The construction of the new Parliament House is a part of the Central Vista Project. Under this, the work of construction of 10 administrative buildings for all government ministries is also included. In this project, the North and South blocks are also to be converted into museums. This project connects Rajpath to India Gate.
Questions have been raised before
What Nitish Kumar has said is not new. In the past too, questions have been raised about the necessity of the entire Central Vista project with the new Parliament. The case against its construction has gone up to the highest court of the country. It is a matter of fact that he refused to put a stop to the project. Then the government argued in the court that this project is being prepared for the purpose of saving, not wastage of money. This will save the government Rs 1,000 crore on rent every year.
The government had given an important order in 2017. He broke the age-old tradition. Under this, all central ministries and departments were ordered to pay rent for their office space. He had to pay the electricity and water bills as well. Earlier all these expenses were borne by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). It was responsible for the maintenance of these buildings. Its purpose was to fix the responsibility of the ministries and departments. The government wanted that the wastage should be stopped at any cost.
Now let’s understand it with an example. The offices of the Ministry of External Affairs pay a rent of about Rs 90 lakh every month. Passport Seva Kendras run in these offices. The environment ministry’s office in Delhi’s Connaught Place also pays the same rent. Another important point is that the offices of the ministries are at different places. Because of this, there is a problem in coordination. After the completion of the new project, all the offices will be at one place.
Congress also wanted on the new parliament.
The Congress government itself wanted a new parliament. The head of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Ghulam Nabi Azad has also spoken about this. Recently, he said that the idea of building a new Parliament House was first mooted during the government headed by PV Narasimha Rao. But, later it was put on hold. He also said that it should be welcomed by all.
Parliamentary elections were held in India for the first time in 1951. Then there were 489 seats in the Lok Sabha. Today there are 543 members in the Lok Sabha. The number of Rajya Sabha members is 245. Delimitation is to happen in 2026. After this the number of members will increase further. The new delimitation is also necessary because at present one MP is representing a population of about 25 lakhs. Article 81 of the Constitution states that the House shall not have more than 550 elected members. Of these, 530 will be from states and 20 from union territories.
With the proposed census in 2021, there will be a change in the number of members in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The 84th Constitutional Amendment, 2001 states that the status quo will be maintained till 2026. The old Parliament House was not able to take the load of the increasing number of Members of Parliament after the delimitation in 2026. This building was 100 years old. There was a question about fitting everyone in it.