Venkaiah Naidu reviews preparedness of LS, RS secretariats for meetings

On Saturday, Naidu discussed the issue with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, and senior officials of the two Houses

Feeling the heat

There were chaotic scenes at the hi-tech Mantralaya building in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, recently when the state administrative officials resumed duty after a long break following the nationwide lockdown. The first measure taken to combat Covid-19 was to switch off the air-conditioning system to prevent stale air from circulating. Unfortunately, the building is equipped with a centralised air-conditioning system and the rooms do not have ceiling fans or any other mode of ventilation. With the mercury touching 45 degree Celsius, those attending could feel the heat immediately upon arriving. Some senior officers ordered table fans to be set up so they could start working. Those lower down the hierarchy were not so fortunate. The junior staff then decided to follow suit — but at their own expense. They began collecting money to purchase table fans.

Business as usual

As domestic flights resumed on Monday, the way was paved for holding meetings of parliamentary committees once lockdown 4.0 ends on May 31. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu “has reviewed the preparedness” of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats to ensure that rooms are available to enable social distancing during meetings. On Saturday, Naidu discussed the issue with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, and senior officials of the two Houses. Nine rooms in Parliament House and its annexe building were identified for holding regular meetings of the standing committees of 24 departments and another six for other committees of both the Houses. The 24 departmental standing committees have 31 members, including 10 from the Rajya Sabha and 21 from the Lok Sabha.

End of stand-off

The stand-off between the Madhya Pradesh government and liquor traders seems to have ended. The state government has made changes in the excise policy, giving relief to traders who were not willing to open shops even after repeated requests by the government. Reason? While renewing their licences for 2020-21, they had paid an additional 25 per cent as fee. After making huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown, they had sought relaxations like slashing value-added tax. After much haggling, the retail prices of varieties of country and foreign liquor have been increased by 10 per cent. Once the changes come into effect, contractors can earn profit of up to 25 per cent on country liquor and 20 per cent on foreign liquor.