Prospect of monsoon session bleak as Covid-19 surges in national capital

Officials tell RS chairman Naidu and LS speaker Birla that chambers not big enough to ensure social distancing norms

As Covid-19 infection cases spike in the national capital, the prospect of holding of the monsoon session of Parliament receded further.

At a review meeting to study the various options on the table, officials conveyed to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that the national capital lacked a convention centre big enough to seat so many Members of Parliament (MPs) and adhere to social distancing norms.

At the end of the meeting, Naidu and Birla asked officials to examine if “virtual participation” of MPs in the proceedings of both the Houses was possible. However,