Speaker Om Birla chairs meet ahead of Monsoon session of Parliament; sets COVID protocols

Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday emphasised on guidelines pertaining to social distancing. The monsoon session of the Parliament will commence on September 14 and conclude on October 1. The Speaker also said that the smooth conduct of the session is of foremost priority and all necessary arrangements are being made.

The government was looking to change the timings of both the Houses to prevent any overcrowding in the Parliament premises at any point in time. There are also proposals to install an ultraviolet irradiation system in the air-conditioning unit to kill germs and viruses. Birla chaired a meeting with the Secretaries-General of both Houses and officers of NDMC and CPWD to review the preparations for the session.

"Protocols are being prepared for the MPs and their staff. Guidelines are being framed for parliament employees. All norms regarding social distancing will be followed during the session. Top priority is that the monsoon session takes place in a smooth manner. There will be elaborate security arrangements. To speed up the preparations, CPWD and NDMC were given elaborate instructions regarding sanitisation, cleanliness and other arrangements," he said.

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No Hard Copies Of Ordinances Will Be Distributed

Hard copies of ordinances will not be circulated among MPs in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to check the spread of COVID-19 and they will be given digitised version of the documents, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Monday. A number of ordinances promulgated by the government are expected to be taken up by Parliament in the upcoming session.

"Members are informed that in view of the prevailing situation of COVID-19 pandemic and in order to check the spread of infection which may occur due to handling of physical papers, it has been decided to discontinue circulation of hard copies of ordinances with effect from the ensuing 4th Session of 17th Lok Sabha," the secretariat said in a notification.

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