Virtual Parliament sessions are not new, as many countries since the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic have resorted to this method. Parliaments around the world are adapting to the unprecedented pandemic crisis with new experiments. Egypt, Germany, Israel, Sweden, European Union have gone virtual. Countries like UK and Philippines have adopted a hybrid model of both physical and virtual. India wants to follow the U.K. model.

Why should the parliament meet in such a crisis? Did not the opposition demand adjournment in March citing Covid? How has the situation changed now? Apart from the Constitutional requirement, it is necessary for the executive to place before the legislature the measures taken to handle the crisis.

Secondly, certain emergency measures might require legislation. There are various ordinances, which need to be introduced in parliament.

Thirdly, a parliament session will become two- way traffic for the government and the members.

With the Congress led opposition demanding a session and the Constitutional provisions stipulate such a meeting, Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have had three meetings. But a final decision is awaited because it is for the government to decide. The presiding officers of both the houses are aware of the challenges in holding this hybrid session. The first is the venue. Several options are before them including holding the meeting of Lok Sabha in the Central Hall, with the Rajya Sabha, which has less members than the lower house, shifting to the chamber of Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha will seat 127 members physically and the rest in the galleries. Screens would have to be arranged both within the house and outside to enable virtual participation. There will be space constraint until the new parliament complex comes up in 2022.

The second is the feasibility of such a session. India, like many other countries including U.K is slow in adapting to the 21stcentury modern technologies in their parliaments. The Coronavirus has given an impetus to experiment new digital method. The UK Parliament took the lead in changing its 800-year-old practices and met virtually a few weeks ago. India too is considering following the U.K. model, which was a mix of virtual and physical presence of the M.Ps.

For the hybrid session Parliament should be ready with an uninterrupted power supply, a secure broadband connection with the members, immediate translation etc. To connect the members virtually even at the district level, it is going to cost Rs 25 crores and a three months time frame. Then what about members who are not tech savvy? The total number of people for the session would be about 3500 including the staff, security, media and the M.Ps and their staff. It would be a risk to expose them to the pandemic.

The third is that the house has to be ready to enable the members to vote, administering oath to new members, and effective measures of physical distancing in the house and sanitation as well as transportation of members

As a prelude to that, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has permitted physical meetings of the Parliamentary panels. This will be a first of its kind with the members given soft copy papers and follow social distancing and other guidelines. Ministries have been advised to keep to a maximum number of five to appear before the committee.

The million-dollar question is how effective the hybrid session of Parliament would be? What impact is physical distancing and confinement will have on Parliament’s functioning? How would the opposition function? They will not be able to disrupt the business, make noisy scenes, hold placard, walk out remote would be in the hands of the chair.

The presiding officers are aware of the risk they would be taking in getting the 750 M.Ps to Delhi and also keeping them safe. Overcoming the challenges is important and the system will be perfected in this hit and miss experiment. Despite all these people’s representatives should have an opportunity to speak the voice of the people. We have to move with times and adapt ourselves to the new situations. No time is better than the present time.
(IPA Service)