Both Houses cannot accommodate members with social distancing norms for monsoon session, top officials tell Chairman, Speaker
Jun 09, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 9 : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu are exploring ways to work out a solution for conducting the monsoon session in line with social distancing norms following COVID-19 outbreak.
Sources said the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker on Tuesday reviewed various options for holding the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament. The secretaries-general of the two Houses briefed the presiding officers on various options under consideration in the meeting convened by Venkaiah Naidu.
The secretaries-general reported the outcome of the assessment of seating capacity in the chambers of both the Houses, the Central Hall of Parliament and the plenary hall of Vigyan Bhawan.
ANI has learnt that they informed that while the Rajya Sabha Chamber can accommodate about 60 members as per the norms of social distancing, the Lok Sabha Chamber and the Central Hall is adequate enough for a little over 100 members.
They further said that even if the members were to be accommodated in the galleries, the total seating capacity would be much less than the required, if all members were to be accommodated.
Even the plenary hall of the Vigyan Bhawan would not be adequate to accommodate all the members of Lok Sabha, the two senior officials informed Naidu and Birla.
They informed the two presiding officers of certain other limitations if the Central Hall and Vigyan Bhawan were to be used for the session like the non-availability of AC facility during the day in the Central Hall and problems of enabling simultaneous interpretation service.
Another option discussed was to enable attendance in the chambers of the two Houses of only those many members who can be accommodated as per the social distancing norms by drawing up lists of members whose participation in various items of business is required on a daily basis.
Sources said Naidu and Birla directed the two top officials to examine in detail various issues related to enabling virtual participation of members in the proceedings of both the Houses - the maximum capacity available for enabling such virtual participation, the feasibility of enabling the participation of members as per the rules of business of both the Houses and other technical issues.
Sources told ANI that in relation to virtual meetings of the parliamentary committees, it was explained that any change in the rules concerning such meetings required a motion to be carried in both the Houses of Parliament.
