June 3 meeting of parliamentary panel on home affairs deferred

A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs convened on June 3 to discuss the coronavirus-induced lockdown has been deferred after some members expressed their inability to attend it due to travel restrictions, sources said on Monday (June 1).

Chairman of the committee and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma had convened the meeting and Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla was to brief its members on the coronavirus-induced lockdown and issues of coordination with states.

“Inability expressed by some members to attend the meeting of the committee due to travel constraints on account of mandatory quarantine in different states was the reason for deferring the meeting,” the sources said.

No new date for the meeting has been fixed and the sources said it would be worked out soon in consultation with the panel’s members.

The chairpersons of different parliamentary panels are empowered to convene regular meetings of the committees that are usually held in Parliament complex.

“Sharma had sought approval of the Rajya Sabha Chairman to allow members not able to attend the meeting of the committee to participate through video conferencing, but was denied permission,” the sources said.

This was to be the first meeting of the parliamentary committee since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to combat the novel coronavirus on March 25.

The issue of thousands of migrant workers walking on the roads in their bid to reach home during the lockdown were likely to be discussed at the panel meeting, the sources said.