Missteps In Planning: Amid COVID, Could We Not Have Convened A Virtual Monsoon Session?
First the missteps. With the total COVID cases inching towards 60 lakhs, not to mention India’s unenviable tag of being the ‘global leader in daily cases and daily deaths’, the logic of calling the Parliament into session was questionable. The average age of lawmakers in our country is currently 54. That of the Cabinet is 60. A significant number of lawmakers fall in the ‘at-risk’ group between 60-80.
In these circumstances, and keeping in mind the national picture, despite the Parliament staff working overnight to ensure that a number of precautionary measures were in place (including staggered timings, physical distance between seats, regular sanitisation etc), the prospect of Parliament convening physically was always a risky proposition.
Not that it shouldn’t have conducted its…