Parliamentary standing committee to meet on June 3 on lockdown

NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Standing Committee will be meeting on June 3 on the issue of nationwide lockdown. Sources said the Union Home Secretary will be briefing the committee on the ongoing lockdown and its impact on the country. This would be the first meeting of the committee after the announcement of the countrywide lockdown and will be held in the Parliament complex at 11 a.m.

The Congress Deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, who is the Chairman of the committee and has called the meeting, declined to comment on it. But, sources said, the members of the committee have been conveyed information about the meeting.

Sources also said that the officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may face tough questions regarding the lockdown and the method adopted by the government to implement in it. The duration of the fourth lockdown is ending on May 31. The government has not announced the next move till now.

Earlier, a move to have a virtual meeting of the same was stalled by the Rajya Sabha secretariat on the ground that the Standing Committee procedures can’t be held virtually because of secrecy.

The principal opposition party Congress has been demanding a parliamentary scrutiny on the government functioning during the lockdown and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IANS