6 Feet Dividers Between Seats, Ban On Visitors As Himachal Assembly Gears Up For Session Amid Pandemic

Six-feet high Polycarbonate dividers for the seating arrangement of MLAs, strict check on the number of staff members accompanying cabinet ministers, and ban on visitors are some of the new measures undertaken for the upcoming 12-day long monsoon session of Himachal Pradesh's Vidhan Sabha.

The session, demand for which was being voiced by the opposition for a long time, will begin in Shimla from September 7 even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. The 68-member state Assembly will have a total of 10 sittings.

“The COVID protocol and SOP framed by the MHA will be enforced strictly to ensure safety of the legislators, ministers and Vidhan Sabha staff, “ Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar told the Outlook.

Parmar, on Tuesday, gave his go-ahead to the state’s PWD department to install transparent scratch-free polycarbonate sheets as dividers in the middle of the twin-sharing seats of MLAs as well as those of the ministers.

“Initially, we thought of a two feet high divider with wooden frames. Now, it has been changed to six-feet high thick fully transparent partitions. The sheets are the safest thing to ensure a reasonable distance between the MLAs seated together yet divided by the dividers " he said.

Among other things, the safety measures include a complete ban on the entry of visitors coming to watch the proceeding of the House, and even supporters of the MLAs. The ministers have been told to cut down staff accompanying them, and only those aides should come whose presence is requested as assistance. The officers will also be told to cut down the number of officials coming to the officers' gallery.

In the media galleries, the measures to cut down the number of passes will be invoked as wel.

Parmar said, “The global pandemic calls for utmost care and precautions. The Vidhan Sabha Secretariat is in close contact with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats to follow necessary SOPs and adopt instructions “

He, however, ruled out possibilities of making it mandatory for the MLAs or ministers to undergo COVID tests if they don't have any symptoms.

Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha has been paperless since 2014 -- first in the country. Hence, the Speaker feels that use of hi-tech audiovisual gadgets will help the citizens to get online access to its proceedings.

The Vidhan Sabha was adjourned on March 23 abruptly following the outbreak of the coronavirus and the impending lockdown. The opposition had been putting pressure on Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to convene the session to discuss the pandemic and steps taken by the BJP government to handle the COVID crisis in the state, apart from a health scam compelling state BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal to resign on moral grounds.

After the monsoon session , the Vidhan Sabha will meet at Dharamshala for the winter session as per the practice in the state