Shimla: Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, the 10-day monsoon session of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha has commenced today. The ninth session of the 13th Legislative Assembly started at 2 pm. Sessioon have 10 sittings and will culminate on 18 September.

As house assemble, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur paid tribute to former president Pranab Mukherjee, former MLA from Theog Rakesh Verma and former Dharamshala MLA Chandervarkar.

This is the first Himachal Pradesh Assembly Session after a nation-wide Coronavirus lockdown came into effect on March 24.

Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar informed the House about the steps taken to check the spread of the virus during the session.

The speaker informed that the assembly complex will be sanitised twice a day during the session and six-feet-high transparent polycarbonate sheets have also been fixed in the house to maintain distance among the legislators, he added.

Facilities like thermal scanners, Padel operated hand sanitizers have been made available at five entrance gates of the Vidhan Sabha. Isolation room has also been made available besides arrangements for rapid tests and ambulance.

Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was among the MLAs who attended the session. However, Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh Thakur could not attend the session as he tested positive for the coronavirus on September 3. He is being treated at the IGMC Shimla.