Parliament may miss winter session as MPs reluctant to visit Covid hit capital

Addressing a press conference on the upcoming presiding officers’ conference to be held in the statue city of Kevadia in Gujarat, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the issue of holding the winter session will be discussed by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, writes ETV Bharat's Deputy News Editor Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi: India’s bicameral Parliament, that represents the world largest democracy, may not hold the crucial winter session this year as some members are reluctant to come to the national capital Delhi to attend the session as the city has seen a rising number of Covid cases in recent time, said a person familiar with the matter.

“We are speaking to the MPs…but they seem reluctant to come to Delhi,” said the person.

Addressing a press conference on the upcoming presiding officers’ conference to be held in the statue city of Kevadia in Gujarat, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the issue will be decided by the cabinet committee of political affairs.

“The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CACP) will take a call on the issue of holding the winter session. Whenever a decision is taken, you (media) will be informed,” Birla said in response to a question.

The national capital recorded its highest single-day spike of 8,593 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (November 11) just ahead of festival of light Deepavali.

It also recorded 104 deaths, the highest in a day in over five months, on Thursday (November 12). Rising Covid cases forced chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to increase the penalty for not wearing the mask in the city by 300%, from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000.

Mounting Covid cases curtailed Monsoon session

In normal circumstances, India’s Parliament holds three sessions in a year, while the first session, which is being held in January-February every year is known as budget session, the second session which is usually held in July-August is known as Monsoon session, which is followed by the winter session, which is usually held in November-December every year.

However, this year’s Monsoon session saw an increasing number of Covid cases among the MPs and officials despite an elaborate arrangement and staggered sitting of MPs according to the health ministry’s Covid protocol.

It forced the government to curtail the monsoon session as soon as certain crucial bills related to Union budget, farm and labour laws were passed by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Two ministers, 30 MPs infected in Monsoon session

At least two Union ministers, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, and culture and tourism minister Prahlad Patel contracted the virus during the Monsoon session this year.

In addition to these two ministers, around 30 MPs also tested Covid positive, according to reports, at least 20 of them contracted the virus while attending the monsoon session, which led to an agreement between the government and the opposition to curtail the session.

In fact, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who holds the dual position of Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, also tested positive following the Monsoon session.

Covid impacts both Budget, Monsoon session this year

This year’s winter session will be the third Parliament session in a row which will be impacted due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic after the highly contagious SarS-CoV-2 virus was first detected in China in November last year.

The deadly virus has killed more than 1,32,000 people in the country and over 1.38 million people worldwide during the last one year.

The Government was forced to abruptly adjourn the second part of the budget session in March this year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to impose a three week complete nationwide lockdown from March 25 to arrest the community spread of the virus.

The budget session was cut short by 12 days due to the looming threat of Covid-19 virus. The second part of budget session came to an abrupt end on March 23 after the Parliament passed the Finance Bill.

Similarly, the Monsoon session which started on September 14 this year was cut short by 8 days as several MPs, two union ministers and many officials tested positive.

Convention of holding three sessions a year

In normal circumstances, India’s Parliament holds three sessions in a year, while the first session, which is being held in January-February every year, is known as the Budget session.

The budget session is being held in two parts, first part in January-February and second part in March-April so that members can study the proposals of the Union budget during the recess and discuss them when the house convenes after the recess.

Then the President summons the Parliament for the second session sometime in July-August which is known as Monsoon session.

The third session, known as the Winter session, usually starts sometime in November and goes on till December end when the house is adjourned for year end holidays.

No legal compulsion to hold winter session

According to Article 85 of Indian Constitution, there should not be a gap of more than 6 month between the two sittings of the House. The Constitution does not lay down any other criteria such as when and for how many days the Parliament should hold its session.

Since this year’s monsoon session abruptly ended on September 23 therefore technically the government has six months time, till the third week of March 2021, to convene the next session.