In times of Covid-19, Goa's lawmakers are tinkering with the concept of a virtual assembly to avoid the risk of infection, even as at a meeting with Goa state assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar, legislators arrived at a mutual consensus to curtail the upcoming 10-day monsoon session to a one-day duration.
"The Speaker had called for an all-party meeting. Speaker had called for suggestions. After listening it them it was decided that only a one-day assembly session would be called.
Business will be decided by the Business Advisory Committee," Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters after the meeting.
One ruling BJP MLA and his family have already tested positive for Covid-19 and have been quarantined in an institutional facility. After the one-day session which has been
scheduled for July 27, Speaker Patnekar also told the legislators that the next session could be held in December for a longer duration.
Opposition MLAs who were in attendance at the meeting said they were in agreement with the decision taken by the Speaker.
"Today's meeting was an informal one called by the Speaker. There were discussions on various aspects taking into consideration the Covid-19 situation. One suggestion is that the assembly session should be limited to one day for passing of vote on accounts," Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat told reporters. "Some MLAs have also requested for a virual session of the state assembly to be conducted," he also said.
Kamat also demanded the scrapping of the state budget, which he said was no longer relevant with Covid-19 related expenses throwing the calculations off gear.
"The budget has no meaning. It will have to be reset. All these aspects will be discussed in upcoming BAC meeting. The Speaker has also said that information about how states are managing state Assembly sessions in other states like Maharashtra and Delhi will be sought, before the BAC meeting," the former Chief Minister told reporters.
The Leader of Opposition also said that there were several factors which were discussed, before deciding on curtailing the 11-day session to one day.
"Apart from MLAs, there are hundreds of persons who are present during an assembly session including civil officers, policemen, assembly staff," Kamat said.
"There is the air conditioning factor, the rainy season. Cases are increasing on the outside. The Speaker has said let us have a one-day session and then a full-fledged session at a later date," he also said.
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