Kriti Agrawal
Virtual meetings of parliamentary standing committees are not possible since an adjustment to the rules is required, which is not possible because the Parliament is not in session, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat noted in a letter to Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge.
Earlier this week, Kharge urged Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to allow virtual sessions of parliamentary standing committees, arguing that the Parliament cannot stand by and watch people suffer.
Kharge requested the Rajya Sabha chairman’s participation in a letter, stating that parliamentary bodies can assist to ongoing efforts to curb the pandemic and provide aid to victims.
Derek O’ Brien, TMC Floor Leader in the Rajya Sabha, made a similar demand.
In response to Kharge’s request, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat issued a letter in which it stated that the presiding officers of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had discussed the topic.
During the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, the Rajya Sabha chairman and Lok Sabha speaker decided to submit virtual committee meetings to the Rules Committee instead of the current rules and secrecy provision, according to the letter from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The problem lay there because physical meetings of the committees were held on a regular basis, strictly adhering to the standards, and the circumstances had not arisen for the Rules Committees in both Houses to consider the subject, it noted.
The committee meetings will be held as soon as the situation improves, according to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, who added that “The problem of secrecy can be resolved during the session as any alteration to the rules can be authorized by respective houses only after the topic is discussed by the Rules Committee.”
In the aftermath of the pandemic, opposition parties called for a virtual session of Parliament. However, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha made plans to hold the sessions physically, with the Houses sitting in various shifts and members respecting social separation.
A similar strategy was taken in parliamentary standing committee meetings, with members advised to wear masks and sit six feet apart.
