Published 16:48 IST, July 12th 2020
'Govt will fulfill its duty of calling Monsoon Session of Parliament', says Arjun Meghwal
Arjun Meghwal said it is the constitutional duty of Centre to call Parliament Session within six months and the government will surely fulfil its responsibility
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Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said "it is the constitutional duty of the Centre to call the Parliament Session within six months and the government will surely fulfil its responsibility." The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequential lockdown had halted economic activities and physical movement of the citizens across the country.
This statement from Meghwal comes after the Monsoon Session of the parliament is also likely to be announced soon as the Secretary Generals of both the Houses of Parliament have been asked to make the necessary arrangements for the upcoming session, according to PTI sources. Meghwal further said that a meeting was also held between the Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
"As many as eight new rules have been made and are being issued by the Parliament. These rules include mandatory wearing of masks, maintaining social distancing and sanitizing hands. Preparation are underway for the conduction of the Parliament session and I believe that it will be held soon," the Union Minister said.
Earlier in the day, Confirming the news, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "Monsoon session (of Parliament) will be held for sure. The government will do all the formalities and take all precautions." Earlier, reports claimed that the Monsoon Session would be shorter than the usual sessions and would start from mid-August with a hybrid structure, which means a mixture of some attending physically while others through the digital medium.
According to previous reports, officials were quoted as saying that some of the members may sit in the two houses on designated seats with social distancing and occupying the first floor too, while others may attend the proceedings digitally from the Parliament's library building situated next to the Parliament main building. The members attending from library building would attend through the online platform of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) which has the capacity to accommodate up to 600 visitors. It was also reported that the working hours each day would be reduced and the sittings will be held on alternate days, while the remaining days would be utilised for sanitisation of the parliamentary premises.
(with inputs from ANI)
16:47 IST, July 12th 2020