NEW DELHI, Sept 14, 2020 (BSS) – The monsoon session of Indian parliament began today amid the Covid-19 pandemic that had claimed nearly 80,000 lives and infected over 48 lakh people across the country so far.
The session began with maintaining social distancing and others protocols, official sources said adding that a total of 4,000 people including members of parliament and staff have been tested for COVID-19 earlier in the run-up of the session.
Of the total, 24 members of Lok Sabha have tested positive for coronavirus in the mandatory tests, according to media reports.
Junior railways minister Suresh Angadi, the BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Kaushal Kishore were among the 24 MPs who have contracted the viral disease, the reports said quoting parliament secretariat sources.
It is for the first time, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will sit in two different shifts during the monsoon session. Special seating arrangements have been made for MPs in adherence to social distancing guidelines.
The incumbent monsoon session will continue till October 1 when only 18 sittings will be taking place.
Besides, Chief of India’s National Congress Sonia Gandhi is likely to miss the monsoon session of the parliament as she along with her son Rahul Gandhi is in abroad for medical check-up. She will come back home after two weeks, party sources said.
Sources however, hinted that the border dispute between India and China might be a hot topic of discussion between the parliament members belonging to treasury and opposition benches.
“We along with other like-minded cohorts will raise the issue of what is happening at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the state of Indian economy in addition to opposing four of the proposed ordinances,” Congress chief Jairam Ramesh told reporters on Sunday.
However, sources said that the government is likely to make a statement in the House on the India-China border issue in the monsoon session.