Staggered seating: How Parliament will re-convene in September

New Delhi, Aug 17: The Monsoon Session of Parliament is likely to be held in September.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will only on alternate days.

This would be done to accommodate members in the chambers and galleries of both Houses. There would also be staggered seating arrangements to ensure social distancing in view of the pandemic There would also be audio-visual connectivity across both the chambers to allow members to take part in the proceedings from where they are seated.

Rajya Sabha chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker, Om Birla directed the secretariat staff to ensure preparedness by next week. They have also been directed to test the systems and also have a dry run.

The last time Parliament met was on March 23. The rules mandate that the Parliament must be convened within six months of the last session. This means Parliament would have to meet on or before September 22. Due to staggered seating arrangements, allotment of seats will not be done on the basis of the strength of parties in both Houses.