The Winter session of Parliament will be held from November 29 till December 23. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA), which met on Monday, has approved these dates and sent a recommendation to the President to call the session.

The 25 day-long session will have 19 sittings and will be held with all Covid-19 protocols like the previous sessions held over the past one-and-a-half years.

Due to the pandemic, there was no Winter session in 2020 while the Monsoon session, scheduled to be held from September 14 to October 1, was adjourned sine die on September 23 on account of Covid-19.

Earlier this year, the Monsoon session of the Parliament was rocked by protests and disruptions by the Opposition over the Pegasus spyware issue and repeal of the three farm laws.

The session was eventually adjourned sine die two days ahead of its scheduled date due to the protests and acrimony between the government and the Opposition.

The Winter session is all set to be a heated and stormy affair, with the Opposition preparing to corner the Modi government on issues like inflation, Lakhimpur Kheri violence, militant attacks on civilians in Kashmir, and the farmers’ protests against the three agricultural laws.

The Opposition, led by the Congress, is expected to keep the heat on against the government over the Pegasus snoopgate, especially after the Supreme Court ordered an independent probe into the matter. The SC said that the government can’t get a free pass every time “national security” is raised.

In the Monsoon session, the Opposition had targeted the Prime Minister over the agony and sufferings of people during the second wave of the pandemic. In the Winter session, the government will enter Parliament with all guns blazing following the 100 crore vaccine milestone.

The government has a slew of pending bills that it would like to push through in this session.

With no thaw in the government-opposition relationship, long spells of disruptions and adjournments are being predicted. In the 2021 Monsoon session, the Lok Sabha recorded a productivity of 21% while for Rajya Sabha, it was 29%. This was a sharp drop compared to the Budget session this year, when the Lower House recorded 107% productivity and the Upper House almost 90%.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS TO CONTINUE

Both Houses of Parliament — Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha – will hold proceedings simultaneously, unlike the Budget session, when sittings were held on all working days alternately, in the first and second half of the day. Then, the Rajya Sabha met from 9 am to 2 pm, while Lok Sabha sittings were held from 3 pm to 9 pm.

All members and visitors will have to follow the elaborate social distancing norms mandated by the heads of the two Houses.

Those attending the proceedings, including MPs, will be required to wear masks and may also be asked to undergo a Covid-19 test before the commencement of the session.