BENGALURU: With just a few weeks to go for the Karnataka legislature session, both Assembly and Council secretariats may insist on legislators and officials attending the session to carry Covid-negative certificates before entering the Houses.
The State government has decided to hold the session from September 21 for ten days at the Vidhana Soudha. Secretariat officials have already begun preparations and are taking several precautionary measures, including putting up fibre sheets between two seats to avoid cross-infection among members. Also, sanitiser bottles will be placed at each table.
To avoid crowding at Vidhana Soudha, the public will not be allowed to witness the session this time, sources said. Already, many political leaders, including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, Minister C T Ravi, KPCC president D K Shivakumar and former minister H D Revanna, have tested positive.
They have all, however, recovered and discharged from hospital. Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri has a proposal before him to allow members to attend the session only after they produce a Covid-negative certificate.
He told The New Indian Express that even for Parliament proceedings, a standard operating procedure has been issued, asking MPs to get themselves tested for Covid at least 72 hours before the start of the monsoon session.
“We have got their SOP and we are studying it. We may not exactly follow the same procedure, but customise it to our convenience. The Parliament SOP insists on a Covid test 72 hours before the session. But it cannot be done here as many legislators come from rural areas. Instead, we are thinking of conducting rapid antigen tests, which give results within 20 minutes, inside the Banquet Hall of Vidhana Soudha. We are discussing it with Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar. There will be some clarity by next week.”