The opposition Congress and TMC have written to presiding officers of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to permit digital conferences of parliamentary standing committees, saying Parliament can’t be a mute spectator to the COVID disaster and should give a message of solidarity with individuals.
In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge mentioned parliamentary panels can contribute to the continuing endeavours in containing the pandemic and offering reduction to individuals.
“At this hour of collective crisis, the Parliament of India cannot be and must not be a mute spectator. It must give a message of solidarity with the people, of serious business to alleviate their agony and of unity of purpose,” he mentioned.
The senior Congress chief mentioned the Department Related Standing Committees are an efficient, non-partisan mechanism of Parliament and the custom of collective brain-storming within the committees is a cherished achievement of the parliamentary system.
“The conferences of the Standing Committees at this juncture will present the nation a lot required collective initiative throughout the celebration strains. They are an efficient instrument to make sure accountability, to supply an institutional platform to all stakeholders and to collectively discover options.
“It is in this spirit that I urge you to allow the virtual meetings of the Standing Committees,” he mentioned in his letter.
Trinamool Congress’ nationwide spokesperson Derek O’Brien wrote to Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the identical concern.
“India has reported greater than three lakh new COVID-19 instances per day for the previous two weeks.
“In light of the prevailing circumstances, I urge your good offices to reconsider our request for conducting virtual meetings of parliamentary committees, including departmentally related standing committees, consultative committees and select committees,” he mentioned.
This is the TMC’s third letter on the problem, the celebration mentioned, including that the primary was despatched in July 2020 and the subsequent in August 2020.
The opposition events had raised an identical demand in July final yr after the COVID pandemic outbreak. Both Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman had then communicated that digital conferences of parliamentary committees couldn’t be allowed due to the confidentiality clause and it might solely be altered by Parliament.