The budget session of Parliament will commence from 29th January 2021. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister will present the budget on 1st February.
The Lok Sabha secretariat issued a press note that said, “The fifth session of the 17th Lok Sabha will commence on Friday, 29th January 2021. Subject to exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on Thursday, 8th April 2021.” The session will have a break from 15th February to 8th March.
President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to dress both Houses of Parliament on the first day at 11 AM. According to a Press Trust of India report, the economic survey could be put forward later on the same day.
The party in power, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to face difficult questions from Opposition parties on serious issues such as the migrant crisis and job scenario. The government may also be worried about the three constitutional farm laws that have led to protests and have been going on for more than three months.
A senior Congress leader, with the condition of anonymity, said, “Opposition parties have stayed away from the protests by farmers because we do not want to allow the BJP to make it a political issue. However, we will raise the issue. The Union government will have to explain the situation in Parliament.
Senior Opposition leaders are also interested in having a discussion on employment generation and the reverse migration, which saw an estimated 7 million daily labourers going back to their homes, mostly situated in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Key Opposition parties are keen to bring up the problem of the border stand-off with China and ask for an update on the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Other key legislation that could be taken up during the budget session is the Personal Data Protection Bill, for which a joint committee was set up. Some key bills from last year that were referred to Parliamentary committees which include the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill. Other pending legislation includes the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill and the Dam Safety Bill.
The Opposition is not expected to question the government on how they deal with the pandemic, but also discuss measures for the mass COVID-19 vaccination drive that starts on Saturday and seek more financial assistance for states to deal with the fallout of COVID-19.
Last year, the pandemic impacted parliamentary proceedings with truncated sessions, with the budget session in March and the monsoon session in September accounting for only 33 sittings, according to data from PRS Legislative Research.
The budget session will be held following strict social distancing rules and precautionary measures will be put in place for convening the session. These include holding sittings of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in different shifts and using different halls to convene the sittings.
