NEW DELHI, SEPT 14
Lok Sabha was adjourned for an hour on Monday after paying tributes to former President Pranab Mukherjee, a sitting MP, and 13 ex-parliamentarians who died in the recent past.
सभा ने देश की एकता-अखंडता की रक्षा में वीरगति को प्राप्त सशस्त्र सेना, अर्धसैनिक बलों के वीर सैनिकों व पुलिस बल के बहादुर जवानों को भी नमन किया। कर्तव्य पथ पर बलिदान देने वाले कोरोना योद्धा, डॉक्टर्स, चिकित्साकर्मियों, सफाइकर्मियों, पुलिसकर्मियों व स्वयंसेवकों का भी स्मरण किया। pic.twitter.com/Xh03ysIUiQ
— Lok Sabha Speaker (@loksabhaspeaker) September 14, 2020
The first-of-its-kind Monsoon Session being held amid the COVID-19 pandemic saw members sporting masks and following social distancing guidelines while attending the proceedings.
As soon as the House assembled for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paid glowing tributes to the departed leaders and security personnel who have laid down their lives while protecting the nation since March.
Birla also remembered “Corona warriors” like doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police personnel, and voluntary workers who died while fighting the pandemic.
Apart from Mukherjee, the House paid tributes to sitting MP from Tamil Nadu H Vasanthakumar, eminent vocalist Pandit Jasraj, former MPs Gurdas Singh Badal, Nepal Singh, Ajit Jogi, P Namgyal, Paras Nath Yadav, Madhav Rao Patil, Haribhau Madhav Jawale, Saroj Dubey, Lalji Tandon, Kamal Rani, Chetan Chauhan, Surendra Prakash Goel, and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
The speaker then adjourned the House for an hour, after about 20 minutes of business.
The digitalisation of operations at the Parliament demonstrates India’s capable and efficient response to the current pandemic. #MonsoonSession2020 https://t.co/dj47jUdjsc
— Om Birla (मोदी का परिवार) (@ombirlakota) September 14, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK leader T R Baalu, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, and NCP leader Supriya Sule were among those who were present in the House.
The 18-day session is being held amid unprecedented precautionary measures in view of COVID-19.
India witnessed a single day spike of 92,068 COVID-19 cases, and 1,136 fatalities taking the country’s virus caseload to 48,46,424 and death toll to 79,722 on Monday.
MPs attending the House had to undergo a COVID test and only those with a negative report were allowed to sit in the House. The security and secretarial staff in Parliament also had to take coronavirus tests before their entry.
While on the first day of the session on Monday, Lok Sabha is sitting in the morning from 9 am to 1 pm, Rajya Sabha is sitting in the evening starting at 3 pm.
On the rest of the days, Rajya Sabha will sit for four hours in the morning and Lok Sabha in the evening.
The chambers of both houses and the galleries are being used for the session and big screens have been installed to enable members to witness proceedings.
Masks, plastic shields, maintaining physical distance, LS members attend House amid pandemic
Separated by plastic shields installed in front of their benches, members of Lok Sabha attended the first day of the Monsoon session being held amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors’ gallery located above the main chamber.
A giant TV screen in the Lok Sabha chamber showed very few Lok Sabha members were occupying seats in the Rajya Sabha chamber, the other venue where LS MPs have been accommodated keeping in mind physical distancing norms.
Benches which usually accommodate six members had a numbered sitting plan for only three.
Glass-like plastic shields of varied sizes were installed in front of benches to protect members from coronavirus. The shield also covered part of the members’ sides.
The front seats of the Treasury benches on the right of the Speaker’s podium were occupied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting on a seat marked as number one, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on seat number 2, and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on seat number 3.
The front seats of the Opposition benches were occupied by T R Baalu of the DMK and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was also present and was seated in the second row of opposition benches.
As soon as the prime minister entered the House, he was greeted with claps and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogan.
Modi greeted members, including those from the Opposition, with folded hands.
All members were wearing masks. Some were also seen wearing face shields, including Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee.
