New Delhi: Defending the construction of a new Parliament building as part of the Central Vista project, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said that the 100-year-old building is unsafe and not appropriate for several functions of the House.
He further said that the iconic building constructed by the British is inadequate in many ways and a new-age green building is being built at a cost of Rs 900 crore. "We have been saving money in Parliament workings and over Rs 400 crore has been saved so far," he said.
On the vaccination of all MPs, the Speaker said that so far 440 Lok Sabha MPs have informed that they have taken the vaccine against Covid-19. "The Covid disruptions have not hampered the productivity of Lok Sabha as the House operated at 122 per cent productivity and 107 bills have been passed," he said.
Commenting on the ongoing faction war in Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Birla said that the issue of a dispute in the party is out of the purview of the Speaker's office. On recognising the new leader of the party, he said, "The House recorded the change after their Parliament leader, the chief whip, filed a plea that five members have elected a leader."
"It's not the concern of the Parliament to look into the affairs of the party. We will act after we get a petition under the anti-defection law," he said.
On the legislative business, he said that it has increased and discussions have lasted longer than the scheduled time over the years. "A historic number of issues have been raised in the House and 90 per cent of them were replied to by the ministers. In these two years, on one day, 161 members raised issues of public concern," said Om Birla.