This will be the first Parliament session since coronavirus forced the budget session to a premature end
The monsoon session of Parliament, which will be the first since the coronavirus lockdown was declared in March, will run from September 14 to October 1, government sources said Tuesday, adding that proceedings of both Houses would take place without leave and on Saturdays and Sundays.
Source said each house would sit for four hours per day - with one session in the morning and another in the afternoon. This will provide for a total of 18 sittings across the monsoon session, sources added.
Parliament will function on weekends (and there will be no leave) to ensure that MPs do not return to their constituencies amid the pandemic and either get infected themselves or bring the virus back with them.
Among various measures and restrictions to be imposed to guard against the COVID-19 threat are the use of chambers and galleries of both Houses for the sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
There are also proposals to install an ultraviolet irradiation system in the air-conditioning unit of the Rajya Sabha to kill germs and viruses. Overall, the monsoon session is likely to be marked by several firsts and special measures, government sources have said.
Four large (85 inches) display screens will be set up in the chambers and six smaller (40 inches) screens and audio consoles in the four galleries, as well as cables to transmit real-time audio-visual signals and communications consoles to enable members to participate in debates and discussions.
Different parties will be allotted seats - in either the chamber or galleries of the Rajya Sabha - based on their strength. The rest will be seated in the Lok Sabha chamber in two blocks - one for the ruling party and the second for others.
Seats will be reserved for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers and Leaders of the House and Opposition in the chamber of the Rajya Sabha. Former prime ministers, including Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr HD Deve Gowda, will also have seats reserved in the chamber.
Seating in the Officials Gallery and Press Gallery will also be in conformity with social distancing norms, with each holding only 15. This translates into limited numbers of secretariat officials and reporters.
Earlier this month sources said only seven reporters would be permitted in the press galleries while the Rajya Sabha is in session and 15 for the Lok Sabha. This is apart from news agencies like PTI and UNI, and state-run Doordarshan.
No temporary or session pass holding-reporters will be allowed, and journalists and ex-MPs will not be allowed in the central hall when sessions are on.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV will live telecast proceedings, as well as being responsible for coverage on the display screens in the chambers and galleries.
Sittings of both houses have been suspended since March, days before PM Modi announced the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
India has reported over 31 lakh cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in China's Wuhan district in December last year. The country is the third worst-affected in the world, with only the United States and China worse off.
According to government data this morning, India reported over 60,000 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, Over 58,000 have died from COVID-19 in the country so far.