Bhubaneswar: All the MLAs of Odisha Legislative Assembly and staffers will undergo COVID-19 tests before the commencement of the Monsoon Session of the Assembly.
Notably, Speaker of Odisha Assembly Surjya Narayan Patro Thursday (September 3) informed that the next session of Assembly will begin by the end of September.
Decision regarding the COVID-19 tests of the MLAs and staffers was taken in a meeting held Monday. The meeting was chaired by Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro.
In the meeting, Patro also discussed the guidelines that will be observed by the MLAs and staffers to contain the spread of the virus within the Assembly.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha and Health Minister Naba Kishore Das were also present in the meeting.
In the meeting it was decided that all the MLAs and staffers will undergo COVID-19 tests two days before the beginning of Monsoon Session of the Assembly. RT-PCR tests of the MLAs will be done and those testing negative for the virus will be allowed to participate in the proceedings.
However, special seating arrangements will be prepared for the MLAs above 60 years of age.
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Khurda Health Department will jointly conduct the tests of MLAs and the staffers.
Notably, among the ministers, labour minister Sushant Singh was the first to test positive for COVID-19 followed by higher education minister Arun Sahoo and textile minister Padmini Dian.
BJP MLA from Nilagiri, Sukanta Nayak, was the first among MLAs in Odisha to test positive for COVID-19. After him BJD MLAs Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Bishnubrata Routray, Susant Rout, Ananta Narayan Jena, Bikram Panda, Byomakesh Ray, Debi Prasad Mishra, Pritam Padhi, Sanjib Mallick, Sunanda Das, Srikant Sahu, Sudhanshu Shekhar Parida and Prasant Behera had tested positive for the virus.
PNN