Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arrives to attend the meeting of Business Advisory Committee (BAC) at Parliament House Annexe, in New Delhi (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist)

Amid intensifying scare of Covid-19 spread in the premises of the Parliament building, MPs in the Lok Sabha have reached a consensus to curtail the ongoing Monsoon Session.

With the treasury benches insisting on passing the bills listed and the opposition seeking debates on crucial issues, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to take a final decision on the dates to wind up the session. The Monsoon Session that started on September 14 with several firsts and unprecedented protocols against Covid spread, was scheduled to end on October 1.

The Indian Express on Friday reported that apprehensions over the spread of the virus could prompt an early winding up of the session

On Saturday afternoon, Speaker Birla convened an “urgent meeting” of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to discuss about the curtailment of the session. “There was a consensus on the curtailment of the session taking the pandemic situation into consideration,” said a regional party leader after the BAC meeting. “Whether it is by Wednesday or Thursday, the speaker will take a decision,” he added.

Follow LIVE updates on Parliament Monsoon session

In the meeting, the government insisted that it wants to clear all the bills it has listed. While the Congress asserted that it wanted detailed discussion on a number or issues– discussion under 193 which is without a vote– including on the Covid-19 situation, economic slowdown and National Education Policy, the Trinamool Congress said it wants to discuss GST compensation for the state in this session.

“In a worst case scenario we want to discuss the Covid situation at least,” said a Congress leader.

In the last BAC meeting, the government listed 14 items and only eight of them have been cleared so far. On Friday, the government wanted the Lok Sabha to allocate time for six more bills in the coming days. It included three labour related bills – including the Code on Industrial Relations, the Social Security Code and the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Condition – the Jammu and Kashmir official Language Bill, The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill 2020 and the Foreign Regulation (Amendment) bill.

With more than 30 MPs including Union Ministets Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel and several parliament staff testing positive over the last week, there has been a palpable sense of concern and apprehension in Parliament over the spread of the infection.

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