The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has recommended the government to hold the Monsoon Session of Parliament from July 19 to August 13, news agency ANI reported on June 29.
The parliamentary session comes shortly after the country witnessed a second wave of the pandemic, in which the number of infections and fatalities due to COVID-19 exponentially soared.
The tenure of previous sessions of Parliament, held since March 2020, were curtailed in view of the coronavirus situation. The 2020 Winter Session was completely skipped considering the risks posed by the virus.
Ahead of the upcoming Monsoon Session, the data available with the Rajya Sabha Secretariat shows that 179 lawmakers - nearly three-fourth of the Upper House - have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Among Lok Sabha MPs, 403 out of the 540-member House have been inoculated with both doses of coronavirus vaccine. Among the remaining MPs, most of them have taken at least the first dose of the vaccine.
With a larger number of lawmakers vaccinated, and the overall COVID-19 case count dropping sharply in the nation, speculations are rife that this session of Parliament could be more productive than the previous sessions.
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The Opposition is likely to attempt at cornering the government over its vaccination policy - which was at one point called by the Supreme Court as "irrational". The Centre, however, has since amended the immunisation strategy and has announced a target to inoculate all adults by December 31, 2021.
The issue of ongoing farmers' protests, which has entered into its seventh month, is also expected to be a point of verbal duel between the Opposition and treasury benches. With the upcoming five-state assembly polls in sight, including the high-stake Uttar Pradesh elections, the Parliament may also be witness to heated political debates.
