Rajya Sabha Chairman asks members not to leave their designated places

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha assembled after 175 days on Monday and paid respects to the Covid warriors. Chairman of the House M Venkaiah Naidu said the country has managed to minimise the adverse effects of the pandemic.

The chair advised the members to remain seated and not come to the table but send chits if necessary and adhere to the social distancing norms.

Some members complained about the audio problem. The Chairman asked the officials to fix the problem and advised the members to bear with the teething problems as the session is being conducted in unprecedented circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chairman said "that the members are advised to sit and speak and raise their hands and to introduce themselves before speaking."

The Chairman said many members have sought leave of absence on health grounds.

Earlier, new members like the JMM's Shibu Soren, TMC's Dinesh Trivedi, TMC's Arpita Ghosh, BJP's Syed Zafar Islam and Jai Prakash Nishad, Independent leader Ajeet Kumar Bhuyan, Congress leader Phoolo Devi Netam, LJD's MV Shreyams Kumar, NCP's Fauzia Khan, NPP's Wenverai Kharlukhi, DMK's NR Elango and Anithyar P Selvarasu, TRS's K Keshav Rao and K.R. Suresh Reddy took the oath.

The House paid homage to former President Pranab Mukherjee and three sitting members and many ex-members.