No Orders Issued For Quarantining MPs After Air Travel In Delhi: Centre

Lawmakers attending Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings are not required to be quarantined in Delhi after their domestic air travel, the Union Home Ministry said on Monday.

In a communication to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the Home Ministry said it has not issued any such orders for quarantine, even though some states have made it compulsory for domestic air travellers to undergo quarantine for a few days on arrival.

The issue was raised by some MPs seeking to attend the meetings of Standing Committees in the national capital and sought exemption from such quarantine.

While a meeting of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology was held on July 10, another meeting of the parliamentary panel on home affairs is slated on July 15.

The members had raised before Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu the difficulties in attending such meetings on account of quarantine norms in some states, in the context of resumption of meetings of parliamentary committees.

Mr Naidu, sources said, asked the Secretariat which wrote to the Home Ministry in this regard.

Referring to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat letter of July 7, 2020, seeking exemption of MPs from quarantine on their arrival in Delhi to attend the panel meetings, the Home Ministry said, "In this regard, it is to inform that no such provision has been made in the orders of MHA requiring domestic air passengers to be quarantined on arrival."

"However, some states have imposed such a restriction, based on their assessment of the situation," the Home Ministry said.