The Monsoon Session of Parliament is expected to be held from 14th September to 1st October, with arrangements being made for staggered seating, large display screens for MPs and separate timings for the 2 Houses to ensure social distancing, said official sources on Tuesday.
They said that, the session will see eighteen sittings without any weekend break or holiday. The dates and other details of this first-of-its-kind session will be announced soon.
The preparations are underway for the upcoming session. Besides staggered sittings, several other first-time measures such as the use of both chambers and galleries to accommodate members while following the physical distancing norms have been taken, said officials.
As per the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, members of the Upper House will be seated in both chambers and galleries during the session. This is the 1st time in the history of Indian Parliament that sixty members will be seated in the chamber, 51 in the galleries of Rajya Sabha and the remaining 132 in the Lok Sabha chamber.
Similar arrangements of seating are being worked out by the Lok Sabha Secretariat as well. For the 1st time, large display screens and consoles for participation from galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables between the two Houses and polycarbonate separators will be put in place.
M Venkaiah Naidu,Rajya Sabha Chairman and Om Birla, Lok Sabha Speaker at a meeting on 17th July, after detailed examination of different options for holding the session, decided on using the chambers and galleries of both the Houses.
Rajya Sabha Chairman has directed officials to complete preparations for the session by the 3rd week of August when testing, rehearsal and final inspection would be carried out.
The RS Secretariat has been working overtime to ensure full preparedness, said officials.
Although both the Houses usually function simultaneously, but this time, one House will sit during the morning hours and the other in the evening, said sources.
The Budget Session had to be reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic and both Houses were adjourned since die on 23rd March. As per precedent, Parliament has to be convened before the end of 6 months from the last session.
