Budget session of federal parliament to begin from Friday

7 May Kathmandu : The budget session of the federal parliament will start at 4:00 pm tomorrow at the federal parliament building at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu. Also known as monsoon session, this session will see the introduction of the policies and programmes as well as budget for the new fiscal year 2020/21.

According to general-secretary of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Dr Bharatraj Gautam, a letter received from the Office of the President regarding addressing of joint meeting of the Federal House session will be read out apart from the letter about beginning of the sixth session tomorrow.

The leaders representing various political parties in the parliament will also deliver their speeches on Friday, informed Gautam. According to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, President Bidya Devi Bhandari will present the government’s policies and programmes on May 17 at the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and National Assembly.

The subsequent meetings will then discuss about the policies and programmmes, while the Prime Minister will respond queries of lawmakers regarding such policy and programmes and the House will endorse them. Similarly, Minister for Finance Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada will present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year on May 28. President Bhandari had summoned the session for tomorrow on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers on May 3.

The federal parliament’s budget session will be held in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential transmission, according to Federal Parliament Secretariat. Necessary measures have been taken and all the criteria as recommended by the WHO have been followed to maintain physical distancing during the session to prevent the infection. Each parliamentarian will maintain at least one metre of physical distancing and every member of national Assembly will be seated in their respective seats every time they convene for the meeting.

Likewise, the rostrum will be only used by the PM, ministers and members of the National Assembly and each member will use their own mike arranged in their respective seats. Any type of gathering inside and outside the federal parliament building is prohibited for the parliamentarians and the meeting hall will be sanitized properly. Use of sanitizers and masks have been made mandatory for those attending the meeting.

The secretariat will provide photos to the media persons electronically and no audiences will be allowed to witness the meeting. The throat and nasal swab of 441 parliamentarians, staffers and guards at the federal secretariat have been collected and sent for test, according to the federal parliament secretariat. There are 275 members in House of Representatives and 58 members in National Assembly.