This monsoon session, Parliament will have no question hour, no weekend breaks or private members’ bills

• The Parliament is likely to function on both Saturday and Sunday.
  
• There will be no Question Hour. Moreover, private members' bills will not be taken up in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
  
• The Zero Hour will be restricted.

This monsoon session, there will be no Question Hour and no all party meeting before the session.
In the past, the Question Hour was dispensed with during sessions of Parliament called for special purposes, but the upcoming monsoon session is a "regular session".

Also, private members' bills will not be taken up in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. Also, the Zero Hour will be restricted, notifications issued by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats said.

Apart from this Members of the Parliament (MP) will get no weekend breaks due to COVID-19. According to Hindustan Times, the Parliament is likely to function on both Saturday and Sunday. Parliament has been open on a Saturday for a special session, but this would be the first time MP’s will be working throughout weekends.



Moreover, there will be no breaks during the session, which is to be held from September 14 to October 1, and both Houses will function on Saturdays and Sundays as well, they added.

Keeping in mind the COVID-19 safety measures
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the session is to be held in two shifts — 9 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 7 PM. Except for the first day, the Rajya Sabha will sit in the morning shift, and the Lok Sabha will sit in the evening, according to the notifications.

In adherence to social distancing guidelines, there will be special seating arrangements for MPs. The two houses together have more than 780 members at present.

Thousands of masks and gloves, hundreds of sanitiser bottles and face shields, touch-free operation of doors, and COVID-19 tests have been ordered for an estimated 4,000 people, including MPs and staff members.

Frequent sanitisation of the entire parliament complex will also be carried out. Arrangements have been made to sanitise various parliamentary papers as well as footwear and cars of MPs, officials said.

Frisking of people will also make way for touch-less security scanning, while thermal scanning will also be contact-free. Moreover, the air of the air conditioners will be exchanged six times every day to avoid any possible infection, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)

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