New Delhi: Virtual conferences of parliamentary standing committees can not happen because it requires an modification in guidelines which isn’t doable because the Parliament isn’t in session, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat acknowledged in a letter to Leader of Opposition within the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge, sources mentioned on Friday.
Earlier this week, Kharge had urged Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to allow virtual conferences of parliamentary standing committees, saying the Parliament can’t be a mute spectator to individuals’s struggling.
In a letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman, Kharge had sought his intervention, saying that parliamentary panels can contribute to the continued endeavours in containing this pandemic and offering reduction to individuals.
An identical demand was additionally made by TMC Floor Leader within the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien.
Responding to Kharge’s demand, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat wrote a letter, saying that presiding officers of each the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have mentioned the matter.
In the same vogue through the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Rajya Sabha chairman and the Lok Sabha speaker had determined to refer holding of virtual conferences of the committees to the Rules Committee in lieu of the present guidelines and confidentiality clause, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat mentioned in accordance to the letter.
As bodily conferences of the committees have been being held recurrently, following the rules strictly, the matter rested there and the state of affairs had not arisen for contemplating the matter by the Rules Committees in each the Houses, it acknowledged.
The conferences of the committees could be thought of shortly as soon as the state of affairs improves for the higher, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat mentioned, including, “the issue of confidentiality can be resolved during the session as any amendment to the rules can be approved by respective houses only after the matter is considered by the Rules Committee”.
