House of Parliament (File photo)
NEW DELHI: A single session of Parliament will begin on Monday with Deputies seated with plastic sheet dividers and microphones on podiums in visitor galleries, where individual seats they do not have microphones, while the main chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will have a “proportionate” representation of political parties, including their leaders.
This is the first time in the history of the Indian Parliament that both houses have joined together for a session.
Political parties have been allocated a certain number of seats in the main chambers and visitor galleries and it is up to them to designate which of their deputies sits where. However, it may not be a tiring problem, as attendance can be spotty as procedures begin.
Motions in Question Time can pit the government against the opposition
The immediate issue is two medicine-related bills in Lok Sabha, while the upper house will see the election of a vice president, and Harivansh of JD (U) is expected to return home as a NDA nominee against Manoj Jha of RJD , who is the candidate for Congress and some other parties outside the NDA.
The Parliament’s secretariat has provided deputies with the option of marking their attendance digitally through an application, Attendance Record, developed by the NIC.
There will be 18 continuous sessions until October 1, during which 45 bills, two financial items and 11 ordinances will be discussed. There will be obituary references to the late Pranab Mukherjee, the thirteenth president of India, after which the two Houses are expected to function, although opposition parties plan to present a series of postponement notices on various issues. Both Houses will sit for four hours each day with no weekend breaks.
The two houses must accept motions that allow them to come forward without question and without discussion of bills from private members, which should generate protests from the opposition that a significant part of Parliament is being sunk. BJP managers have said responses to questions without an asterisk will be sent and several state assemblies have also adopted similar practices.
Parliament had last met for the budget session from January 31 to February 11. It was lowered after a deputy reported that he was ill due to Covid-19 and expressed concern about the people he may have interacted with.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will make a statement on the Covid-19 situation in both Houses. Presidents will deal with MPs quite differently given the use of masks and face shields. It remains to be seen whether the usual “hitting the pit” occurs, as it is intended to violate social distancing norms.
Lok Sabha President Om Birla took stock of health and safety measures on Sunday and instructed officials to provide disinfectants to all employees stationed at the doors of the building. “All parliamentarians and their family members have undergone the Covid-19 test prior to the session and have been given disinfectant kits, masks, gloves and other health-related material,” Birla said after seeing the preparations.
There will be arrangements for the session of 257 members in the Lok Sabha chamber and 172 MPs in the Lok Sabha galleries. Arrangements have been made for 60 members to sit in the Rajya Sabha chamber and 51 members in the galleries.
Seats have been allocated in proportion to strengths, such as 32 out of 51 congressional deputies in the Lok Sabha chamber.
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