The Trinamool Congress, in a letter to both Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, has requested that meetings of parliamentary committees be held via videoconference, and that the presiding officers of both Houses have the freedom to decide the procedures for functioning of the panels.
This letter comes ahead of a July 27 meeting of the joint parliamentary committee on Data Protection Bill that will be attended by members of both the Houses.
So far, committee chairpersons- Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh and Biju Janata Dal leader B. Mahtab have raised this demand . As a counter to this, many BJP MPs have written to both Mr. Birla and Mr. Naidu opposing the idea of virtual meetings quoting confidentiality norms.
In the letter, the party pointed out that the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha established that the decision of the presiding officers was final when deciding the procedure of functioning of the committees.
Both Houses have maintained that the rules have to be amended by the Rules Committees and then approved by them.
Govt. against virtual meetings of Parliamentary standing committees, citing confidentiality
The TMC also pointed out that there had been a precedent. “The joint committee on Salary and allowances, summoned two virtual meetings on 6th April 2020, 12 MPs participated in this meeting. (I am aware that this committee was set up in 1954 under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act). If a Parliamentary Committee set up by a particular law can meet virtually, then all Parliamentary committees should be allowed to meet virtually to do legislative work,” the letter said.
The Party has clarified in the same letter that it does not “subscribe to the idea of conducting a Parliament session virtually” since it would be impractical.
