Budget Session: Parliament To Begin Normal Sittings On March 14. Covid Protocols To Continue

The second Budget session will begin on March 14 and conclude on April 8. It will remain suspended for visitors to witness the proceedings.

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha will resume normal sittings for the second part of the Budget Session from March 14 in view of the declining Covid-19 cases.

The two houses will continue to follow the Covid protocols, as they did in earlier Parliament sessions including social distancing by using both chambers and visiting galleries as seating arrangements,  news agency ANI reported.

The budget session of Parliament will resume on March 14 and Rajya Sabha will get 19 hours of additional business time during the second part of the session. House will sit from 11 am-6 pm during the scheduled 19 sittings while it sat from 10 am-3 pm during the first part.

With this increase in sitting time of one hour per sitting, Rajya Sabha will get 64 hours 30 minutes for transacting the Government’s legislative business and taking up the issues of public importance during the second part of the session, ANI reported.

The House will have four days for Private Member’s Business. Question Hour will continue to be for one hour while the Zero Hour which was curtailed to half an hour during the first part will now be for a full one hour per sitting.

Seating Arrangement, Limited Entry For Session

As per the seating arrangement, Rajya Sabha, having a total strength presently of 237 members with eight vacancies out of a total of 245 MPs. will have 139 (+3) MPs sitting in the chamber while 98 others will be accommodated in the gallery at a given time.

Similarly, Lok Sabha has a total accommodation of 538 members, out of which 282, including the Prime Minister, can sit in the chamber while the rest 258 can sit in the galleries at a given time, the ANI report stated.

During the second Budget session, the press seating will be limited. It will remain suspended for visitors to witness the proceedings. Limited entry for the staff of the ministers and MPs will continue in line with the previous sessions since the Covid-19 outbreak. 

According to the official guidelines, only sitting members of the two Houses of Parliament can visit the Central Hall which will be out of bounds for the former MPs and visitors, the ANI report stated.

Arrangements have also been made for the Covid-19 vaccinations, including the precaution doses in the Parliament annex building. 

The second part of the Budget session, beginning on March 14, concludes on April 8.

(With Agency Inputs)