LS Speaker pitches for new Parliament building

India may get a new Parliament building with latest technological facilities as a proposal has been mooted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who has said the existing 88-year-old structure is showing signs of “distress” and will no longer be able to meet the growing demand for space.

She has written to Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu asking him to consider initiating action for construction of a new Parliament building and suggested two options for the alternative site, one within the Parliament complex itself and another across the Rajpath, sources told said here on Sunday.

The sources said the possible follow-up to the letter is that the Urban Development Ministry will prepare a note for the Cabinet where the matter could be considered.

While giving various reasons for constructing a new building, the Speaker has said that the number of seats in Lok Sabha is likely to go up after 2026 “in accordance with the provisions of the explanation to clause (3) Article 81 of the Constitution” while the present seating capacity of the House is 550 without any scope for increasing it any further.

The sources explained that the number of seats in Lok Sabha may go up after 2026 because of this clause in Article 81 which determines representation on the basis of population determined by the last census (possibly 2021 census).

In her letter, Mahajan has said, “On account of ageing of the Parliament House building and expansion in activities, staff etc, the building has shown signs of distress and over utilization...Under the circumstances, there is an imperative need for the construction of a new state-of-art Parliament building.”  She argued that when the present structure was commissioned in 1927, the number of staff, security personnel, media visitors and parliamentary activities were limited but over the years, the parliamentary activities and number of people working there and visitors have increased manifold.