Maharashtra legislature: State prepares for assembly session in Sept amid COVID-19

The monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature which was scheduled on August 3 it will be held on 7th and 8th September 2020. The decision was taken in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the state.

This is only the third session of the assembly since Mahavikas Aghadi took charge of the government in Maharashtra. 

The decision was taken at a meeting of the business advisory committee on Tuesday and decided on a 2-day monsoon session. 

The session was originally scheduled for June 22 which then got pushed back to August 3 and now it will be held on September 7.

Incidentally, the Budget session of the legislature in March was curtailed from scheduled four weeks to three weeks.

The assembly will take all the precautions like maintaining social distancing norms. MLAs and MLCs will be seated in the house and also in the visiting and student galleries right above the house. The session will be conducted for both houses. On 6th September, a day before it convenes, all MLAs and MLCs shall undergo rapid antigen tests for coronavirus.

The house members will be provided corona safety kits. Personal assistants of the elected representatives will not be allowed inside, instead a separate arrangement will be made for them.

Drivers also will not be allowed to wait in the parking lot beside their cars, they too will have a separate arrangement made for them. 

Elected representatives who have comorbidity condition are expected to keep their party group leaders informed of their health status.