The monsoon session of Parliament is expected to begin as per the schedule in July, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Tuesday.
As per norms, the session is held in the second or third week of July. The last session of Parliament was curtailed and ended sine die on March 25 and as per the Constitutional norms, the next session has to be held within six months. This period ends on September 14. Three sessions have been curtailed since the pandemic began in March last year. First of these was the Budget session of 2020. The winter session of last year was also cut short because of the pandemic. Last year, the monsoon session, which usually starts in July, had begun in September.
“I am hopeful that the Parliament session will be held as per its normal schedule starting in July,” Mr. Joshi told PTI .
Sources said that with the COVID spread under control for now and the possibility of the third wave looming in the coming months, the government does not want to postpone the session to September. The monsoon session, sources also said, will be a short one. So far most of the parliamentarians have got at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. However, COVID protocol that was followed in the last three session, including members sitting in galleries to maintain physical distance is expected to continue.
