M Venkaiah Naidu, Om Birla Naidu discuss Covid-safe Budget Session

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday discussed preparations for the Budget session of Parliament amid the surge in coronavirus cases.

The session begins Monday with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind to members of both the Houses.

During the meet, Birla suggested that members of both the Houses can be seated at different locations by name to avoid confusion, crowding and enquiries. Naidu accepted the suggestion, parliamentary sources said.

Due to Covid norms, the two Houses are meeting at different times. Members of the two Houses will be accommodated in chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well as galleries to prevent crowding.

To implement the sitting arrangement by name, parties have been approached to draw up a list of members who would be accommodated in various locations. Seats were allotted in chambers and galleries of both the Houses based on the strength of parties.

Given the reduction in the time of sitting of both the Houses by one hour per sitting due to staggered timings, Naidu and Birla took stock of the time available for different items of business.

They underscored the need for cooperation from all sections of both the Houses for effective utilisation of available time.

While Rajya Sabha would meet from 10 am to 3 pm, the Lok Sabha would sit from 4 pm to 9 pm.

Officials informed the two presiding officers that the Parliament House complex has been sanitised and all possible measures are being taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

They were told that all MPs have been requested to take RT-PCR test 48 before the commencement of the Session.

Part one of the session would end on February 11. The second part would begin on March 14 and conclude on April 8.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor