Glass panels to shield MLAS in House
nRAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh assembly will use glass panels to segregate lawmakers during the upcoming assembly session to be held between August 25 and August 28 to prevent spread of the coronavirus disease, a senior assembly secretariat official said on Tuesday.
The last session of the assembly was adjourned in late March just ahead of the nationwide lockdown.
“Two legislators will sit on one bench, with glass panels installed. Seats for three persons will be converted for two by using glass panels. Each member will be sitting in a glass cubicle which will be sanitized at regular intervals,” said principal secretary of the Chhattisgarh assembly CS Gangrade. The assembly has a strength of 90 members. It is the second assembly after Bihar to convene during Covid-19. Bihar held its one day monsoon session on August 3 at Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre in Patna. The Rajasthan assembly is scheduled to start its session on August 14 and assembly secretariat officials said additional seating arrangements would be made in the main assembly hall and galleries to ensure social distancing during the session.
A senior officer of Chhattisgarh assembly, preferring anonymity, said around ~20 lakh will be spent on this. “We are working on curtailing the number of staff as well,” Gangrade said.
Assembly authorities said no security guards or personal security officers of the legislators will be allowed inside. “A legislator can enter the premises with only a driver,” said Gangrade. Stating that the press and visitors gallery will remain closed, he said, “We are thinking of allowing some news agencies in this session but final decision is yet to be taken.”
“The arrangements can also be made for journalists. The government is intentionally keeping the journalists out,” former minister and BJP leader Ajay Chandrakar said.
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