Polycarbonated sheets to protect MLAs in House

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 4

Though Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has ruled out the possibility of convening the monsoon session immediately, preparations are under way to ensure social-distancing norms by placing polycarbonated sheets between two MLAs in the House.

Speaker Vipin Parmar today said steps were being taken to ensure that the social-distancing norms were strictly adhered to. “We will ensure adequate safety steps in place when the monsoon session is convened,” he said.

A demonstration of how these polycarbonated sheets work was given in the Vidhan Sabha. The Chief Minister was in the Assembly today to take part in the birth anniversary function of the first Chief Minister, Dr YS Parmar. Now, the PWD has been asked to go ahead and fix these sheets between two legislators.

The Speaker showed him how these sheets will be placed between two legislators, who share a seat. The sheet will keep an MLA safe from the possible threat of corona infection from the legislator sitting beside him. However, there will be no such sheet for the CM as he does not share a seat with anyone.

Normally, the monsoon session is held in August but, because of coronavirus, the possibility of the session is bleak. The CM has gone on record saying that the session will not be held right now.

The Congress is demanding a special session to discuss the Covid situation. It was on March 24 that the Budget session had to be abruptly called off after the pandemic broke out.

Shield against Covid-19

• A demonstration of how these polycarbonated sheets work was given in the Vidhan Sabha
• The Chief Minister was in the Assembly today to take part in the birth anniversary function of the first CM, Dr YS Parmar
• The PWD has been asked to go ahead and fix these sheets between two MLAs
• However, there will be no such sheet for the CM as he does not share a seat with anyone