Parliament session to begin from August-end or 1st week of Sept

New Delhi, Aug 7: A limited hours monsoon session of the Parliament is likely to start from the last week of August or the first week of September, sources said on Tuesday. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will follow the necessary hygiene protocols and guidelines to minimize crowding during and after the sessions.

Entry will be granted to a limited number of reporters in the press galleries of each house to cover the proceedings in addition to journalists from news agencies and state-run television channels. No journalist will be allowed in the central hall of the parliament building.

This is the first parliament session when the country is facing the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown for the past five months. The budget session of the parliament was forced to close prematurely due to Covid-19.

The functioning of both the houses of the parliament will be limited to four hours a day. The Lok Sabha will have the meeting first followed by the Rajya Sabha. The MPs can leave the parliament house after their proceedings are over.

This was decided after the extensive discussions between Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on the sitting arrangement and participation of MPs.

The galleries and the central hall will be used to maintain social distancing and allow the parliament to function smoothly and effectively.

Birla and Naidu also discussed the possibility of a ‘Virtual Parliament” as they favored it as a long-term alternative if regular meetings were not possible. In June, opposition parties like the Congress supported the idea of a "virtual parliament" to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak and the India-China border row.

Meanwhile, sources also said that to limit the number of people in the building while Parliament is in session, journalists and ex-MPs will not be allowed in the central hall.

In addition, no temporary or session pass holding-reporters will be allowed. In all only seven reporters will be permitted in the press galleries while the Rajya Sabha is in session and 15 for the Lok Sabha.

This is apart from news agencies like PTI and UNI, and the state-run Door Darshan, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TVs.

Although there is no final date yet at the starting of the monsoon session, it must begin before September 12. This is because there cannot be a gap of more than six months between two parliament sessions.

The budget session was adjourned prematurely on March 23 before its scheduled conclusion on April 3.

Sittings of both houses of parliament and its committees, which will also resume, have been suspended since March, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.