Parliament's Monsoon Session 2020 begins like no other before: Here are some novel changes

After a long delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 18-day monsoon session of Parliament began on Monday. The Lok Sabha proceedings began at 9 am under the social distancing norms, however, the house adjourned for an hour soon after offering tributes to former president Pranab Mukherjee, an MP, and 13 former parliamentarians who passed away recently. The Rajya Sabha will sit from 3 pm.

The session is expected to see the opposition come together to corner the Centre on several key issues including border skirmishes with China, Centre's handling of the virus, the country's economic slump and unemployment. The parties have already announced they would be opposing four Bills, including three farm-related ones that are to replace ordinances.

This time around, the monsoon session is set to witness many firsts, including no question hour, restricted zero hours, the use polycarbonate separators among others. As per the Coronavirus protocols, all the members of Parliament, the staff of secretariats of both houses, as well as media personnel covering the proceedings, will undergo COVID-19 test, less than 72 hours before the session begins.

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Here are some of the top changes the Parliament is going to witness this Monsoon session in light of Coronavirus:

Seating arrangements

For the first time in history, the chambers and galleries of both the Houses will be used for holding the session. A new seating arrangement in accordance with social distancing norms has been prepared by both houses for their respective members. The MPs will be allowed to address the Chair while seated. Poly-carbon sheets have been installed to divide seats in the House, minimising the risk of infection. The DRDO will also provide multi-utility COVID-19 kits to all the members.

Two different shifts

This year, the Monsoon Session will see Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sitting in two different shifts. The Lok Sabha would sit from 9 am to 1 pm on Monday (first day of the session) — while the Rajya Sabha will sit from 3 pm to 7 pm. On all other days, the timings of the two houses will be inversed.

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Canteens to remain closed

Parliament’s famous canteen will not prepare any dishes inside the premises in the Monsoon Session. Only packaged breakfast, sweets, lunch, combo meals and other items would be served. Meals and snacks would be outsourced by the Northern Railway through its Bengal Sweets vendor in the national capital.

Ban on use of mobile phones

Media persons are not allowed to use mobile phone for live telecasting or recording bytes of Ministers and lawmakers within Parliament House Complex to avoid contact and the risk of COVID-19 spread.

No question hour

In a decision which was opposed by several opposition leaders, the Question Hour has also been scrapped by the Modi government due to the pandemic. Opposition parties have criticised this decision, saying that MPs are able to hold the ministers accountable for the functioning during the Question Hour and it is mandatory for them to reply to their queries.

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