The foundation stone for the new Parliament complex has been laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday at the Sansad Marg. It is a part of the ambitious ₹ 20,000 crore Central Vista Project of the BJP led NDA government with the Parliament building being built at a cost of ₹ 971 crores, expected to be ready by 2022 on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. The new building is an intrinsic part of the vision of Self-reliant India and will be a landmark opportunity to build peoples’ Parliament that matches the needs and aspirations of a New India.
The new Parliament will be a four-storied construction and will be able to house 888 members in the Lok Sabha and 384 members in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha chamber will be built in such a manner that its strength could be increased to 1,224 members during the Joint Sessions of the Parliament. Meanwhile, the existing circular monument will be modified into a museum that reflects the glory of Indian culture and history. The Parliament of India was built by the British, designed by Edward Lutyens comprising of 144 sandstone pillars. It is to be noted that the Supreme Court which is to hear petitions challenging the project, gave its consent to hold the groundbreaking ceremony. The building spanning 64,500 sq m will be earthquake-resistant and will be equipped with state-of-the-art digital technology.
The event began with the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas by the priests from Karnataka’s Sringeri Mutt. Over 200 dignitaries including Union Ministers, MPs, foreign ambassadors and religious leaders have graced the occasion. Ratan Tata, whose Tata Projects has won the bid to build the Parliament too attended the ceremony.
“This is a historic day. This is a milestone in the country’s history. The people of the country will build the new parliament together. New Parliament building will exemplify the coexistence of the new and the old. I will never forget the day I entered the parliament for the first time in 2014. This is the same building where our constitution was drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar and our founding fathers. Every legislation drawn up in this building is our pride. But we need to accept the reality as well. This building is nearly 100 years old. There have been relentless repair work over the years to keep it up and running. People of the country will take pride in the building. During independence, doubts were raised on the future of the nation. Forecasts were made that democracy will not be successful in India. Today we can say with pride that we have proved the naysayers wrong. It is incumbent upon all of us to give 21st century India a new Parliament Building. And this is a step towards achieving that. The new building will be fitted with advanced technology. Even common people, who want to share their grievances with their representatives, face trouble in the existing building due to paucity of space. The new building will have space for every MP to meet and address the issues of their constituents visiting them. The new building will fulfill the desire and aspirations of 21st century India,” PM Modi said, in his address to the audience during the ceremony.
