While the fourth session (monsoon) of the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) is set to begin on Tuesday, a total 43 MLAs, including a half a dozen of Ministers, have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.Angul MLA and Deputy Speaker Rajani Kant Singh and Satyabadi BJD MLA Umakanta Samantaray tested positive for the virus on Monday.
With mild favour, Singh has been admitted to the SUM COVID-19 Hospital here. “With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, I wish to recover soon and continue to serve the people,” he said. He urged those who came in contact with him recently to undergo Covid-19 test. Samantaray took Twitter to inform about his infection. He urged all people who have come in contact with him in the last couple of days to isolate themselves.
Among Ministers, Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi once again tested positive for the virus. He had tested positive three weeks ago.
The other MLAs and Ministers include Susant Rout, Ananta Narayan Jena, Bikram Panda, Byomakesh Ray, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Pradeep Maharathy, Shankar Oram, Aditya Madhi, Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Minister Padmini Dian, Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo and Labour Minister Susanta Singh. Besides, Badasahi BJP MLA Sanatana Bijuli has been admitted to the AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Monday, according to reports. It may be noted MLAs, Ministers, Assembly employees and journalists underwent Covid tests for three days from September 26 to 28. Those tested negative would be allowed entry to the Assembly. They would also undergo another test after five days.
According to the schedule, the session would sit for eight days from September 29 to October 8. There would be no Question Hour during the session. There would be no sitting on the Gandhi Jayati (October 2), but the House would meet on Sunday. A total of 16 Bills are likely to be passed during the session.