The Rajya Sabha secretariat has turned down an Opposition request to convene virtual meetings of parliamentary committees, citing the need to maintain the confidentiality of proceedings.

The decision, it was learnt, was communicated to the leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, in a letter on Friday.

Kharge had written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Nadu last Sunday requesting virtual meetings of the committees to maintain legislative oversight on the actions of the executive. Because of the second wave of the pandemic and the lockdowns in several states, in-person meetings are not being scheduled.

According to the secretariat’s letter, the presiding officers of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha discussed the matter and noted that the existing provisions for parliamentary committee meetings mandate the confidentiality of proceedings, which cannot be assured in the virtual format.

During the first wave of the pandemic last year, the two presiding officers had decided that the issue could be referred to the committees of rules of both Houses but since the parliamentary panels were meeting in person, the matter was not followed up. Once the two committees decide to amend the rules of procedure, it has to be cleared by the respective Houses.

Several Opposition MPs, including Trinamul’s Derek O’Brien and the Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, have repeatedly urged the presiding officer to allow virtual meetings.