Home Secretary was scheduled to appear and brief the committee on the ongoing lockdown and its impact on the country.

 

This was supposed to be the first meeting of a Standing Committee after the announcement of the lockdown on March 24.

 

The Chairman of the committee is Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma who had called the meet. Earlier in April the move of the virtual meet of the Committee was stalled by Rajya Sabha secreteriat on the ground that the standing committee procedure can't be held virtually as there is a secrecy clause attached to it.

 

The Congress has been demanding parliamentary oversight on the government functioning. This meeting would have paved the way for other standing committee meetings.

 

The central government on Saturday had adopted an exit strategy for the 67-day nationwide lockdown, declaring that the restrictions will be limited to only containment zones upto June 30 and prohibited activities will be opened in a phased manner in areas outside these zones.

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the order with expanded fresh guidelines to be implemented from June 1.