Amid Covid Spike, Parliament's Monsoon Session Likely To Be Curtailed; May End By Mid-Next Week

Monsoon session of the Parliament started amid apprehensions on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1.

Representational Picture (Getty)

New Delhi: The rising cases of Covid-19 can impact the current monsoon session of Parliament and it may be curtailed by the middle of next week.  These deliberations over cutting short the session are going on in the view of the threat of the Covid-19 spread among parliamentarians. Earlier in the day, in a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which has floor leaders of all parties besides the government representatives and is chaired by the Speaker, most political parties favoured curtailment of the session. The monsoon session started amid apprehensions on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1. Both houses are meeting in shifts of four hours each without the customary Saturday-Sunday weekend break. However a final decision in this regard will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. As the pandemic broke out in the country, the Budget Session was short-terminated in March. Several MPs tested positive: It is to be noted that the fear of covid transmission rose among the legislators, after some of the members, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel, tested positive for the disease during the session. After this, some opposition parties had conveyed to the government that conducting the full 18-day session could be a risky affair. Several MPs had also tested positive for COVID-19 around the time the session began and they were advised not to attend proceedings.