The Budget session for this year will be held with COVID protocols in place in wake of the surge in Coronavirus cases all over the country. The proceedings in the Rajya Sabha will start from 9 am and the proceedings of Lok Sabha will begin from 4 pm in the evening. This new protocol will be put in place in the session from February 2.
The address by the President of India will be presented on January 31 and the Budget on February 1. As per the official reports, 875 staff members of the house out of the 2847 tests that were conducted have tested positive for COVID so far. 915 tests were conducted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, out of which 271 people have been found positive against the novel Coronavirus. The Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu also tested positive. He issued a statement announcing the same and also mentioned that he had isolated himself.
The Budget session will be implemented with covid appropriate behaviour in place. Both the houses of the parliament will meet for 5 hours every day to ensure the norms that have been imposed. The Lok Sabha will meet at 11 am on February 1 which is the first day of the session for the presentation of the Union Budget for this year. After the conclusion of the first session, the Lok Sabha will meet from 4 pm to 9 pm starting from February 2.
During the sittings of the parliamentary sessions, the chambers and galleries of both the houses will be used for the sitting of the members keeping in view the social distancing norms. The Monsoon Session of the year 2020 was the first session that was held with COVID protocols in place when the Rajya Sabha met during the first half of the day and the Lok Sabha met in the second half of the day. This process was also followed by the parliament for the first part of the Budget Session of 2021.
The Union Budget during the Budget Session will be presented by the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman for this year. The Budget Session is one of the most crucial sittings of the parliament. This session will be closely watched for the measures to fire up the pandemic-hit economy. According to a functionary involved in the discussions, the main target for the implementation of the COVID protocols is to ensure that all lawmakers and staff members remain safe. To minimize the crowd during the session and take into account the social distancing norms, two different timetables for both houses will be the most suitable decision to move forward with the budget.
