By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) Virtual session of the Parliament and conducting proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in different chambers are among the proposals on the table for the government and the two houses’ presiding officers for the Monsoon Session.
The first-ever such steps are part of options available and one of those can be adopted to maintain social distancing norms while conducting the Parliament session expected in July or August amid Covid-19 crisis to ensure safety of all parliamentarians.
Besides virtual sessions, both the secretariats in Parliament are considering a proposal to shift the Lok Sabha to the Central Hall and the Rajya Sabha to the Lok Sabha chamber. Another option being considered is to have the sittings of both Houses on alternate days.
Convening proceedings of the upper and lower houses of Parliament was part of a detailed discussion conducted between the presiding officers of both houses — Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday. They discussed the three options but they are yet to take any decision.
A Parliament secretariat officer, privy to the development, told IANS on condition of anonymity, that a proposal will be sent to the government regarding the move and as per the business list received, a decision to conduct the houses will be taken.
“Any of the options can be adopted. The possibility is that Lok Sabha will shift to Central Hall which has bigger seating capacity and Rajya Sabha can be shifted to Lok Sabha chamber or the main committee hall.”
Meanwhile, both the presiding officers jointly stressed the need to explore the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a solution to hold virtual sessions of Parliament during monsoon sessions — a long term option in the current scenario where holding of regular parliamentary sessions is not possible.
Observing that the proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are telecast live and open to the public, Naidu and Birla concurred that virtual Parliament can emerge as a viable alternative since there is no requirement of maintaining confidentiality of proceedings of both Houses.
Taking note that the fight against coronavirus is likely to be a long haul, both the presiding officers directed both Secretaries General to examine the feasibility of using the Central Hall for this purpose.
The Central Hall is used for joint sittings and MPs sit there during the break of their respective houses. With a sitting capacity of approximately 800, it can accommodate 543 members of Lok Sabha while ensuring adherence to physical distancing norms. The same purpose is proposed to be achieved by shifting the sitting of Rajya Sabha to the much bigger chamber of the lower house to accommodate its 245 members.
The Secretaries General were also directed to examine in detail the various technical arrangements and other related matters to ensure the smooth functioning of both the houses during the session.
After the Budget session ended abruptly on March 23 due to fear of coronavirus spread, the opposition has been demanding parliamentary oversight on the government functioning and has demanded a session on the ongoing crisis.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: “A virtual session of Indian Parliament should be called forthwith, all select committees and standing committees of the Parliament, constituted for the purpose of oversight over the Government and the executive should be activated without delay.”
Congress member and former Union Minister Manish Tewari has charged the government with being anti-parliament for avoiding the meeting of parliamentary committees.
In a tweet, Tewari said: “NDA/BJP is ANTI PARLIAMENT
1.Last 72 days no SOP’s for travel of MP’s-they have 02 places of work, Constituency&Delhi. 2. No Standing Comm Meetings allowed hiding behind rules-world functioning virtually. 3. One item of Govt expenditure slashed in 72 days-3800 Crores of MPLADS.”
His second point was a reference to the meeting of the Standing Committee of Home Affairs scheduled to meet on Wednesday being been postponed.
(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
rak/vd