Covid-19: Four-day-long monsoon session of Bihar legislature likely to be reduced to one-day affair

PATNA: The monsoon session of both Houses of the state legislature, scheduled to begin from Monday, is likely to be a smooth affair, as the legislative party leaders of almost all political outfits in the assembly have agreed to wind up the four-day session into to one-day affairs because of unprecedented situation prevailing in the state due to Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the final decision on the issue of transacting all important legislative businesses of four days in a single day, on the first day of the session, would be taken in the house after a meeting of the business advisory committee, an official of the state assembly told TOI on Saturday.
“The Governor Phagu Chouhan has convened both the houses for four days beginning from August 3 to 6. Only the house is empowered to make any change in the schedule of the businesses approved by the governor,” said the official.
Earlier on Saturday, during a meeting of legislative party leaders, all political parties in the assembly agreed to transact all important legislative businesses of scheduled four days on the opening day and wind up the last session of the current 16th Vidhan Sabha in one day due to Covid-19 pandemic. As per the proposal which will be approved in the house on Monday after a meeting of the assembly’s business advisory committee, all legislative works would be completed in the first sitting and the house will hold a debate on the issues of covid-19 and flood in the second sitting on Monday.
A total of 10 ordinances and two bills will be laid on the table of the house on Monday, an assembly official said. Prominent ordinances and bills which will be tabled, are the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (amendment and validation) Ordinance-2020, Bihar Taxation Law (Amendment) Ordinance-2020, Bihar GST (Amendment) Ordinance-2020, Bihar Industrial Dispute Ordinance-2020, Bihar PWD Contrsct Dispute Arbitration Tribunal (Amendment) Bill-2020 and Bihar Agriculture Land (Change of Nature for Non-agricultural Purposes) Bill-2020.
The first supplementary budget for the current financial year (2020-21) is also on the list of businesses scheduled to be taken up in the session.
It is for the first time in last nine decades that a session of the Bihar assembly and the state council were being held outside their own premises. The monsoon session of both the houses this year is being held at the Gyan Bhavan in the premises of the Samrat Ashok Convention Kendra near Gandhi Maidan, due to covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier in the day, the Council acting chairperson Awadhesh Narain Singh convened a meeting of the legislative party leaders in the council to ensure smooth functioning of the upper house during its 195th session. Leaders of all parties agreed to hold a brief debate on the issues of flood and covid-19 during the Monsoon session. They also agreed to reduce the days of the four-day session in the wake of covid-19 pandemic.
Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar, JD(U)’s whip Reena Yadav, Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra and RJD MLC Ram Bali Singh were prominent among those who attended the meeting.