Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday announced that the Monsoon Session of the Parliament will be held between July 19 and August 13. The proceedings in both the Houses of the Parliament will commence from 11 am and continue till 6 pm.

Birla said that those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be requested to undergo the RT-PCR (reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction) tests. “Extensive preparations” related to Covid-19 norms had been made to ensure that the session was conducted successfully, the Speaker said.

The Monsoon Session will have 19 business days, Birla said, according to ANI.

The two Houses of the Parliament will have Zero, Question Hours and take up private member bills, Birla said. So far, 3,389 topics have been discussed during the Zero Hour of the 17th Lok Sabha, the Speaker said, adding that this number was higher than the previous sessions of the lower House

The session from next week will be conducted in both the Houses of the Parliament in accordance with all the necessary Covid-19 protocols and members of Parliament will follow physical distancing guidelines.

As many as 444 members of the Lok Sabha and 218 members of the Rajya Sabha have been vaccinated against Covid-19, reported the Hindustan Times.

The Budget Session of the Parliament had concluded two weeks ahead of schedule in March after MPs asked to cut it short. Most members had then agreed to focus on campaigning for the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. The Lok Sabha had recorded 114% productivity during the session, while the Rajya Sabha registered 90% productivity.