New Delhi: Ahead of the Parliament session that is scheduled to start on Monday, up to five members of the Lok Sabha have tested positive for the coronavirus infection. Coronavirus testing of other ministers is still ongoing.
It has been made mandatory for all members of both Houses to undergo a COVID-19 test before attending the parliamentary session.
Members were asked to take the test within 72 hours before the start of the parliamentary session in any government authorized hospital / laboratory or in the House of Parliament Complex.
Previously, the all-party meeting that was to be held this year before the monsoon parliament session was canceled due to the coronavirus, the government said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was scheduled to hold the all-party meeting.
The all-party meeting is held to discuss the agenda and set goals before the Parliament session. At the meeting, the Speaker and President Rajya Sabha discuss the issues and the list of bills to be presented at the session.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, several changes have been made to the Parliament session this year. A strict guideline will be followed that includes four-hour sessions every day. The duration of zero hour has also been reduced to half an hour and questions will be answered in writing.
In order to ensure social distancing standards, the Rajya Sabha Chamber, Galleries and Lok Sabha Chamber will be used to seat the members, 57 of whom will be housed in the chamber and 51 in the Rajya Sabha galleries. The remaining 136 will be seated in the Lok Sabha chamber.
Four large display screens have been installed in the chamber to show the members speaking and there will be a smooth live broadcast of the proceedings on Rajya Sabha TV. In addition, six smaller display screens and audio consoles have been installed in the four galleries.
Various parliamentary documents including lists of issues, bulletins, bills and ordinances will be sent to members only through an electronic mechanism.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Vice President and President M Venkaiah Naidu also underwent a COVID-19 test ahead of the monsoon session in Parliament, the Vice President’s Secretariat reported on Sunday.
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