New Delhi, March 9 :     The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha today accused the Centre of neglecting the Upper House and depriving members of their rights to ?legislate?. Some members even described the Rajya Sabha?s current status as an ?abandoned? House. On behalf of the government, finance minister Yashwant Sinha reassured the agitated members that there was no planned attempt to bypass the House. He pointed out that there are many parliamentarians who had the privilege of being members of both Houses at different times. Not just him, even Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had been a member of the Upper House. He said the impression that has unfortunately gained ground ought to be dispelled. Pranab Mukherjee raised the issue during Zero Hour and said this was an unfortunate trend. It was not just yesterday?s revocation of the Bihar proclamation whereby a discussion in the Rajya Sabha had been avoided, but it was on many other crucial issues like the sacking of former navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat and allegations made by Mohan Guruswamy, former adviser to finance minister Yashwant Sinha, that the Upper House?s significance in law-making had been eroded, he stated. Mukherjee objected strongly to the way the Centre has dealt with the Rajya Sabha on the Prasar Bharati Bill, tabled during the last monsoon session. After the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha it was to be placed subsequently in the Upper House. Not only did the government avoid the House in the monsoon session but the Bill was also not brought forward. Even during the current budget session, the government has not made it clear whether the Bill would be brought at all, Mukherjee added . Information and broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan did not give any time-frame for the Bill to be introduced. His inability to give a definite time on the Bill being placed in the Rajya Sabha angered quite a few members. Mahajan said: ?All that is constitutionally needed will be done by the government.? It was CPI?s Gurudas Dasgupta who said the House was being ?abandoned?. Apart from the Guruswamy and Bhagwat issues, he wanted the House to have a ?structured discussion? on the atrocities on minorities. He said the House needed to debate if any statement of the Prime Minister or the home minister had added to the problem. He felt that all issues, whether they were embarrassing to the government or not, had to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha. Both CPM?s E. Balanandan and Dasgupta felt while the House was being bypassed, these issues continued to be looked at from innumerable angles by the media.