New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are likely to start functioning simultaneously from 11.00am during the second part of the Budget Session of Parliament from March 14, sources said Tuesday. However, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will use their respective chambers and galleries for the members to seat, as was the case earlier, they informed.
According to the sources, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met Tuesday. They discussed the seating arrangements for the second part of the Budget Session.
The secretaries general of both the Houses also discussed the issue in the context of a substantial reduction in the number of Covid-19 cases during the third wave of the pandemic in India and the extensive vaccination coverage.
The Rajya Sabha functioned from 10.00am to 3.00pm and the Lok Sabha from 4.00pm to 9.00pm during the first part of the Budget session.
The session started January 30 with the president’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses and the Union Budget was presented February 1.
The Budget Session of the Lok Sabha and the 251st session of the Rajya Sabha in January 2020 were the first sessions to be curtailed by eight sittings due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
