The Monsoon Session of the Parliament will witness a multitude of new protocols including seating and other safety measures in
compliance with the COVID-19 regulations.

As per the
Indian constitution, the period between two sessions of the Parliament cannot
exceed more than six months. With the Budget Session having ended on March 23, the
Parliament has a window till September 23 to begin proceedings for the Monsoon Session.

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Rajya Sabha
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla held a meeting on July
17 to examine the options for proceeding with the monsoon session and decided
to use galleries and chambers of both houses of the Parliament to seat the members,
as reported by news agency ANI.

Naidu has directed officials to to complete preparations for the session by the third week of August when testing, rehearsal and final inspection would be carried out, according to PTI.

60 members
will be seated in the chambers and 51 in the galleries of the Rajya Sabha with
the remaining 132 in the Lok Sabha chamber,  marking the first time in the history of Indian Parliament since 1952 that such an arrangement will be in place.

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Circumstances have also forced to change the usual norm of both houses functioning simultaneously, with one House functioning during the morning hours and the other in the evening. 

The Rajya
Sabha Secretariat has been working overtime to oversee a number of additional installations
within the limited time frame, which include four large display screens in the
chamber of the house. An additional six screens are to be installed in the four
galleries of the house.

Other additions
include audio consoles in the galleries, an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation system
for sanitation, special cables connecting the two Houses for transmission of
audio-visual signals and polycarbonate sheets separating the Official Gallery
from the chamber of the House.