A day after the Rajya Sabha secretariat came out with a Covid-19 protocol for holding Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings, senior Congress MP Jairam Ramesh stressed on the importance of virtual meetings during the pandemic.

In an interview to BusinessLine , Ramesh said proper parliamentary oversight will not be possible if MPs scattered across the country are pushed into being physically present in the standing ommittee meetings. Citing international precedent, Ramesh said it is entirely possible for Indian Parliament to do the same and questioned the rationale for refusing virtual meetings. Excerpts:

What rationale have you offered to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu for stressing on virtual meetings of the standing committees?

I have written to him thrice in the last three months, requesting that the Standing Committees should be allowed to meet virtually. But so far, they have not offered any reasonable explanation for refusing to do it. Virtual meetings are being demanded by MPs of all political parties, including the BJP.

I honestly don’t know the real objection, except some people say it is confidentiality. Somebody else says the National Informatics Centre does not have the capacity. There is also an argument that rules do not allow such a meeting. But these are all excuses.

The maximum attendance in standing committee meetings at any point of time is no more than 35, including members and officials. How can you say that you can’t do a video-conferencing of 35 or 40 people? It’s ridiculous.

Are you suggesting an unwillingness to face questioning?

A lot of important issues, a lot of reports and a lot of Bills are pending before these panels. The last three months have been a big disruption in the functioning of Parliament. It is going to take some time before we get back to some semblance of working order.

The term of these committees gets over in September. I have been saying for many years that the standing committees should have a two-year term. It should not be a one-year term.

The committees were constituted four months late, in September, last year. Now, four months have gone past and no work has been done.

The Covid-19 protocol guidelines for Parliament limit the movement of senior MPs, don’t they?

I am also over 65 years old. My meeting is scheduled on July 10. No member from the South can attend. No one from the Western States can attend. Only seven MPs out of 31 members have confirmed. These are people who are in and around Delhi.

I have decided to go ahead with the meeting. Every member has said, call a virtual meeting.

If the Prime Minister can have video conferences with State Chief Ministers, if National Security Advisor Ajit Doval can have a video conference with his counterpart in China, I can’t understand why 30 MPs together can’t have a virtual meeting of their standing committee.

The Environment Ministry is clearing projects virtually. The Environment Appraisal Committee’s meetings were online. And you are not allowing a standing committee to meet online! What sort of logic is this?

You had said Parliamentary proceedings are being conducted on virtual polatforms across the world. Can you cite some instances?

Over 30 Parliaments, including even Pakistan, have had virtual Parliament sessions. The UK, of course, had a virtual Parliament. Many countries that are not technologically as advanced as India have had virtual Parliaments.

We have been asking for virtual Parliament sessions. Parliament is scheduled to meet by the middle of July for the monsoon session. I can understand that they cannot hold Parliament session earlier. But there is no excuse for not having virtual meetings of the standing committees.

Given the risk, I did not insist of meeting of Parliament. But I insisted on the standing committee meetings. Normally, the standing committees meet once in 45 days.

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