The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are likely to start functioning simultaneously from 11 am during the second part of the budget session of Parliament from March 14, sources said on Tuesday.However, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will use their respective chambers and galleries for the members to seat, as was the case earlier, they pointed out.According to the sources, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met on Tuesday and discussed the seating arrangements for the second part of the budget session.The secretaries general of both the houses also discussed the issue in the context of a substantial reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases during the third wave of the pandemic in the country and the extensive vaccination coverage.The Rajya Sabha functioned from 10 am to 3 pm and the Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm during the first part of the budget session.The session started on January 30 with the president’s address to a joint sitting of both houses and the Union budget was presented on February 1.The budget session of the Lok Sabha and the 251st session of the Rajya Sabha in January 2020 were the first sessions to be curtailed by eight sittings due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the 252nd session of the Rajya Sabha in September 2020 and the monsoon session of the Lok Sabha were the first ones to be held under full Covid protocols, with the members seated in both houses and in two shifts, officials said.
