Monsoon session of Parliament likely to be held in August

New Delhi: With Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi confirming on Sunday that the monsoon session of Parliament will be held, talks are underway over various options to conduct the proceedings.

Sources in Parliament told ANI that the monsoon session might begin from either the second or the third week of August.
The biggest challenge in front of the government is to decide how the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will be conducted in view of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Although the final decision over the functioning of both the Houses will be taken only after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA), the biggest issue is over the seating arrangements of the members, with social distancing measures being followed.

For seating the MPs, the halls of both the Houses apart from Central Hall and GMC Balayogi hall are also being considered.

The MPs are also being asked to give their opinions on the available options and suggest ideas of their own through the Secretariats of both the lower and the upper House. Apart from this, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman are also holding talks with lawmakers over the same.

Sources also said that holding a virtual session of Parliament is also being considered as an option, the government also has the option to begin the proceedings with some MPs present physically, while others participate through video conferencing.

Further, to ensure social distancing measures are followed the government is also pondering to conduct the Lok Sabha proceedings from the Central Hall while the proceedings of the Upper House can go on from the Lok Sabha hall.