-year term as Vice President of India on August 10, 2022. The vice president is also the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. Naidu became India's 13th Vice President on August 11, 2017, after defeating UPA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

During his term as Rajya Sabha chairman, Naidu presided over 13 Parliament sessions in the last five years. Major bills such as the Triple Talaq bill, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 and SPG (Amendment) Act among others during this period.

Out of the 13 full sessions he presided over till the Budget session this year, the productivity of the first five sessions has been in the range of only 6.80 percent to 58.80 percent. It substantially enhanced in six of the next eight sessions clocking productivity in the range of 76 percent to 105 percent with five sessions working for about 100 percent of the scheduled time.

During V-P Naidu’s tenure, about 78 percent of the Rajya Sabha Members attended the House daily. While about 3 percent didn’t do so, 30 percent of members reported full attendance in different sessions.

The outgoing Vice President visited several scientific institutions and apprised himself of new developments in research and development. He has also emphasised that the mother tongue should be used in fundamental education in schools.

He has visited all states and union territories almost multiple times during his tenure. He has also released several books, visited institutions, and addressed convocation among others.

The Vice President was among the first to get himself inoculated against COVID-19. He also commended the contribution of frontline COVID workers in multiple articles and posts on various social media.

Naidu has been conferred the highest Civilian Honour of Comoros — The Order of the Green Crescent. He has also been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University for Peace founded by the United Nations Organisations (UNO) for his contribution "to the Rule of Law, democracy and sustainable development in India".