The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has recommended that the Monsoon Session of Parliament be held from 19 July to 13 August, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday, 29 June.
However, the final date will be officially declared after the CCPA meeting, which will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting is slated to be held after Singh returns from his three-day visit to Ladakh, reported IANS.
The nearly month-long session is likely to have around 20 sittings, IANS reported quoting sources.
The Monsoon session of Parliament usually commences in the third week of July and concludes ahead of Independence Day.
Since the pandemic began, three sessions of Parliament – Budget, Monsoon and Winter Session – were curtailed and the Winter Session last year had to be cancelled. Last year, the Monsoon session, which usually starts in July, had begun in September.
This year's Monsoon Session would come after a devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, with daily cases having peaked at more than four lakh and deaths at more than 4,000. The wave was marked by a crippling shortage of hospital beds, medical oxygen, and essential medicines.
Lockdowns were imposed in most states across the country. With cases having been on the decline for the last couple of weeks, restrictions are being eased.
However, according to IANS, the authorities are confident of holding the Monsoon session in July this year as most of the parliamentarians, staff members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha secretariats and other stakeholders have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
(With inputs from ANI and IANS)
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