Coronavirus: PM Narendra Modi rules out curtailing Budget Session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ruled out curtailing the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament due to the coronavirus outbreak and asked lawmakers to create awareness about the contagion.

Modi, addressing the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here, scoffed at suggestions made by some lawmakers for early adjournment of the Session and made it clear that Parliamentarians should be seen continuing with their work at a time when health concerns looked at the people in the eye.

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Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government was proactively monitoring the COVID-19 situation and there was no need to curtail the ongoing session.

Members cutting across party lines had suggested early adjournment of the Budget Session of Parliament which had reconvened for the second part on March 2.

Modi praised doctors, para-medical staff, airline crews and others involved in tackling the coronavirus crisis, saying they had been working positively and tirelessly.

He asked BJP lawmakers to spread awareness among the people in small groups and suggested that they should refrain from launching any mass agitation till April 15.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel had written letters to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla requesting them to adjourn the ongoing Budget Session sine die after the transaction of financial business.

“By adjourning the Houses, we will be sending a strong message to the people that all of us have to adhere to the restrictions imposed on gatherings to check the spread of the disease,” Goel, a former minister had said.

AIADMK member R Balasubramanian too had demanded to curtail the Budget Session pointing out that the COVID-19 outbreak had created panic among the people.