Question Hour to resume, Covid tests must for all MPs
All arrangements for RT-PCR tests in place; Centre lifts subsidy on canteen food
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday said that Zero Hour for Members of Parliament (MPs) will be held during the Budget Session which is slated to begin from January 29 amid Covid-19 protocols. Earlier this month, he had said that the Question Hour, which was scrapped from the Monsoon Session and resulted in an uproar from opposition members, would be included in the schedule this time.
Besides this, Birla announced that arrangements have been made for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for Members of Parliament (MPs) near their residences ahead of the Budget Session from January 29. He added that the tests will be conducted at the Parliament House on January 27-28 and that the arrangement for the same have also been made for families and staff members of the lawmakers.
Birla said the vaccination drive policy finalised by the Centre and the states will apply to parliamentarians as well and that the question hour during the Session will be for one hour.
“All MPs [members of Parliament] will be requested to undergo the Covid-19 test before the start of the Parliament session,” said Birla.
The Rajya Sabha will sit from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha will function in the second half from 4 pm to 8 pm, he added.
Replying to a question on the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on farm laws, Birla said demands made outside the House are not part of the Parliament agenda so far.
“I will talk to all political leaders and then the issues for debate and bills will be decided at the Business Advisory Committee [meeting] of the two Houses,” he said.
The Lok Sabha Speaker said he has not received any proposal so far for a special discussion on farm issues. “But I will meet all parties on January 28. I am already in touch with different parties.”
Birla said no physical copies of Budget papers will be provided. “Online budget documents will be provided.”
He said food served in Parliament canteens for MPs and others will become costlier as a subsidy given for it has been discontinued. News agency PTI reported that the Lok Sabha Secretariat is expected to save over ₹ 8 crore annually with an end to the subsidy.
Birla said Parliament canteens will now be run by India Tourism Development Corporation in place of Northern Railways.
The Winter Session of Parliament was earlier scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic even as Opposition parties opposed the move amid the farmers’ agitation near the national capital.
The farmers’ protests, the state of the economy, the border stand-off with China and the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic were some of the important issues the Opposition was expected to raise during the Winter Session. Personal Data Protection Bill, Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill and National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill were some of the key bills due for discussion and passage.
Several MPs and Parliament officials had tested positive for Covid-19 during the Monsoon Session.