Monsoon session of Bihar Legislature to be held outside premises in view of COVID-19

Assembly had sought alternative arrangement to meet social distancing norms

July 25, 2020 11:53 am | Updated 11:53 am IST - Patna

The Bihar Governor, on the request of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to hold the forthcoming four-day monsoon session outside the Legislature premises in view of COVID-19. File photo

The Bihar Governor, on the request of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to hold the forthcoming four-day monsoon session outside the Legislature premises in view of COVID-19. File photo

For the first time in the history of the Bihar Legislature, the upcoming monsoon session scheduled to begin from August 3 will be held outside the Legislature premises.

The Bihar Governor, on the request of the Bihar Legislative Assembly to hold the forthcoming four-day monsoon session outside the Legislature premises in view of COVID-19 , has issued a modified summons letter to convene the Assembly.

Also read: ECI defers bypolls for one Lok Sabha, 7 Assembly seats in 6 States due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’

Earlier, Speaker Vijay Choudhary had written to the Bihar government that due to social distancing norms it would not be possible to hold the upcoming monsoon session at the central hall of the premises.

The Bihar Assembly has a total strength of 243 members.

Later, the Bihar government selected Patna’s Gyan Bhawan at the Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre for the purpose.

Gyan Bhawan, inaugurated in 2017, has enough space along with entry and exit points to accommodate legislators while following social distancing norms.

“The Assembly session will be held at the conference hall on second floor which has a seating capacity of 800 people, while the Legislative Council session will be held in the meeting hall on the first floor of the Gyan Bhawan”, said Mr. Choudhary.

In March this year, the Budget session of the Bihar Legislature had come to an end before schedule because of the outbreak of COVID-19.

“It will be for the first time that the full Bihar Legislature session will be held outside the Legislature premises as this has been a difficult time in view of COVID-19”, said a ruling party BJP MLA.

The district administration too has geared up for the security arrangement at Gyan Bhawan, located at the north of Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, for the forthcoming monsoon session there.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.