Bhubaneswar, November 25: Ahead of the Winter Session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, all the MLAs and their personal staff will undergo RT-PCR test.
“Like previous sessions, the Winter Session will commence from December 1 with strict observance of the COVID-19 guidelines,” said Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro on Thursday.
Patro said all the MLAs, Assembly staff and media persons will have to undergo RT-PCR test before the commencement of the Session.
“Test will be conducted on November 28, 29 and 30 inside the Assembly premises and only those who tested COVID-19 negative will be allowed to enter the Assembly premises,” added Speaker Patro.
The seating arrangement for the members would be made in the House, Speaker’s Gallery and Public Gallery maintaining social distancing norms, he said.
Patro said that .embers unable to attend the House in person can participate in the proceedings of the house through video conferencing like previous sessions.
“How long the Assembly will function daily will be decided in an all party meeting scheduled to be held on November 29,” added Patro.
The House will be sanitised on a daily basis to prevent the spread of the virus, he further said.
The Session will have 26 working days and continue till December 31. On the first day, the Supplementary Budget will be presented while the Appropriation Bill will be tabled on December 10.
Recently, the Council of Ministers headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave its nod for the first supplementary budget for the year 2021-22.
